Gas

The spirit of protest is fully awake in Chile thanks to the government approval of the controversial and unpopular Hydroaysén plant in Patagonia and the potential havoc wrecked on this incredible natural wilderness. I wrote about this a week ago and since then dissent has continued to grow with a series of official and non-official demonstrations in in Santiago and other cities. Last Friday 13th saw a massive Facebook and Twitter-organised protest in the city centre as thousands of people, mainly students, congregated in La Alameda to voice their opposition to the project. This had a large effect on the city as, by blocking Santiago´s main thoroughfare and sending the downtown into gridlock, the protesters were able to create civil disturbance through peaceful methods and raise awareness of their campaign.

Or, at least, that was the idea. Unfortunately, things once again descended into clashes between protesters and los carabineros leading to the usual rocks, teargas and water cannons coming out. That evening´s news, and that of the following morning, led with images of violent events in the heart of the city. I wasn´t at the demo but I was close and saw a young, noisy and peaceful section of the demo make its way along Paseo Huerfanos, one of the downtown´s main streets. A few minutes later I heard the teargus cannon. Whether or not this was a legitimate police response to violence and confrontation or a case of police brutality I cannot say. But last Friday night´s events have certainly been on the agenda all this week.

Chileans have not only taken to the streets in protest against Hydroaysén but also over proposed rises in tuition fees (sounds familiar) and in support of Mapuche political prisoners and hunger strikers. On many occasions, clashes with police have occurred. I wrote last week about what I feel is over-zealous policing at best and totalitarian oppression at worst so won´t rehash that blog. However, it is telling that, in the face of widespread anger and high media coverage of recent demonstrations and the authorities' response, the government yesterday announced an immediate suspension of the use of teargas at public events.

The Interior Minister, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, said that 'teargas has been used in our country for decades and the Carabineros of Chile acquire it from international suppliers who conform to the highest standards used by other countries, in order to confront situations of vandalism and public disorder'. This was basically clarification that the authorities had done nothing wrong and were legitimately entitled to gas citizens. If the likes of the United States and Israel do it, it is clearly an acceptable method of crowd control.

In spite of the government´s moral right to employ high-tech weaponry against members of the public it was announced that medical and scientific studies would be carried out to evaluate the health impact before the suspension was lifted. This followed on from the previous week´s claims by Andrei Tchernitchin, a toxicology expert in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Chile, said Israeli studies had found that exposure to teargas could cause a miscarriage within thirty minutes, and could even cause permanent damage to young children.

Hinzpeter went on to say 'I feel that the protection of our compatriots is the principal objective of our government, (and) it seems reasonable to us to suspend the use of teargas until new medical studies allow us to dispel any doubt over the employment of these gases to confront public disorder or vandalism'.

He then appealed for Saturday´s nationwide series of demonstrations against Hydroaysén to be conducted in an orderly and peaceful manner. The way these things tend to pan out, it's unlikely he'll get his wish.

In the meantime, los carabineros released a charming video explaining their continued use of teargas up until this point, in which Major Carlos Ruiz justified things by saying that the types of chemical used are 'authorised by international organisms'. Here´s the video, which features plenty of gritty footage of the police in action:

http://www.3tv.cl/index.php?m=video&v=18522

Aren't they adorable?