Demonstrations and destruction in various parts of the conurbation

A complex day lived the Region of Coquimbo, in the middle of the commemoration of the first year of the social outbreak in Chile. With calls at the main meeting points for protesters, La Serena and Coquimbo experienced quiet first hours, although incidents and confrontations with Carabineros began late in the afternoon.

In this context, hooded men removed and burned furniture from the offices of the Seremi de Educación in the regional capital to erect barricades. In the port commune, a similar situation occurred in the Cardenal Caro School, after which a group threw Molotov cocktails at the personnel of the Public Order Control units (COP) who attended the procedure.

At the close of this edition, Carabineros counted 17 people detained in the conurbation (12 in Coquimbo and 5 in La Serena) and, according to sources from El Día, three uniformed officers would have been injured, two in Coquimbo and one in La Serena.

Through his Twitter account, the Minister of Education, Claudio Oyarzún, condemned the attack on the offices of the Regional Secretariat. “Regrettable situation. We work every day to improve the learning processes for our students. I regret and repudiate in a capital way what happened in our building, “said the authority.

Between demands and destruction

The day began after 5:00 p.m., according to the calls that were made at the national level for this October 18, exactly one year after the beginning of a series of protests for social changes in the country, and that keep the population expectant to the historical National Plebiscite, which will define the future of the Political Constitution of the Republic this Sunday.

17 Detained persons were registered at the close of this edition in the conurbation. 12 correspond to Coquimbo and 5 to La Serena.

In this context, messages supporting the option of “Approve” for a new Magna Carta and even mentions of the Constituent Assembly were seen yesterday afternoon. Among several other slogans, they also highlighted the demands for justice, regarding the cases of Kevin Gómez and Romario Veloz, two young men killed by military forces in the midst of last year’s protests in Coquimbo and La Serena, respectively.

It is worth mentioning that shortly after the first year of the death of both young people, their families have reported slow progress in criminal prosecution and little collaboration from the Army. Currently there is a uniformed officer formalized for the murder of Gómez and Veloz’s relatives are awaiting the hearing set for Wednesday, October 28.

“We continue to ask for dignity” and “freedom for the prisoners of the revolt” were some of the messages that were read on canvases at the meeting point of the protesters on Avenida Balmaceda and Avenida Francisco de Aguirre, in the center of the regional capital. Little by little, the group grew until it exceeded several hundred protesters, who remained peacefully for several hours.

“This is the first time that I have come to a march,” a female Social Work student, who due to illness, was unable to participate in last year’s demonstrations, told El Día from the place. With a Chilean flag in her hand, Natalia, indicated that she found the motivation in “the need for better health, education and better pensions.”

After 7:00 p.m., part of the group advanced west to the vicinity of La Seremi de Educación, where hooded men took out furniture to erect barricades. In Coquimbo, the “critical” areas were Alessandri, Darío Salas, Kennedy streets and the vicinity of the Cardenal Caro School, where clashes with the COP units were registered.

During the night, there was an attempted looting at the Gold Coffee tobacco shop next to the Santa Isabel de Los Clarines supermarket, which was thwarted by the Carabineros.

In other communes such as Illapel, Salamanca and Vicuña there were days of quiet demonstrations and until late at night there had been no incidents. In Los Vilos, on the other hand, a group of about 50 people blocked the southern exit of the commune and had thrown blunt objects at police personnel.

Carabineros role

The protests were closely followed by NHRI officials, who observed the demonstrations on the ground. It is worth mentioning that during the demonstrations that took place in the first months of social outbreak, the role of the Carabineros has even been under the scrutiny of international organizations, which have denounced the abuses by the police forces.

The INDH estimated at 2,520 the complaints filed since October 18, 2019 at the national level. In the Coquimbo Region, meanwhile, the numbers are not positive, since the area is in the top 5 at the country level with 139 complaints from the autonomous body, regarding complaints of constraints and human rights violations. Of these, only five are with formalized defendants.

The organism remains attentive to what could happen within the next few days, with the call for more demonstrations during this week.

Vespers of the Plebiscite

The atmosphere is tense just days after the historic National Plebiscite for the Constitution takes place and with a health crisis still in an active stage in the national territory and in the region.

Mayor Pablo Herman recognized that “demonstrating is a right that all Chileans have and today most of the people who came out to express themselves did so in peace, in an atmosphere of tranquility. That is the way to approach discontent and we must do it while respecting others ”.

On the other hand, he condemned the acts of violence, “which contribute nothing to what the citizens want, which is to make changes for our country through the plebiscite.” Along the same lines, he stressed that “we are a few days away from living a historic day. We want the plebiscite to become a milestone for citizen participation and to give rise to the changes that we all seek. But seeing acts of violence, damage to public and private property, confrontations with the Carabineros do nothing to contribute to the constructive debate that we are putting on the table ”, he said.