In Chile, anti-government protests turned tumultuous, disrupting South America’s largest music festival in the resort town of Vina del Mar. While protests have been ongoing in Chile over the past several months, the clashes erupted into violence in late February 2020, with protesters burning vehicles and breaking shop windows. Chilean police responded by deploying water cannons and tear gas and ultimately arresting 15 people. The government has condemned the protesters’ actions, blaming them on “radical groups” who “want anarchy, disorder and violence.”
The protests originally began in the fall of 2019, with demonstrators citing inequality in the country, high healthcare costs, and an underfunded education system as their reasons for taking to the streets. The police have responded with heavy-handed tactics, further angering the protesters. The Chilean government has promised to consider changes to the country’s constitution, but many Chilean citizens consider this insufficient as they seek more systemic changes.
GRI classified political unrest as a Top Global Risk of 2020. To learn more about why we believe that political unrest will continue into 2020 and what the risks of ongoing upheaval are, read our insight here.
