A Chilean Air Force (FACh) Hercules C130 aircraft took off at 4.55 p.m. local time Monday from the southern city of Punta Arenas and lost radio contact at 6.13 p.m. on its way to Antarctica, according to a press release from the defense authorities. The US built airplane was carrying 38 people on board, 17 crew members and 21 passengers.
Chilean consumer prices barely budged amid unrest in November, the government said on Friday, with inflationary pressure from a downward spiraling peso offset by one-time cuts in electricity rates and public transportation fares.
The football federation in Chile has announced it is to cancel the rest of the season due to security concerns following weeks of anti-government protests. All matches were suspended when the violence began six weeks ago.
Chilean lawmakers agreed late on Wednesday to fast-track reforms to beef up security, warning that a resurgence in violence and vandalism was threatening to derail the country’s 30-year-old democracy.
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.
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 finance minister warned on Tuesday of the “grave consequences” for the nation’s economy of three weeks of often violent unrest after the peso slid 4% to hit a historic low against the dollar. Ignacio Briones said the weakening of the peso was a “sign of worry” that he and his colleagues were watching very carefully.
Around 75,000 people took to the streets in Santiago on Friday as part of ongoing anti-government protests in Chile. Local press reported the mostly peaceful demonstration as the second-largest since the protests broke out three weeks ago.
Chile's President Sebastian Piñera on Thursday announced a series of measures to tighten public order in the wake of three weeks of anti-government protests that have left at least 20 people dead.
Chile's president said on Wednesday his government had “nothing to hide” concerning allegations that police killed, tortured and sexually assaulted civilians during deadly protests against him. Prosecutors say five of the 20 deaths recorded in the protests against high living costs were suspected to have been at the hands of security forces.