There are 17 dead in Chile, 84 wounded and 1400 arrested

17 people were killed in protests that began Friday in Chile. The new minister was confirmed by the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Ubilla, who added that these deaths were associated with "fires and looting, mainly in commerce".

Ubilla warned that eleven of the dead had occurred in the metropolitan area of ​​Santiago. He also said that, despite these disturbances, the armed forces and police "are not overwhelmed" and that progress is being made to "restore peace in different cities of the country" with the deployment of 20,000 soldiers.

The head of National Defense, Javier Iturriaga, for his part explained that these agents were monitoring "more than 120 critical points of public services, storage of food products and all that relates to the public transport".

From the newspaper La Tercera, they reported that until now, following demonstrations against the government of Sebastián Piñera, 1420 arrests and 84 people wounded with a gun were found. Of those arrested, 181 are minors.

And from the National Institute of Human Rights, they reported that he had filed 12 complaints of torture allegations. In addition, it was "concerned about the situation of children and adolescents exposed directly or indirectly to acts of violence, protesters, police officers and soldiers exposed to risky situations, an interruption of public services. , especially transport in the metropolitan area "destruction of Santiago Metro stations; lack of respect for the right of peaceful and unarmed assembly, where the disproportionate use of public forces has been noted, both by the police and by the personnel of the armed forces. "

In the midst of protests last Friday that did not stop and were motivated by the rise of the metro ticket but denounce in depth the social inequality that exists in Chile, President Piñera will try today. to find a way out of a meeting with leaders of political parties, at a time when the protest threatens to degenerate into strikes and new mobilizations.

Faced with the worst wave of violence in Chile since returning to democracy in 1990, the president, who said two days ago that his country "was at war," changed its tone. We will "explore and, hopefully, move towards a social agreement that allows us all to come together quickly, effectively and equally with the responsibility of finding better solutions to the problems that affect Chileans," he said yesterday. .

Although protests began Friday against the rise in the price of the Chilean capital's metro ticket – a measure suspended by the government – has led to a much larger movement, which puts other social demands on the table. .

"What's going on is not because they've raised the 30 pesos metro.This is 30 years.We have the issue of AFP (retreats), queues in clinics, waiting lists in hospitals, the cost of remedies, low wages, "said Orlando, a 55-year-old man, at the protest.

Santiago and most of Chile's 16 regions are in a state of emergency and 10,000 military and police are organizing demonstrations that could intensify, such as the Unitary Workers' Union (CUT), the most powerful union in the country. Chile, and 18 other social organizations called strikes and mobilizations for Wednesday and Thursday.