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Chile police, students clash in banned protests

05 August 2011 04:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Riot police battled high school and university students in the streets of Chile’s capital Thursday, firing water cannons and tear gas and using officers on horseback to break up flaming barricades. Police detained 552 students and at least 14 police officers and two young people were injured, APA reports siting news.yahoo.com webpage.
Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter and other Chilean authorities had warned that Thursday’s marches were considered illegal and would be met with force.
The students, pressing for major changes to Chile’s underfunded and unequal public education system, marched anyway, setting up barricades of burning tires at a dozen points around the city and paralyzing traffic. While many tried to peacefully hold their ground, some hooded demonstrators threw rocks at police cars and passing buses.
"Everything has its limit," President Sebastian Pinera said, warning against the demonstrations.
Hinzpeter added that "the time for marching has run out."
"This seems like a state of siege. I imagine it must have been like this 30 years ago," responded Camila Vallejos, a spokeswoman for the striking university students, referring to Chile’s 1973-90 military dictatorship. "Even the right to congregate in public places isn’t assured."