SANTIAGO, Nov 20 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — While President Sebastian Piñera called on all Chileans to build peace, police repression continued and was reinforced against mostly peaceful demonstrators.
The number of seriously injured people continues to rise due to the excessive and indiscriminate use of ‘deterrent weapons’ by the special police forces.
Among the most recent complaints, a young man on Monday was admitted with a life-threatening injury to the Carlos Van Buren Hospital, in the city of Valparaiso, after being shot in the neck.
Also in Santiago, a student from the Catholic University was shot in the head while on campus in the San Joaquin commune and was also hospitalized, as reported by Belen Larrondo, president of the student federation.
About 10 protesters were forced to jump into the Mapocho River on Monday evening to evade a police ambush as they withdrew from the Plaza de la Dignidad (Baquedano) at the end of a peaceful rally of thousands of people.
The University of Chile’s legal defense reported that it had received 88 accusations against police in the last week, 66 of which are for the indiscriminate use of pellets and rubber bullets to repress protests, including six shot at children, the majority causing head, face and neck injuries. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
