Chile red-hot as student protest turns violent; nation-wide strike blocks ports and roads!
Last edited Thu Jun 27, 2013, 01:51 PM - Edit history (1)
RT ?@RT_com
Chile red-hot as student protest turns violent (PHOTOS) http://on.rt.com/32yl45
http://rt.com/news/chile-protest-students-reform-santiago-304/
Santiago police responded to hooded protesters in the Chilean capital with tear gas and water cannon, marring a largely peaceful demonstration by more than 100,000 students and union workers demanding fair distribution of wealth.
The violence began ahead of nationwide demonstrations on Wednesday when separate pocket of protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at a police station, prompting a police crackdown. The protesters also stormed a restaurant and used its chairs as barricades, tying up traffic along some of Santiago's busiest roads, AP reported.
Police arrested 102 people, while four officers were injured in the violence.
The Chilean government had strong words for the demonstrators.
(Geez...haven't we all heard by now of police in various countries showing up to protests and being violent and encouraging violence in order to justify a crack-down on protests the local government doesn't want? More at the link.)
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StrikeDebt ?@StrikeDebt
#Solidarity with strikers in #Chile fighting for free education. Major ports and roads blocked!
http://www.santiagotimes.cl/chile/transportation/26378-chiles-major-ports-and-roads-blocked-in-nation-wide-strike …
National strike erupts across the country in major cities like Valparaíso, Antofagasta, La Serena, San Antonio and Calama.
Workers in major cities the length of the country rallied in solidarity with the student movement Wednesday by barricading ports and copper mines.
The national strike, called by the Confederation of Chilean Students (Confech) — a university student umbrella organization — joined together students, teachers, labor unions and workers in support of free and quality public education, alongside other general demands such as better union rights, wages and health plans.
Though protest coverage thus far has generally been focused on Santiago — where more than 45 high schools and 25 universities are occupied or on strike — many major cities also mobilized protest efforts by shutting off critical ports and mines.
“I would first like to highlight the immense diversity of the organizers in the march, which include port and copper workers who will freeze or delay their tasks, demonstrating that the educational movemnt is transversal,” said student leader Andrés Fielbaum in an interview with Terra.
(More at the link.)
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