2019–2022 Chilean protests

Many civil protests against poverty are taking place in several cities in Chile. The protests began in the capital Santiago as a campaign by secondary school students to avoid paying the Metro de Santiago subway in response to recent price hikes, leading to multiple takeovers of the city's main train stations.

2019—20 Chilean protests
Part of 2019 Latin American protests and the Latin American Spring
Protests in Plaza Baquedano, downtown Santiago
Date14 October 2019 – 18 March 2022[1]
(4 years, 218 days)
Location
 Chile
Caused by
  • Rise in public transport fares[2][3]
  • Rising cost of living
  • Income inequality
  • Privatisation
Goals
  • Reversal of public transport fares
  • Reforms in education, healthcare, and pension systems
  • Better wages, minimum wage increase
  • Resignation of President Sebastián Piñera
  • Draft a new constitution
MethodsProtests, fare evasion, civil disobedience, rioting
StatusOngoing
  • Closure of the Santiago Metro on the weekend of 19–20 October
  • State of emergency and curfew declared[2] on 16 regions of Chile[4]
  • President Piñera announces reforms in education, healthcare, and pension systems[5]
  • Cabinet reshuffle, including Interior, Finance and Economy ministries.
  • 2020 referendum announced.
Parties to the civil conflict

Chile Chilean Government

  • Carabineros de Chile
  • Chilean Armed Forces
Protesters
Lead figures
  • Sebastián Piñera (President of Chile)
  • Andrés Chadwick (Former Interior and Public Security Minister)
  • Javier Iturriaga (Chief of the Joint National Defense)
Number
Over 3.7 million protesters[6][7]
Casualties
Death(s)Possibly 26
Injuries11,564
Arrested7259[8] (as of 27 November 2019)
Detained~6,362 people

This had led to open confrontations with the national police (Carabineros).

On 18 October, the situation escalated as organized bands of protesters rose in rebellion across the city, taking control of many terminals of the Santiago Metro network (part of Red) and disabling them with extensive infrastructure damage. The Metro network was disabled in its entirety.

On 18 October, President of Chile Sebastián Piñera announced a state of emergency, sending Chilean Army forces across the main regions to enforce order and crack down on the destruction of public property because of privatization.

A curfew was declared on 19 October in the Greater Santiago area,[9] for the first time since 1987, at the end of the Pinochet dictatorship.[10]

References
  1. Cooperativa.cl. "[Video] Secundarios protestaron contra el alza del Metro con masiva evasión" [Secondary [students] protest against the rise of Metro fares with a massive [fare] evasion]. Cooperativa.cl (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  2. CNN, Claudia Dominguez and Daniel Silva Fernandez (19 October 2019). "Chile's president declares state of emergency after riots over metro fare hike". CNN. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  3. "Chile's capital in state of emergency amid unrest". 19 October 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019 – via bbc.com.
  4. "Se filtró un audio de la primera dama de Chile: "Es como una invasión extranjera, alienígena"". Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  5. "¡Cambio radical! Sebastián Piñera retrocede ante protestas y anuncia paquete de medidas sociales". 23 October 2019. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  6. Press, Europa (2019-11-13). "Las autoridades chilenas estiman que 3,7 millones de personas participaron en alguna de las protestas". europapress.es. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  7. Cooperativa.cl. "Más de 3,7 millones de personas han asistido a manifestaciones durante la crisis, según Carabineros". Cooperativa.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  8. Frances Jenner (27 November 2019). "Excessive police violence in protests cause deaths and thousands of injuries". Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  9. "General Iturriaga decreta toque de queda en Santiago para afrontar graves disturbios". BioBioChile - La Red de Prensa Más Grande de Chile. 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  10. "Decretan inédito toque de queda en Santiago tras fracaso del gobierno en contener ola de protestas". El Desconcierto (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-10-20. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
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