The state of emergency will be lifted Sunday at midnight in all areas of Chile where it was established to deal with social protest, said the Chilean presidency. President Sebastian Pinera "has signed the decrees necessary for Monday, October 28 at midnight (0300 GMT) to be lifted the state of emergency in all regions and municipalities where it was established", according to a message broadcast on the Presidency's Twitter account.
Major government reshuffle
A rapid lifting of the state of emergency was announced Saturday by the Chilean head of state, at the same time as a major reshuffle of his government, to respond to an unprecedented social fronde for decades in this country. Latin America. The state of emergency was decreed on October 18 in the capital Santiago and the metropolitan area before being extended to several regions of the country in the face of violence and rampage resulting from a revolt against a rise of more than 3% of the price. metro ticket in the capital. Thousands of soldiers were deployed in the streets of the country, a first since the end of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), while dozens of supermarkets, gas stations, vehicles, metro stations were ransacked or burned. The army also declared a curfew in the capital, which was suspended on Saturday.
Balance of 20 deaths
The toll of these disorders was revised up Saturday night to 20 dead. The interior minister announced that "a burnt corpse" had been discovered in a supermarket burned a few days earlier. Of the twenty deaths recorded, a majority died in fires during looting. Five were killed by police fire, according to official figures.
On Friday, more than a million people gathered in central Santiago and several major cities to protest against the social inequalities created by the ultra-liberal economic model established under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973- 1990) and never questioned since the return of democracy. Small scale protests and rallies continued throughout the weekend in the capital and other cities across the country.