Light Enough To Travel: Student Protests, Gov't Response, Tear Gas & the Banging of Pans

The smell and burn of teargas was in the air today. For months Chilean students have been protesting against the dire state of the educational system -- poor quality, poor funding, incredibly expensive university education that functions more like a "negocio" (a business) than for education.

In the morning the governmental buildings around La Moneda (the presidential palace) were on guard and ready to shut their doors to keep out any protesters. Padded and armed police officers (Carabineros) could be found on every city block.

Twice I had to change direction on my bike, to find a new way home from the centro. The teargas in the air, which forces your face scrunch up, makes your mouth, saliva and the pores on your skin burn, was too strong.

In the afternoon I had to cancel a meeting, because I couldn't get to the metro due to the movement. I figured there would be a problem when a 17 year old asked me where the Salvador metro stop was, the metro that I was going to use. From across the Mapocho river, which runs through the city, I had a clear view of thousands of students and a handful of police trucks spewing teargas and shooting their high-pressure water cannons, and could hear the "pop-pop" of rubber bullets to disarm the crowds. The re-directed traffic moved at a snail's pace around the action.

In the evening I went out on my bike to *cough-cough* to buy some work materials. I had a can of tear gas shot at my feet and high-tailed it out of there, dodging crowds of students and professionals making their way home from the city center. I ate a sandwich at my favorite sandwich place as traffic and people built up in the street outside. The crowd destroyed a window and created a fire from the plastic barricades in the street. I got the hell out of there when the spotlight from the helicopter shone on the crowd and a dozen police officers on dirtbikes approached the action.

As darkness continued to fall on the city crowds of students could be seen gathering on city blocks, and even right outside my apartment. At around 9:30 you could hear the "Cacerolazo" from the streets, the tradition (from the 80's dictatorship) of banging pots and pans in the streets in support of governmental change.

Packs of armored policemen ("Carabineros"), dressed like GI Joe, protecting the downtown.

The Carabineros up close.

Students recovering from the tear gas.

This street is normally very busy during the day.

Large police-truck getting into position.

"Water cannon, fire!" I've heard that the liquid they shoot has some kind of chemical in it to further deter protesters.

Students after just crossing the bridge to avoid the mayhem.

Students in the park. Note the tear gas cloud.

Students in the park. Their running away from the police trucks. A few seconds after this photo this scene was disrupted by large police trucks, billows of tear gas and the "pop-pop" sound of what I beleive are rubber bullets.

Huge group of students in the park across the river. You can see the plume of tear gas in the distance.

A stampede of students running away from the police trucks and tear gas. I was trying to cross this bridge and was caught in the commotion; an exciting yet frightening experience.

Girls biting on lemons to help combat the tear gas.

Re-directed traffic outside my building. Usually we might have 10 cars pass each minute at this time of day.

Joel, the server at my favorite restaurant, watching the door and keeping out protesters.

The scene outside the restaurant door. About 6 busses were stopped by protesters and had to back up and find a new way out. Notice the tear gas at the end of the street.