SANTIAGO, Chile — Fresh protests and attacks on businesses erupted in Chile on Monday despite President Sebastian Pinera’s replacement of eight key Cabinet ministers with more centrist figures and his attempts to assure the country that he has heard calls for greater equality and improved social services.
Thousands of protesters crowded again into central Santiago, and one group set fire to a building that houses a fast-food restaurant and stores. Firefighters were battling the blaze.
Other looters attacked a pharmacy, and there was an attempt to set a subway station on fire. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people attempted to get home from work on free buses sent to replace trains out of service due to the burning of dozens of stations over the last week in Latin America’s most modern public transportation system.
Pinera replaced the heads of the interior, treasury, economy, labor and four other ministries with generally younger officials seen as more centrist and accessible.
“Chile has changed and the government must change,” Pinera said.
However, his government announced no policies Monday aimed at addressing 10 days of protests over deficient social services and the high cost of living in one of Latin America’s most prosperous and modern nations.
Protesters almost uniformly say they are frustrated with the so-called neoliberal model that has left Chile with region-topping prosperity along with a widely criticized private pension system, and two-tiered health and education systems that blend the public and private, with better results for the minority who can afford to pay.
Many Chileans talk of waiting a year for an appointment with a specialist, or families receiving calls to finally set up appointments for loved ones who died months earlier. Hundreds of thousands are hobbled by educational loans that can follow them into their 40s and even 50s.
Adding to protesters’ anger was a military crackdown on demonstrations and looting that has left 1,132 hurt, with dozens partially blinded by police or soldiers’ gunshot pellets, according to the National Human Rights Institute and the Chilean College of Medicine. The death toll from the 10 days of violence stands at 20, although it is unclear how many were killed by police and how many by looters.
The U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, was sending a delegation to the country Monday to investigate the situation. Amnesty International was also sending a team.
