translated from Spanish: Piñera called on Chileans to define thename between “crime or democracy”

The President of the Republic Sebastián Piñera spoke after the emergency political committee that took place amid the protests initiated by the rise in the price of the metro in Santiago, but which have reached several cities along the country during this day. On the occasion he noted that the government would already be working on a plan to “relieve” the impact that the price of public transport passage rises to “the most vulnerable sectors” and the middle class. In that sense, he stated that “the perpetrators, the violent, the criminals who have caused all this harm, will pay for their guilt and that is why we have invoked the State Security Act” and added that “today is time for definitions. Here all Chileans have to define which side we are on: on the side of violence, crime, vandalism, or on the side of democracy, peace, public order of citizens.” The Chair also noted that “there are political forces that do not have that definition: by somehow supporting vandalism, or on the other hand not taking responsibility for the consequences” to conclude by stating that “This is not the subject of political ideology: on the one hand there are vandals and on the other hand the vast majority of Chileans who want to live in peace.”

Original source in Spanish