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Chile: protests rage despite president's retreat over subway fare increase | |
(about 11 hours later) | |
Protests and violence in Chile have spilled over into a new day and turned deadly despite the president cancelling a subway fare hike that prompted the violent demonstrations. | |
Officials in the Santiago region said three people died in fires at two looted supermarkets early on Sunday. Five more people later were found dead in the basement of a burned warehouse and were not employees, authorities said. | |
At least two airlines cancelled or rescheduled flights into the capital, affecting more than 1,400 passengers on Sunday and Monday. | |
President Sebastián Piñera, facing the worst crisis of his second term as head of the South American country, announced on Saturday night that he was cancelling a subway fare hike imposed two weeks ago. | |
Chile protests: state of emergency declared in Santiago as violence escalates | Chile protests: state of emergency declared in Santiago as violence escalates |
Piñera said in a national address broadcast from the presidential palace in Santiago late on Saturday that he had listened “with humility” to “the voice of my compatriots” and to discontent over the cost of living in one of Latin America’s wealthiest yet most unequal nations. He also announced a working group to address their concerns. | |
The fare boost had led to major protests that included rioting that caused millions of dollars in damage to burned buses and vandalized subway stops, office buildings and stores. | |
After meeting with the heads of the legislature and judicial system on Sunday, Piñera said they discussed solutions to the current crisis and that he aims “to reduce excessive inequalities, inequities abuses, that persist in our society.” | |
Jaime Quintana, president of the Senate, said that “the political world must take responsibility for how we have come to this situation.” | |
As ordained by Chile’s dictatorship-era constitution, the state of emergency will apply to Santiago and can last for 15 days. It grants the government additional powers to restrict citizens’ freedom of movement and their right to assembly. | |
But renewed protests continued after daybreak. Security forces used tear gas and jets of water to try disperse crowds. | |
Interior minister Andrés Chadwick reported that seven people had died during the demonstrations and that 62 police officers and 11 civilians were injured in the latest disturbances and prosecutors said nearly 1,500 people had been arrested. | |
Chile students' mass fare-dodging expands into city-wide protest | Chile students' mass fare-dodging expands into city-wide protest |
With transportation frozen, Cynthia Cordero said she had walked 20 blocks to reach a pharmacy to buy diapers, only to find it had been burned. | |
“They don’t have the right to do this,” she said, adding it was right to protest “against the abuses, the increases in fares, against bad education and an undignified pension, but not to destroy.” | |
Long lines formed at petrol stations as people tried to fill up for a coming week with a public transport system depleted by the destructive protests. | |
Subway system chief Louis De Grange said workers would try to have at least one line running by Monday, but he said it could take weeks or months to have the four others back in service. | |
Chile | Chile |
Americas | Americas |
Protest | Protest |
news | news |
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