The recent protests in Chile are attributed to an increase in the cost of passage in the public transport system, which came into effect on October 6.
In response to this measure, Chilean students went out to demonstrate on the streets of the capital, Santiago. The protests spread to the main cities of the nation, such as Valparaíso and Concepción.
-13 to 16 October: Students and other users of the Santiago metro carried out massive evasions of the payment of the passage, in protest against the increase in the price of this public transport service.
-XXX October: Hundreds of young Chileans have protested across the country, calling for “massive evasion” of subway system fees. According to media reports, state security forces repressed the demonstration, leaving six people injured.
That same day, President Sebastián Piñera decreed a state of emergency in various provinces of the country and announced the start of a dialogue to debate the increase in the fare for transport tickets.
-19 October: The head of Chilean National Defense, Javier Iturriaga del Campo, announced a curfew in Santiago.
Faced with the unrest generated, the nation's capital woke up protected by the military, specifically the provinces of Santiago and Chacabuco where the state of emergency was applied by the president.
For its part, the Chilean Port Union called for a general strike within the framework of the social mobilizations that were taking place.
Subsequently, Piñera reported on the national network the suspension of the increase in subway passages.
-XXX October: The mayor of the metropolitan region, Karla Rubilar, reported the death of three people during the protests after a fire broke out in a supermarket in the city of San Bernardo.
Iturriaga del Campo announced a new curfew in the metropolitan region and the communes of Puente Alto and San Bernardo, Santiago de Chile (capital), which hundreds of Chileans challenged.
The Chilean Chamber of Deputies approved the bill presented by the president of the nation, Sebastián Piñera, which cancels the increase in the prices of subway tickets.
-XXX October: Chile's mining and port unions called a general strike in support of the demonstrations against the Piñera government.
Local authorities reported that the death toll in the protests amounted to 11 people. Police forces continue to suppress the mobilization.
The School of Journalism of the University of Chile issued a statement criticizing the coverage and approach of open television channels in the framework of the massive demonstrations.
-XXX October: The death toll rises to 17 during the day of mobilizations.
The Chilean National Prosecutor's Office indicated that there were more than 5.400 detainees.
President Piñera announced a series of economic and political measures to contain the protests.
-23 October: This Wednesday the Chilean people are scheduled to start a 24-hour general strike.
Why so much impact in Chile due to the increase in the metro ticket?
It should be noted that the minimum salary in Chile is 301.000 pesos (US $ 423); while, according to the National Statistics Institute of Chile, half of the workers in that country receive a salary equal to or less than 400.000 pesos (US $ 562) a month, BBC reports.
With this salary, the protesters allege that a rise in the subway passage is inconceivable.
The price of the rail system increased from 800 to 830 pesos at peak hours -representing an increase from $ 1,13 to 1,17-, which will impact the 2,8 million users who transit daily with this means of transport.
With information from Telesur.
Photos: Xinhua / Telesur / Sputnik
