The Chilean Army patrols the streets of Santiago after Sebastián Piñera decreed the state of emergency

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The Chilean Army began deploying in the early hours of Saturday to regain control of public order that broke down in some sectors of Santiago, following the riots this Friday due to protests against the rise in the subway.

This was confirmed by the division general Javier Iturriaga del Campo, appointed as head of the National Defense by the Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, after the president decreed the state of emergency in the province of Santiago - which houses most of the communes of the Metropolitan Region (RM) -, in the province of Chacabuco and in the commune of Puente Alto and San Bernardo, all sectors belonging to the RM.

“The police forces continue to carry out their patrol and control tasks for public road services and control of those sectors that were affected. The military forces are going out now to patrol the city in those most conflictive sectors, ”Iturriaga del Campo told a news conference

The military, who by virtue of his appointment takes charge of the security of the sectors in which the state of emergency governs, stressed that his intention is to "recover normalcy as soon as possible" and asked people to leave their houses.

“I have taken over the control and command of the military forces and the law enforcement and security forces ... and we are mandated to avoid continuing to commit excesses and destruction in the city and, most importantly, recover as soon as possible. rights and freedoms of people so they can continue to exercise their lives normally, ”he added.

The state of emergency implies some restrictions on the freedom of locomotion and assembly for a maximum of 15 days, which can be extended, in that case with authorization from the National Congress, and leaves the security of the areas under which it is assigned to the assigned military The measure governs.

In that sense, the general of the Chilean Army division ruled out for the moment that the curfew will be decreed in these places and explained that the command of police officers is now under military authority. “At this time we have no information that forces us to decree the curfew. That will be evaluated in due course and the corresponding decision will be taken according to the law that empowers me to do so, ”he said.

Iturriaga del Campo also pointed out that "for now" the military will not restrict any personal freedom and that the holding of mass events is authorized, for now.

In the same press conference, held at the Palacio de La Moneda, headquarters of the Executive, also participated the general director of Carabineros, Mario Alberto Rozas, who said that in the day of protests and riots on Friday were deployed in the Chilean capital About 2,000 police officers. During the public order altercations, 180 arrests have been recorded, Rozas added.

The Chilean capital lived on Friday a day of serious altercations due to the radicalization of citizen protests over the increase in the price of the subway ticket, which resulted in fires in various parts of the city, barricades, looting and serious destruction of urban furniture and The suburban network.