Thousands of students descended on downtown Santiago Wednesday for a massive protest march meant to be the culmination of two days of roiling street protests for education reform. Students early Wednesday began milling around the Plaza Italia, usually a venue for major sporting events, and in front of the University of Santiago - the two gathering spots for this most recent of numerous youth-led protests to be held in the Chilean capital since May.
The re-launch of the protests after several weeks' hiatus comes after talks between the government and student leaders broke down. The Chilean Students Confederation called for the two days of protests with the backing of some 70 other organisations, including the country's largest labour confederation and a teachers organisation.
But the demonstrations have been marred by violence, as hooded protesters on both days erected barricades and set tires ablaze across the city, prompting police to respond with tear gas and water cannons. The government denounced the violence and the destruction of private and public property and said it would impose strict new security measures in response to the burning of a bus by protesters on Tuesday.
Police said some 260 people had been detained by early Wednesday, and that eight police officers had been hurt in two days of skirmishes. "The government strongly condemns these acts," said Deputy Interior Minister Rodrigo Ubilla. The students, Ubilla said, should "find another way to express their views that doesn't involve violence and destruction, which does nothing to advance the dialogue," Ubilla said. The protests are Chile's biggest since the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship more than two decades ago.