President Sebastian Pinera convened a meeting with leaders of Chile’s political parties yesterday in the hope of finding a way to end street violence that has claimed 15 lives, as anti-government campaigners threatened new protests.
The country’s worst violence in decades erupted on Friday, initially triggered by an increase in metro fares.
But it has mushroomed into a broader outcry against social and economic woes, including a yawning gap between rich and poor, in a country normally considered one of the most stable in Latin America.
The conservative Pinera declared over the weekend that the country was “at war against a powerful, implacable enemy,” and imposed a state of emergency on Santiago and most of Chile’s 16 regions.
Army General Javier Iturriaga announced curfews in effect for the last three nights.
On Monday, Pinera adopted a more conciliatory tone, saying he wanted to address people’s grievances.
He said the meeting with political parties was to work on “a social agreement that will allow us all together to rapidly, efficiently and responsibly approach better solutions to the problems afflicting Chileans.”
But Chile’s largest union, the Workers’ United Centre of Chile (CUT) called strikes and protests for tomorrow and Friday, alongside 18 other social organisations.
The public health sector workers’ union also announced plans to strike and demonstrate.
The violence — with widespread looting, arson and clashes with security forces — is the worst to hit Chile since it returned to democracy after the 1973-1990 right-wing dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet.
Some 20,000 police and military troops have been providing security. “This is not happening because they raised the metro fare by 30 pesos,” said a man who gave his name only as Orlando, taking part in Monday’s protests.
He cited gripes including low salaries and pensions, waiting lists at hospitals and high prices for medicine.
“This has been going on for 30 years,” the 55-year-old said. The metro fare increase has been suspended but that has not stopped the violence.
The government raised the death toll to 15 yesterday.
Eleven of the fatalities were in the Santiago region and caused by looting and arson, mainly targeting supermarkets and shopping centres, Deputy Interior Minister Rodrigo Ubilla told a news conference.
Three of the deaths outside the capital were from gunshots, he said.
In central Santiago, many shops and businesses that were closed on Monday had reopened.
People returning to work or daily life waited patiently as long queues formed at bus stops and supermarkets.
Only one of the Santiago metro’s seven lines — which normally carry 3mn people a day — was operational, although a fleet of 4,300 public buses took up much of strain.
More than half of Santiago’s 136 metro stations suffered heavy damage on Friday, the first day of riots. Around 50 schools and 10 universities in the capital remained closed but hospitals and clinics operated normally.
Monday night saw a marked drop in violence. A drive through Santiago in the early hours of yesterday showed it largely deserted except for military vehicles and police patrols.