A month of intense protests against inequality and police repression in Santiago have transformed the Chilean capital’s streetscape into a caterwaul of graffiti whose messages reflect the deep discontent in this once genteel Latin American city.
In 2014, Michelle Bachelet a Socialist swept into Chile’s presidency for a second time on a program of radical reform of tax, education and pensions. She also aspired to enact a new constitution that would guarantee “more balance between the state, the private sector and society”, as she told your columnist over tea at the Moneda presidential palace. She argued that her “struggle against inequality” was the last chance to deal with discontents that, if neglected, could push Chile towards populism.
The elected government of the Falkland Islands announced that a new era has opened Islands with the inaugural Second Flight from São Paulo, Brazil, touching down this Wednesday afternoon at Mount Pleasant Airport.
Argentine federal judge Luis Rodriguez ratified on Tuesday the green light for Latam's flight, beginning this Wednesday, linking Sao Paulo in Brazil and Cordoba with the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, after throwing out a request to suspend the link.
Chile's gross domestic product grew 3.3 percent in the third quarter of 2019 compared with a year earlier, the central bank said on Monday. The market had predicted relatively strong growth during the July through September period, citing improving prospects for the country's all-important mining industry.
Walmart has sought court orders for police protection in protest-wracked Chile after more than 120 of its supermarkets were looted or burned. The Chilean subsidiary of the US-headquartered retailer lodged orders with courts in six Chilean cities, saying the attacks on its stores had put its staff's safety and jobs at risk, gravely affected its ability to operate in the country and caused it enormous economic damage.
Chilean lawmakers agreed on Friday to hold a referendum next April on replacing the country’s unpopular Pinochet-era constitution, bowing to demands of protesters who say the country’s decades-old social model has created deep inequality.
Demonstrators gathered in Chile's public squares on Thursday for another round of protests, which have paralysed daily life for almost a month. This time protests were pegged to the anniversary of a young indigenous man Mapuche, who was shot dead by police in circumstances that are still under investigation. At least 24 people have died and thousands injured in clashes between protesters and police.
Chile's central bank announced a US$ 4 billion injection to stop a currency slide that saw the peso reach historic lows on successive days this week. The peso fell to 820 to the dollar at the close Thursday, breaking the 800 Pesos milestone.
Running away as shots rang out, Carlos Vivanco turned to see where they were coming from. Then he felt his left eye closing and his face dripping with blood. The 18-year-old student had become one of the scores of people hit in the eyes, and in some cases blinded, by police rubber bullets in Chile's recent wave of anti-government protests.