By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
SANTIAGO, Chile – On September 11th, more than 260 people were arrested and 42 police officers were injured during protests marking the 40th anniversary of the 1973 military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.
Police say six officers were listed in serious condition with gunshot wounds and burns from acid. Gen. Rodolfo Pacheco, one of the Chilean capital’s top police chiefs, was taken by helicopter to a hospital after being struck in the head with a petrol bomb.
The protests spread across Huechuraba, San Bernardo, Estacion Central, Pudahuel, La Reina, Peñalolen and Lo Prado, all located around Santiago. The protests started on September 11th, and ended in the early morning hours of September 12th.
Protesters set up barricades and attacked police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons. Six buses and seven cars were set on fire by protesters armed with fire bombs. In Santiago, four businesses were looted, and electricity lines were severed, prompting power cuts in 200,000 homes.
“Last night was a violent night, but it could have been much more violent if it hadn’t been for the efficient response of police,” President Sebastian Pinera told reporters. Pinera called on judges to punish those behind the clashes “with severity.” Chilean protests are often infiltrated by violent anarchist groups and end with clashes between police and hooded vandals who throw rocks, firebombs and acid.
The government had deployed more than 8,000 police throughout the capital to prevent a repeat of the violence seen in previous years. Pinera recently said that in the last two years, “more than 700 police officers have been injured by the cowardly acts of hooded vandals, including recent victims who were burned with acid or Molotov bombs.”
President Sebastian Pinera submitted a bill to Congress earlier this year that strengthens penalties for those who insult or physically harm police and makes it a crime to attack police headquarters or vehicles.
Approximately 40,000 people suffered human rights abuses in Chile under Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. The government estimates more than 3,000 were killed or forcibly disappeared during Pinochet’s rule. More than 1,000 human rights cases are still ongoing in Chilean courts.
For more information please see:
ABC News – Chile Coup Anniversary Toll: 264 Arrests – 12 September 2013
The Washington Post – Chile’s toll from coup anniversary violence, arson: 42 police officers wounded, 264 arrests – 12 September 2013
BBC – Hundreds arrested in Chile clashes on coup anniversary – 12 September 2013
Fox News Latino – Hundreds arrested, scores hurt in disturbances in Chile – 12 September 2013
BBC – Clashes in Chile on anniversary of 1973 military coup – 11 September 2013
