Santiago: Chilean riot police on Wednesday clashed violently with protesting students as they marched through Santiago against budget cuts pushed by hard-right President Jose Antonio Kast.
High school students, university students and teachers filed along Santiago’s central Alameda avenue but were blocked from advancing towards the presidential palace by police using tear gas and water cannons.
Protesters threw stones at police, and blood covered the face of one woman who was arrested, an AFP reporter observed.
Kast took office in March as Chile’s most right-wing leader since the end of General Augusto Pinochet’s 1973-1990 dictatorship.
The 60-year-old, having pledged to slash government spending to balance the books and revive the economy, began his term with a three-percent spending cut across all ministries.
Demonstrators who fiercely oppose the measures held signs on Wednesday bearing messages such as: “It’s not belt-tightening, it’s theft.”
“It’s like an attack on the poorest people, because they’re the ones who rely on social benefits, not the people who have money,” 47-year-old teacher Romina Cuevas told AFP.
Kast was elected on a pledge to combat crime and reduce immigration, which his supporters view as linked issues.
During his first-ever presidential address to Congress on Monday, he announced further crackdowns on crime and migration including the creation of a “vandals” registry.
The registry will log people who attack police, health officials or monuments, with those listed losing benefits such as free university education or a state pension.
The announcement came as Kast’s perceived inaction during his first months in office has led to a plunge in his approval ratings.
In May, he fired his security minister and secretary general of the government, who acts as government spokesperson, both of whom had been criticized for poor performance.
Police have not yet released a report about Wednesday’s clashes, but AFP observed at least a dozen arrests taking place.
