Chilean protests explode into riot

by Kaitlin | March 30, 2007 at 03:12 pm

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!!!!!el dia del joven combatiente !!29 de marzo 2007!! casi me muero con las lagrimojenas pacos culia......

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It's both the key to and a tragic flaw of the protest that it depends on the force of the many; when a bunch of passionate people try to get together to make a difference, the mob mentality plus passion can bring out the worst in people. It doesn't help that Chile is already extremely politically tense, of course. Word has it that this protest brought out violence in both the police and the protesters. More news as it becomes available.

The violence broke out Thursday morning when hundreds of high school students took to the streets in downtown Santiago and other cities to mark "The Day of the Young Combatant," in which Chilean leftists commemorate two young brothers killed by police in 1985 under the 1973-90 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

Overnight, young demonstrators blocked traffic with flaming barricades in several neighborhoods, and police said some protesters apparently were armed with automatic weapons. Several stores were looted.

The reasons for the new protests weren't clear. Chile's government is now headed by Socialist Michelle Bachelet, herself a former prisoner of Pinochet's regime.