President Sebastian Piñera condemned the violence that marked the first anniversary of the social uprising in Chile and called on citizens to come in droves to vote in Sunday's constitutional referendum.
About 30,000 people, according to the government, gathered on Sunday in Plaza Italia in Santiago, the epicenter of the social protest that arose a year ago, on October 18, 2019, after an increase in the price of the metro ticket.
Read also: Chile: strong mobilization for the first anniversary of the social revolt
While the gathering took place in a festive and peaceful manner, violence broke out at the end of the day, which resulted in the burning of two churches.
"Yesterday, we Chileans saw two behaviors and two realities," said the president.
On the one hand, tens of thousands of Chileans who demonstrated peacefully and, on the other, “a minority of criminals who unleashed a wave of violence, looting and vandalism, including the burning of two large churches. historical and heritage value ”,
he added.
In total, around a hundred acts of degradation and violence have been recorded by the police throughout the country.
More than 600 people were arrested and 118 police officers injured.
“These criminal acts must be condemned by all of us who believe in democracy and want to live in peace.
And we must condemn not only the perpetrators of these criminal acts, but also those who, in one way or another, promote them, protect them or justify them, ”
said Sebastian Piñera.
The demonstration took place a week before the organization of a historic referendum in which the Chileans are called upon to vote on a change of the Constitution, a strong demand of the protest.
More than 14 million Chileans will be called upon to vote for or against the drafting of a new Constitution to replace the current one, voted in 1980, under full military rule.
The conservative president, who has not publicly declared whether he supports “I approve” (Apruebo) or “I reject” (Rechazo), called on Chileans to vote.
"We are calling, with great enthusiasm, each of our compatriots to participate and vote in the referendum next Sunday, because all positions and all opinions count and are important in a democracy,"
said the president.
Polls predict a large "I approve" victory.