New round of protests leaves 100 injured
Chile’s interior minister on Friday appealed for peace and the “recovery of public order” after a fresh round of protests and riots around the country left shops and public buildings looted and burned, the capital’s transport system disrupted and at least 100 more people injured.
Gonzalo B l ume l said turning down the temperature of street protests did not mean reducing the pressure on government to resolve issues of social justice and human rights.
“These are all fundamental obligations of the state,” he said. “We make a profound and sincere call to all social and political forces to make an alliance for peace.”
Several days of intense unrest saw a hospital in the northern port city of Coquimbo being looted and set on fire in the early hours of Friday, clashes between police and protesters in southern Concepcion, multiple metro stations closed in Santiago due to wildcat protests and a shopping mall burned down on the capital’s outskirts.
A football match between Unión La Calera and Deportes Iquique, two Chilean first division teams, at Santiago’s La Florida stadium also had to be suspended after hooded men broke into the venue and invaded the pitch, forcing the players to seek shelter in the locker room.
Chile has seen a month of peaceful protests and violent riots over low pensions and salaries, the high cost of living, and security force abuses.
The unrest has left at least 26 dead, 7,000 detained and 3,800 injured, according to authorities and rights groups.