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Of: TT
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Photo: Esteban Felix / AP / TT
The protesters assault the church of San Francisco de Borja, which belongs to the Chilean national police Carabineros.
Tens of thousands took to the streets of the Chilean capital, Santiago, to commemorate the anniversary of the massive wave of protests in the country. It was mostly in a good mood, but there were also riots in some places.
Many of the protesters called for a yes vote Sunday in a referendum to change the constitution, one of the main demands of the year-long protest movement.
– It has been fantastic, great and positive, said Viviana Donoso, one of the protesters, who danced to the drums, and continued:
– The people of Chile must agree and we must believe that we can do things.
The church was vandalized
Many wore mouth guards, but large groups could be seen standing together, raising concerns that the number of crown drops will skyrocket. It was only with the closures due to the pandemic of previous years that protests temporarily subsided in Chile.
Sunday morning the mood was festive, but in the afternoon unrest broke out in some places. Soccer hooligans clashed in one place and in another a church belonging to the national police was looted and burned.
Many eye injuries
The protests a year ago began after a message about the increase in ticket prices on the subway. The demonstrations soon expanded to include frustration over huge income gaps, high costs of living, and a lack of public services, and millions of protesters across the country.
During the year of the protest, several thousand reports of crimes involving various forms of violence were made by the police. According to the Chilean Institute of Human Rights INDH, about 400 people suffered eye injuries, often caused by tear gas canisters fired at protesters.
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