Slogans are hostile to the government, stones and tear gas can be seen ... In the small town of El Bosque, a poor suburb of Santiago de Chile, residents demonstrated on Monday, May 18, against food shortages linked to the confinement put in place to curb the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic. 

"It's not quarantine, it's help, food, that's what people are asking for right now," resident Veronica Abarca told AFP.

Barricades were erected, and violence escalated to clashes with sticks and stone throws on the side of the demonstrators, and tear gas and water cannons on the side of the police. The police reported 21 arrests, spread over several hours in the afternoon.

Economic activity slowed for several months 

The government of President Sebastian Piñera had decreed Friday the confinement of the entire population of the capital region, which concentrates 80% of the country's coronavirus cases. But economic activity has been idling for months already while the country has been in the grip of lively social unrest since last October.

The municipality of El Bosque issued a press release denouncing the deterioration of "the quality of life of the inhabitants" and the lack of consideration by the central government for the poorest. "These are the inhabitants who, after more than a month without being able to work, without having seen any concrete measures on the part of the state, are protesting today," wrote the mayor, Sadi Melo.

On Sunday, the president announced the distribution of 2.5 million food parcels for his most disadvantaged citizens. The coronavirus killed 478 people in Chile, for more than 46,000 cases.

With AFP 

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