Chile protest death toll rises to 15

cde.news desk 23 October 2019, 09:24 · 1 min read

epa07941795 Protesters participate in a demonstration at the central Plaza Italia, in Santiago, Chile, 22 October 2019. A new curfew was decreed for the night in different cities of Chile and is the fourth consecutive in Santiago, Valparaiso and Concepcion (south) since the protests that left 15 people dead, including four foreigners from Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. Thousands of people in Chile returned to the streets on 22 October, for the fifth consecutive day, to protest against the Government amidst the states of emergency and the new curfews already decreed in several areas of the country. Unrest, sparked by a hike in metro fares, quickly morphed into a wider protest against social inequality. EPA-EFE/ALBERTO VALDES

Rioting, arson attacks and violent clashes wracked Chile for a fifth day as the death toll rose to 15 in an upheaval that has almost paralysed the country.

President Sebastián Piñera announced a program on Tuesday night calling for modest boosts to the lowest incomes and increased taxes on the wealthiest as he sought to calm anger in the streets.

About half of Chile’s 16 regions remained under an emergency decree and some were a under military curfew.

The curfew is the first — other than for natural disasters — imposed since the country returned to democracy in 1990 following a bloody 17-year dictatorship.

Via Reuters

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