Protests in Chile leave two dead and detained

Looting and destruction of public works caused 450 arrests of Chileans.

In the early hours of Tuesday, two deaths were registered in Chile as a result of looting caused in the midst of demonstrations that began on Monday, October 18, after the commemoration of two years of historic protests in the country.

At first, everything turned like peaceful demonstrations, however, as the hours passed, there was some looting, and it began to turn purple.

According to a balance presented at a press conference by the national director of Police Order and Security, Marcelo Araya, 450 people were detained, and among these were 11 civilians injured, and 45 police officers injured, it should be noted that, most of them were people from the metropolitan area of the country.

From fireworks to real flames

The undersecretary of the Interior and Public Security, Juan Francisco Galli, was in charge of reporting on the looting presented in the different commercial premises in the capital, and also notified that, because of this, the agents summoned would act to counter the violence presented.

He also reported that they were no longer peaceful demonstrations when they proceeded to attack the police officers with fireworks, and at the end of the afternoon to set fire to some public transport units.

In addition, he stressed that there is no legitimacy in looting.

However, the protesters allege that all they lit were bonfires, but sadly they got out of control.

Relevant concentration points

As two years ago, one of the main points of concentration was the Baquedano square in Santiago de Chile, one of the first representatives in this area was Fabiola Campilla, who, at that same point in the previous protests, lost her vision due to the impact of a tear gas canister.

Another concentration point was also near the Palacio de la Moneda, also in Santiago, where there were different clashes between the security forces and the protesters.

From the early hours the movement of Ukamau settlers manifested itself on General Velázquez and Alameda avenues in Central Station.

With the intention of preventing incidents, the Chilean government ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 police officers in different areas of the country, especially in those that were considered risky.

Some of the municipalities decided to withdraw urban transport, in addition to the fact that, due to the incidents presented, 10 underground stations had to be closed temporarily.

Important aspects of the demonstrations

A group of students from the National Secondary Assembly, through the ACES Twitter account, announced important points of their demonstrations, among them, the petition for the cancellation of debts and the setting of prices of goods and fair services.

Just as they protested for a universal minimum income of 600,000 pesos, access to basic services in the land seizures, and the delivery of land to support social housing.

They also pointed out that it is not enough to change a constitution if there isn't a previous consensus with politics and a true fulfillment of the eternal promises made.

It is important to note that many of the people who participated in these days, better known as activists, representing human rights, bandaged one of their eyes, as a reminder of the injuries suffered by some protesters.

Other people carried everything from posters with the names of the deceased, to shirts and masks with the silhouettes of the most emblematic activists, such as: Gustavo Gatica, who was completely blinded by the shot of a pellet in the demonstrations two years ago.

Two years after the social outbreak

Monday marked the second anniversary of that social outbreak that led to the political agreement for a new Magna Carta, and to commemorate this, the whole country decided to start peaceful demonstrations in different places, but unfortunately they did not end in this way but quite the opposite.

At the end of the days of demonstrations, the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Rodrigo Delgado, stated that unfortunately no common protesters took to the streets, but some criminals came to the call, who only wanted to use the historic date to commit crimes without reprisals.

Consequently, Delgado participated that there are 19,000 carabinieri and 3,000 investigative police working to maintain order in the country.

On the other hand, the main candidates for the presidency of Chile also expressed their rejection of violence, but in a different and more political tone, but with the same intention of generating peace.