• Chile, state of emergency after violent protests, burning Enel building
  • Chile, protests continue in Santiago and throughout the country
  • Protests in Chile due to the increase in the metro ticket: state of emergency declared

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20 October 2019 Firefighters and tanks on the street, for the first time since the Pinochet dictatorship, failed to appease the popular anger of the Chileans, triggered by the increase in the price of metro tickets. In the night, stations and buildings were set on fire. During the sacking of a supermarket, three people died imprisoned by the flames.


The increase in the price of metro tickets in the city is the last straw: the provision has opened the Pandora's box of a popular discontent in Chile that smoldered after the progressive increase in the cost of living, and which has found his outburst in massive demonstrations, mainly due to the mobilization of students in Santiago.

Today a curfew between 10 pm and 7 am will be applied in Santiago and in the peripheral areas. This was announced by General Javier Iturriaga del Campo, head of security in Santiago during the state of emergency declared as a result of the violence of recent days. According to the BBC. The army should help the police patrol the streets during the declared state of emergency for 15 days in which the authorities will be able to restrict people's freedom of movement and their right to meet.




During the night between Friday and Saturday the city center has long been wrapped in the smoke of tear gas, used by the police to disperse the crowd of protesters. In the evening, protests spread across Santiago with students setting up barricades at the entrances to subway stations. Television pictures showed protesters attacking police vehicles, throwing stones and burning at least one bus, as well as scenes of destruction and shattered glass in various subway stations. The building that houses the ENEL headquarters in Santiago is also involved, where a fire broke out and was then tamed. The damage "is limited to the fire escape and to the interiors of some floors" and "at the moment possible collapse is to be excluded", the group said in a note. The fire, continued Enel, was "a malicious act that took place in the context of the protests, incurred in the city and carried out by people not yet identified". The company then informed that "there are no injuries among their employees and that the few colleagues present in the building at the time of the fire, set up late in the evening, were all immediately evacuated without disorder" and announced that "some inspections technicians to ascertain the extent of the damage ".

The student protest began last Monday when hundreds of young people attacked several stations in Santiago to protest against the increase in ticket prices. The unrest led to the interruption of the public transport service as "it is impossible to count on the minimum security conditions for passengers and employees", the responsible company announced, arranging the closure of the entire network today and tomorrow and reserving the right to evaluate the 'opportunity to reopen the service Monday 21. In the meantime, the state of emergency concerns Santiago and, as foreseen by the constitution, it can extend up to 15 days and gives the government additional powers to impose limits on freedom of movement and assembly. The military returned to garrison the streets of Santiago for the first time since the devastating earthquake that struck the country in 2010.