| Violence Marks Chile's 9/11 | |
| Rioters and police clash during anniversary of 1973 military coup | |
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Marcelo Mackinnon (pelarco) 
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On Sept. 10, nearly 10,000 citizens showed up in front of "La Moneda" (the Presidential Palace) in Santiago, the capital. Initially, the march advanced peacefully and orderly. Then it passed next to La Moneda. Someone threw a Molotov cocktail against one of the windows, setting the curtain on fire. The blaze was quickly extinguished by the palace staff. Next, a fistfight broke out between the communists and the anarchists, since the former wanted to march peacefully but the latter always express their views violently.
President Michelle Bachelet (herself a member of the Socialist party) condemned the firebomb attack, "Our people did not die 33 years ago for this to happen."
The march continued to Santiago's main cemetery, where it stopped at a monument in memory to the citizens who were killed by Pinochet's forces. Later that night, riots broke out in the poorer suburbs. Thousands of disaffected and unemployed youngsters set up barricades of burning tires. They fired automatic weapons and threw stones at the police who were sent to disperse them.
On the morning of Sept. 11, students took control of the University of Santiago, blocking traffic with barricades along Bernardo O'Higgins Avenue, the most important thoroughfare in the city. This year, the university students were joined by hundreds of primary and secondary schoolchildren, who have also been staging violent protests since May of this year. All the students covered their faces with T-shirts and handkerchiefs in order to avoid identification by the police. The main weapon these students used against the police was the Molotov cocktail.
As of last year, the Molotov cocktail is considered a lethal weapon. Under a new anti-terrorist law, anyone caught using these firebombs faces a sentence of 3 to 10 years in prison. The right-wing opposition criticized the government for not applying this law against the 79 citizens (54 of them minors) who were arrested over the last few days. Instead, they will carry out "community service" sentences such as painting walls and cleaning up streets. At the university, anti-riot police discovered a cache of 90 Molotov cocktails that had been stockpiled by the students in their classrooms.
The most violent clashes occurred on the night of Sept. 11, as youngsters from the poorer suburbs took to the streets. They threw chains against electric cables in many parts of the city, causing a massive blackout that left 200,000 homes without electricity. They then set about looting shops and other premises. As the police deployed to clear the streets of the burning cars, tires, and other obstacles, they were frequently fired upon with automatic assault rifles.
The police are extremely concerned about this situation, as this is the first time that these weapons have been used since the end of the Pinochet regime. They are still investigating the origin of these weapons. Until now, only the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR) used automatic assault rifles, mainly M-16s. In 1990, the FPMR gave up its armed struggle and now works through political action. The FPMR organized a meeting on the night of Sept. 11 at the Victor Jara Stadium, a sports arena where the popular folk singer the stadium is named after was murdered by the military some days after the 1973 coup. This gathering of people was also dispersed, by the water cannons of the anti-riot police.
The authorities are also concerned about the increasing participation of anarchist groups, which at the moment are united under an umbrella organization called the Revolutionary Anarchist Trend (CRA). The CRA first made itself known during the violent protests that shook Santiago in 2004 when U.S. President George W. Bush visited Chile for an APEC meeting. The anarchists can be identified by their black flags and violent attitudes. They always end up attacking public and private property, such as traffic signs, billboards, and American fast food restaurants.
In a TV interview, an anarchist explained that they are against "U.S. imperialism, capitalism, the Chilean state, and the current society in general."
It is frequent for Anarchists to burn Chilean and American flags during their public appearances, mainly on May Day and other dates of political significance. The Chilean authorities are now preparing for the next showdown with the Anarchists, scheduled for Oct. 12 -- Columbus Day.
2006/09/13 오전 11:07
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