A peaceful march marking the 31st anniversary of the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet ended in clouds of tear gas and smoke from firebombs as police clashed with masked demonstrators.
The day before, retired General Luis Cortes said that Pinochet was in "the final stage" of his life "living in deep sadness" because of his judicial problems.
He's been stripped from his immunity from prosecution and may be tried on human rights charges. In addition, he is being investigated about the source of up to US$8 million he secretly deposited in a Washington bank.
On Saturday afternoon, police General Hector Henriquez said 25 protesters were detained and six police were wounded. One officer was seen bleeding after being hit in the face with a rock.
As in previous years, renewed protests broke out at night in several working-class districts and slums in Santiago, with demonstrators erecting barricades and setting them on fire at a number of intersections.
Police used tear gas and water trucks in running battles with the demonstrators. A number of protesters were detained. Scat-tered gunshots were heard.
Pinochet spent the day at his suburban Santiago mansion receiving some former aides.
His spokesman, retired General Guillermo Garin, said Pinochet "remains in delicate but stable health condition. He has not had any crisis recently."
On Saturday, about 5,000 people marched 30 blocks from downtown Santiago to the city's main cemetery. At one point, the march passed next to La Moneda, the presidential palace where Salvador Allende, the Marxist president toppled in the coup, committed suicide rather than surrender to the military.
At the cemetery, the demonstrators gathered at a memorial wall erected for the victims of Pinochet's 1973-90 dictatorship. According to an official report, 3,197 people were killed for political reasons under Pinochet.
As the marchers left the cemetery, small groups of mostly hooded demonstrators broke from the march and began throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police, who reacted using tear gas and water cannons.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS