Violence erupted on Tuesday in Santiago, Chile, as student protestors and police clashed during one of the largest marches in recent weeks.
According to protest organisers and police, between 50,000 and 130,000 people took to the streets some banging drums, while thousands of others followed the procession masked in black hoods.
The atmosphere at the beginning of the protest was optimistic and cheerful and the march ended in a concert. However, it quickly escalated into violence when some protestors started throwing sticks and stones at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons.
The protestors tried to protect themselves with giant wooden boards behind which they continued to throw objects at the police. Only a few protestors were reportedly arrested.
“It’s (the violent protestors) who are causing harm for everyone. Everything could have gone very well,” said 15-year-old student Javiera to AFP, as she looked on at the masked demonstrators mounted on a barricade.
Protest organisers say the violence at the rallies allows for authorities to criminalize the student movement, which enables them to divert the attention away from the students’ demands which include free and high quality public university education.
This protest also had the backing of the Unified Workers Federation (CUT), who called on members to join the march.
The protest came just two weeks after many students were forcefully evicted from occupying three schools in Santiago.
Students have been rallying in the streets for over a year demanding a reform to Chile’s national education system, which suffered from sharp cuts to its funding during the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Now, it favours expensive private schools that are out of the reach of the poor.
Since 2011 only a handful of demonstrators have gone to court after more than 40 protests. The mass arrests that typically take place during these demonstrations have gathered international criticism from numerous human rights groups.
“I hope that at the end of the day, we speak of strengthening public education … and the end of profit [in private education],” said one of the leading student organizers, Gabriel Boric to AFP.
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