Chile: because of the protests, Piñera ordered the state of …

The Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, has decreed the state of emergency in the metropolitan area of ​​Santiago, following the incidents occurred in recent hours due to the increase in the metro ticket. The decree implies the suspension of certain rights of citizens under national defense or security and the designated areas will be under the control of the army.

"The objective of this state of emergency is very simple but very deep: to ensure public order, to ensure the tranquility of the inhabitants of the city of Santiago, to protect public and private property and, above all, guarantee the rights of the citizens, each of our compatriots, "explained Piñera at the Palacio de La Moneda.

The conservative president added that "in the coming days, we will organize a transversal dialogue to mitigate and improve the situation of our compatriots affected by the rise of the subway".

Friday's day was particularly violent, with fires in five subway stations in Santiago and four groups. There were also barricades in different parts of the capital of Chile. Another point of protest was a building of the electricity distribution company in Santiago, ENEL, which was home to a fire, involving the intense work of firefighters and police to control the situation.

The protest over the increase of the metro ticket took place in the middle class sectors, which collapsed in different parts of Santiago.

The previous Friday, the protests took place as part of the so-called "mass escape", that is, thousands of people, especially high school students and universities, who skipped the turnstiles to avoid payment, which resulted in action by security personnel and the police.

The repression of the security forces intensified the demonstration; Thus, it is estimated that incidents in the underground transportation infrastructure generated a loss of $ 700,000, a day when Metro 's board of directors decided to close all the lines on Friday to avoid having to go to the airport. Other damage and that there will be no service this weekend. . Even professional football matches in the metropolitan area have been suspended over this weekend.

The beginning of the conflict was generated by the steady rise since 2007, when the ticket cost 420 pesos ($ 0.6), to 830 pesos ($ 1.15). After the latest increase, Transport Minister Gloria Hutt said the ticket price increase would not be revised, which also triggered popular discontent.

Monday, the Chamber of Deputies will sit in extraordinary session due to the lifting of the contraventions and incidents that followed. To do this, the Ministers of the Interior, Transport and the Director General of Police have been summoned to Parliament for the serious events that occurred in Santiago in the last hours.