Reports vary but there was anywhere from 1.5m to 2.0m people in Plaza Italia on Friday. And that in a city of 5.5m where more than 40% are under 15 or over 55.
So, 3m or so available to protest, and around 2/3rds were doing so.
A huge proportion are students, of course, but even so.
The ones suffering the most are the poorer people working manual and low level jobs whose finances are such that they need their pay every week.
They cannot be fired for not going to work, but they won't get paid. Never mind that theirs are the boroughs most destroyed, with few remaining shops, metro stations or anything else.
This is mostly because Santiago is split very clearly into different boroughs (communas) and each has a different profile. If one generalises then there is a line across town which is essentially Apoquindo above which are the better off people.
There is no metro above that line, since nobody in those areas would use it. There are buses, but sufficient really just for the maids, gardeners etc. So not only is it difficult to get there, the Carabineros and Military have drawn very definite lines in the sand.
Consequently the riots happen in the communas of the very people most suffering.
Ridiculous, but there you are.
The curfew has been suspended so movement at night is now permitted. The majority of the protests are now peaceful. However my impression is that there is still a substantial amount of violence and clashes, but that the media are simply not reporting it. It is difficult to know for sure.
Pinera (the President) is making some gestures, including firing most of his cabinet, but it's all meaningles crap. It is the system which is broken, not the current incumbents.
And Chileans believe that you can demand and be given change. They seem unwilling to understand that they too must change and put effort into that change. Rich or poor, Chileans do not respect each other. And therein lies their fundamental problem.
On Saturday I went out to watch the Rugby at a bar owned by a friend of mine. The curfew finished at 4.00am. We left he house at 4.15, giving the extra 15 minutes to make sure it was clear in everybody's mind that we were allowed out.
It was eerie. Santiago is a very noisy place normally, it never stops. Irritatingly noisy. That morning it was totally and utterly silent. Driving the streets was remarkable. We got to the bar, had to go down an alleyway to the side door, a gentle tap and we were in.
The bar was not legally open so we had to be careful. And aside from the legality there is always the fear that you will become a target. Though as a general rule Chileans quite enjoy ioting late at night bur they don't like to get up early for it.
So there we were, a group of gringos, loudly drinking and watching the rugby like the world was normal.
Then around 7.15 ish we sneaked back out the sidedoor into a totally silent city, and slunk back off home.
Quite surreal.
BTW, if you lot have had quite enough of Chile and are bored, then do say so. I don't need to keep putting all this stuff in here if it doesn't interest you..
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