Fierce clashes as Chile's indigenous protest
- 13 years ago
(ROUGH CUT-NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: Chilean protesters clashed with police on Monday (October 10) as a peaceful demonstration by indigenous groups descended into violence in the capital Santiago.
Organizers said around 12,000 indigenous Chileans, mostly members of the Mapuche community, rallied to mark Indigenous People's Day, which protests the anniversary of the arrival of European explorers in the Americas.
The march started peacefully as the Mapuche called for more rights and demanded the return of ancestral lands they say were stolen from them over the past 500 years by colonizers.
However, violence erupted after hooded protesters began to destroy traffic lights, threw rocks and sticks at policemen and set barricades on fire in the city's main street.
Officers used water cannons and tear gas to break up the demonstration. The protest was the latest in a rash of social unrest sparked by student protests against conservative billionaire President Sebastian Pinera's policies.
The Mapuche, which means "Earth People" in the Mapudungun tongue, have often clashed with police in land rights disputes, with some indigenous people setting fire to crops, trucks and forestry machinery in their battle to reclaim territories.
STORY: Chilean protesters clashed with police on Monday (October 10) as a peaceful demonstration by indigenous groups descended into violence in the capital Santiago.
Organizers said around 12,000 indigenous Chileans, mostly members of the Mapuche community, rallied to mark Indigenous People's Day, which protests the anniversary of the arrival of European explorers in the Americas.
The march started peacefully as the Mapuche called for more rights and demanded the return of ancestral lands they say were stolen from them over the past 500 years by colonizers.
However, violence erupted after hooded protesters began to destroy traffic lights, threw rocks and sticks at policemen and set barricades on fire in the city's main street.
Officers used water cannons and tear gas to break up the demonstration. The protest was the latest in a rash of social unrest sparked by student protests against conservative billionaire President Sebastian Pinera's policies.
The Mapuche, which means "Earth People" in the Mapudungun tongue, have often clashed with police in land rights disputes, with some indigenous people setting fire to crops, trucks and forestry machinery in their battle to reclaim territories.