Why Latin America’s Bloody Protests Won’t Die Out Anytime Soon
Economic inequality, ethnic tensions and police brutality gnaw away at social cohesion.
Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest at Italy Plaza in Santiago, Chile, on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019.
Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/BloombergIt’s called Italy Plaza, a vast traffic circle in the Chilean capital of Santiago. To the north and east live the country’s ultra-wealthy. One way of describing those out of touch with the rest of the country’s grim reality is to say they’ve “never been below Italy Plaza.”
The spot is ground zero for furious street demonstrations that have turned Chile from Latin America’s richest and stablest nation into a test case of profound social unrest. The area, which demonstrators have renamed Dignity Plaza, is coated in layers of graffiti, with most shops looted and shuttered.