Hundreds of students and youth took to the streets on March 28 in Santiago, Chile, stopping traffic on their way toward the government palace.
Protesters were attacked by hundreds of riot police with tear gas and water cannons. The cops rounded up and arrested over two hundred youth and their supporters.
More demonstrations and actions are planned throughout the weekend to mark the annual “Day of the Young Combatant,” which honors teenage activists Eduardo and Rafael Vergara, who were killed on March 29, 1985 during Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship.
Protesters denounced the Chilean government’s free-market economic model that has left many Chileans poor and disillusioned with President Michelle Bachelet’s unfulfilled promises.
Students were also protesting the government’s manipulation of the education system, which benefits the rich and excludes the poor.
