Government and business said the stoppage, called by the Central Workers Unit (CUT) to highlight workplace abuses and frustration at fiscal austerity, had had little impact on economic activity.

One centre-right think tank estimated the loss of ouput at between US$45m and $60m, or less than 0.1 per cent of gross domestic product.

The CUT, however, said 90 per cent of its 600,000 affiliates - about 10 per cent of the workforce - had taken part in the strike, which was the first general stoppage since the final years of the military dictatorship in the late- 1980s. Although most public schools remained open, there were no classes, and state-run hospitals and clinics provided a reduced service.

Most government offices, businesses and factories, however, reported an average 90 per cent turnout of workers.

Much of the disruption was caused by striking bus and taxi owner-drivers, on which milions of commuters rely to get to work. There were also clashes between police and molotov-throwing protesters in central Santiago and some provincial centres, which resulted in about 200 arrests.

Riot police were called to some of the capital's poorer neighbourhoods overnight to quell small pockets of violence. There were at least two reports of injuries from gunshot wounds.

Ricardo Lagos, president of Chile, on Wednesday blamed the violence on small groups of agitators, but expressed concern at the damage to the Chile's image as a stable, well-ordered country in a turbulent region.

"The only thing that foreigners will see is the disorder," he said.