Chilean protesters run with Molotov cocktail bottles to throw at police during a student demonstration in Santiago on Wednesday, June 26, 2013.<\/p>\n
More than 100,000 students have taken part in a nationwide protest rally in Chilean capital of Santiago against government educational reforms as the event turned violent by clashes between some protesters and police.\n<\/p>\n
The violence during the Wednesday protest march began when groups of hooded protesters reportedly hurled Molotov cocktails at a police station and blocked rush-hour traffic along some major roadways, according to an AP report.\n<\/p>\n
Riot police then responded to the violence using water cannons and tear gas.\n<\/p>\n
This is while the Chilean Interior and Security Minister Andres Chadwick slammed the protest violence as \u00c5\u201ccoordinated acts\u201d by \u00c5\u201ccriminals and extremists.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cThey are not students, they are criminals and extremists,\u201d said Chadwick in a press conference. \u00c5\u201cThey\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve acted in a coordinated and planned way to provoke these acts of violence.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While police authorities have not disclosed the number of arrests made during the daylong demonstration, they announced that at least three of their officers were injured in the violence.<\/p>\n
No figures have so far been released on the number of protesters injured in the melee.\n<\/p>\n
According to report, teachers, dockworkers and copper miners also joined the students in the national protest, which was timed ahead of Chile\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s presidential primaries on Sunday.\n<\/p>\n
Demands of protesters ranged from reform of the education system that would put the state back in control of the mostly privatized public colleges and universities to a wider distribution of Chile\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s copper wealth.\n<\/p>\n
Student leaders further demanded a change in the nation\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s tax system so that wealthier individuals would pay more.\n<\/p>\n
The march was part of a 24-hour strike called by the National Convention of Students. Students have led regular demonstrations since the protest movement began in 2011.\n<\/p>\n
However, after two years of student protests that often paralyzed the country\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s major cities and stoked expectations of change, Chilean students say they have noticed few benefits.\n<\/p>\n
This is while the dispute over education reform remains a major electoral issue ahead of the nation\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s presidential vote next November.\n<\/p>\n
MFB\/MFB<\/p>\n<\/div>\n