Forecasts were met and, after eleven a.m. on Sunday, October 18, 2020, the first people came to demonstrate in the vicinity of Piazza Italia. On the first anniversary of the social outburst, with flags and flares, people continue to reach the so-called “ground zero” of the conflict and more protesters are expected to join during this day in Santiago.
During the morning, on the outskirts of the Teatro Universidad de Chile, the Bordando Dignidad Collective was the first to arrive and embroidered a sign precisely with the word that last year renamed the sector where the statue of General Baquedano is located. Dignity could be read on a canvas while the square was guarded by troops from Carabineros Prefecture of Public Order Control (COP).
After the hours, the usual biked in Parque Almagro, heading east, also developed, in addition to some activities in the vicinity of the Mapocho River and on the outskirts of the National Library.
Carabineros, for his part, unveiled traffic diversions that will be implemented for this day. As noted by the institution on Twitter, collective locomotion should take Balmaceda, Artisans and Bellavista. While private vehicles must drive through Bilbao, Curicó, Tarapacá and part of Avenida Vicuña Mackenna.
Shortly before 11.30 a.m., Carabineros intervened with lanzaagua carts to disperse the first protesters in the place. But then he chose to withdraw from the perimeter of The Baquedano Square, replicating the new strategy applied in the sector to avoid confrontation.
During this time, in the absence of uniforms, the monument to General Baquedano was repainted, which had been repainted in the early hours of Saturday.
After noon the music began to play, and the song “The Dance of the Leftovers” was heard on the spot.
The Baquedano Metro station closed its accesses to enter or exit, both for L1 and L5. However, it remains operational to make a combination.
One of the episodes that has left the day was starring the communist mayor of Recoleta, Daniel Jadue, who came to participate in the commemoration of the first anniversary of 18-O, but had to retire after being disbelieved by some protesters. “I spent more than an hour and a half sharing until a truck with people arrived and two people came down to try to insult us and provoke us. I didn’t react and decided to retire (…) Those who say we couldn’t get to Plaza de la Dignidad are lying,” he told Chile.
The government looks from afar
As Plaza Italia becomes increasingly crowded, the Minister of Interior and Public Security, Víctor Pérez, together with undersecretaries Juan Francisco Galli and Katherine Martorell, held a coordination meeting, via zoom, with all the mayors of the country. President Sebastián Piñera joined the event telematically.
The interior authorities delivered some guidelines and called on the mayors to maintain permanent contact during this day.
The Government reiterated this morning the call to demonstrate peacefully. Yesterday, Minister Perez called for “isolating vandalos” in demonstrations, while Undersecretary Galli said today that “we expect people to understand that we are in a completely different context, a context in which a very important election event for our country is missing a week, secondly we are in pandemic times, so the call is to prudence and demonstrations that are peaceful” , reiterated the undersecretary.
Moreover, although it was worked during the week, President Sebastián Piñera’s possible speech on Sunday on the first anniversary of the start of the social outburst was rejected – for now.
