SANTIAGO: Thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of Santiago on Sunday to honour the victims of General Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, in a march that started peacefully but ended in violence.
Although it has been 46 years since the military coup that brought Pinochet to power, his memory still divides Chileans. The protest began in central Santiago, with many demonstrators carrying red carnations and holding photos of loved ones who were killed or disappeared during the Pinochet years.
Police at first protectively lined the route as marchers proceeded to a memorial to Pinochet’s victims at the city’s General Cemetery.
But pitched battles broke out at the cemetery’s entrance, with protesters hurling stones and police responding with tear gas and water cannon.
There were several arrests, but no immediate reports of injuries.
Police confirmed that 4,000 people attended the march, and 23 were detained, while organizers estimated that there were 20,000 attendees. – AFP
