Dozens arrested as students protest Chile’s education policies

Chilean authorities arrested dozens of people Thursday, as thousands
of students protested the country’s education policies, police said.

The
march in Chile’s capital began peacefully but ended with tear gas
flying in clashes between protesters and police. At least 64 people were
detained in Santiago, the country’s national police said.

CNN Chile reported that more than 30 police officers were injured — one of whom was hit by a Molotov cocktail.

Waving
banners as marching-band drums played, a sea of about 30,000 people
surged through the capital’s streets toward its central avenue, CNN
Chile reported. Authorities accused protesters of proceeding along an
unauthorized route.

Thursday’s march was the latest in a series
of protests that began weeks ago in the South American nation. Students
have been demanding lower tuition and other reforms in the nation’s
education system.

Last week Chilean President Sebastian Pinera
announced a new plan that included a $4 billion education fund, but his
proposal did little to mollify protesters.

Posters promoting
Thursday’s demonstration showed a picture of am adhesive bandage
alongside the words, “We don’t want more patchwork fixes.”

“We
are waiting for deeper changes,” Giorgio Jackson, president of the
student union at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, told CNN
Chile.

Pinera repeated calls for an end to the protests Thursday.

“I
am convinced as Chile’s president that the moment has come to stop the
violence, the sit-ins, the work stoppages, that have caused so much
destruction and damage, and we will find once again the path of
dialogue, agreements and action,” he said.