Police Violently Assault Protesters in Chile, Nearly 300 Arrested

Chile's capital dawned this Monday with barricades and protests in several spots, in the known Super Monday, in which the country returns to its usual activity after holidays.

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In different areas on the outskirts of the city, members of the Ukamau community movement demonstrated against the lack of governmental solutions, Doris Gonzalez, spokesperson for the organization said.

Stephani Duarte, a Ukamau spokesperson in the Peñaflor commune, added that this movement, whose claim focuses on recognizing the right to decent housing, stands for continuing rallies in the country so that the government responds to popular demands.

Duarte also said that settlers call for the vote in favor of a new constitution in the referendum convened for April, and granted protests will continue in upcoming days.

Likewise, members of the 'No más TAG' movement, which rejects the higher costs of tariffs for using highways, also made a demonstration onboard their vehicles, to demand that the government comply with the agreements.

In many areas of the city, there were disorders and barricades during the early morning, which turned out in the burning of a public transport bus in San Ramon commune.

On Monday, the government reinforced bus routes of the Transantiago service and security in stations of the Santiago Metro, heavy police presence in those places, as well as in over one hundred points of the city where the traffic lights were left out of service after October 18, 2019.

On Sunday evening, President Sebastian Piñera in an interview on a TV channel threatened to re-establish the state of emergency in the country if necessary.

The Chilean cities of Antofagasta, Temuco and Concepcion also saw outbursts of violence.

The unrest saw the military take to the streets for the first time since the rule of dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Protests broke out in Chile in October and raged until mid-December over social injustices and entrenched inequality.

But the Interior Minister noted on Twitter Tuesday morning that the violence was still significantly smaller in scale and destructiveness than what was seen in October and November last year when protests began.