Chile Students Organize Violent Protests

National protests by Chile students on Tuesday for a more pertinent reform in the educational system turned violent, compelling law enforcement officers to use tear gas and water cannons in order to disperse the larges masses of demonstrators.


It has been reported that approximately 600,000 high school students refused to enter classrooms and stay for courses, in order to protest against the lack of reform in the Chilean education law, especially regarding the responsibility of communities for public education. Furthermore, students and other critics of the government stated that the current educational system causes inequalities due to regional differences in the availability of sources, and asked for the state to become the only provider and administrator of public education.

The teenagers' decision to stay in school, but not attend classes, urged by protest leaders, was also supported by teachers, parents and politicians alike.

Around noon, hundreds of students attempted to organize massive protests in downtown Santiago, where young men with masks on their faces began throwing rocks and constructing roadblocks in major intersections, forcing police units to use water cannons and tear gas in order to calm them down. Protest leaders stated that those masked men were actually infiltrators and did not belong to their groups.

Police sources stated that at least 12 people were injured in clashes that occurred between police officers and students, while 400 were taken into custody.

Street protests lasted until dusk, police units managing to scatter the demonstrators, which permanently regrouped. According to Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Harboe, by nightfall, Santiago, as well as other cities in Chile, had been clamed down.