A young demonstrator was shot and injured on Friday March 25 in Chile during a student parade, the first demonstration to be faced by the new president Gabriel Boric, 36, himself a former student leader.
"A young man was injured as a result of a gunshot
," Interior Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve said, adding that it was the weapon of a
"traffic officer , not a member of law enforcement
.
The vital prognosis of the victim, hit in the chest and aged 19, is not engaged.
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Police say the officer fired his service weapon in self-defense when he and other colleagues diverting car traffic were attacked by a group of hooded assailants.
"It is very important that the work of maintaining public order is always accompanied by the protection of human rights," said government spokeswoman Camila Vallejo.
"This implies the great challenge that the government faces (...) the reform of the Carabineros"
, the law enforcement forces, an institution implicated for violence committed during the social uprising in 2019.
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Clashes also took place with the police who used tear gas and water cannons.
“Boric, listen, join the fight
,” shouted the cohorts of students as they passed the presidential palace in La Moneda.
The demonstrators are demanding an increase in the amount of the food card granted to them by the state.
"This scholarship has not been increased in line with inflation for twelve years,"
Ale, a 21-year-old law student, told AFP.
“If Boric is president today, it is thanks to the student movement”
, estimated Sebastian, a student in the same field.
Ten years ago, Gabriel Boric, also a student at the Faculty of Law in Santiago, led demonstrations calling for free, quality public education in Chile.