Nearly 100 protestors have been arrested in a demonstration against the neo-liberal economic policy, Chilean police said on Wednesday.
The protest was called by Chile's Unified Workers Congress (CUT) to demand better conditions for workers. Teachers and health workers were the most active participants in the demonstration, which was also joined by students and members of the Communist and Socialist parties.
Socialist Party senator Alejandro Navarro told reporters that he had been attacked by police on horseback during the demonstration,
"I felt a heavy blow on my back. I thought it had been a horse's hoof, but everyone told me it was a policeman on horseback with something in his hand," the senator said.
Most of the conflict occurred in Santiago's Italia Place, where the senator was hit as he tried to mediate between police and demonstrators.
"Under my government, workers can always demonstrate peacefully in pursuit of their rights and demands," Chile's President Michelle Bachelet told media earlier on Wednesday.
The demonstration began early on Wednesday. In the southeastern part of the capital, streets were barricaded. There were power cuts in the northwest.
Chile's Interior Minister Belisario Velasco said, "There have been few problems which were rapidly resolved by uniformed police. All is now normalized."
Source: Xinhua
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