Clashes in Chile between supporters and opponents of the new Constitution

Demonstrators in favor and against the new Chilean Constitution have clashed this Sunday in the Alameda, the main avenue of the country’s capital, Santiago de Chile, when attendees of both marches met in the center of the city.

According to authorities, following the aggressions that have occurred between participants of marches in favor and against the new Constitution, at least one person has been reported injured and one arrested.

Lieutenant Colonel Gerardo Aravena, prefect of the Central Santiago Prefecture Service, explained that the clashes were recorded when a group of demonstrators called ‘For the traditions of the Chilean countryside’ was moving eastward, while some 300 cyclists in favor of the new Magna Carta were heading westward on the same avenue, as reported by ‘Biobio Chile’.

“In these circumstances, for reasons that are being investigated, a cart ran over the cyclists who were in the place,” said Aravena, who added that one of those run over was injured and had to be transferred to the Hospital de Urgencia Asistencia Pública, known as Posta Central.

Local authorities have subsequently reported that police officers have identified the driver who ran over the cyclists, who has been arrested to be placed at the disposal of the courts.

Both groups threw stones at each other. Several men have explained to TVN channel, as reported by ‘La Tercera’, that the pro-Constitution demonstrators “attacked them first” with stones, so that the horses got “out of control”.

The Chilean government spokeswoman, Camila Vallejo, has reacted to the incidents, indicating that they will not allow “this type of violence.” “We completely repudiate the whip blows that occurred today in Santiago,” she lamented, before urging citizens to demonstrate “without aggression” because “taking care of this process is everyone’s task.”

For her part, the presidential delegate in Santiago de Chile, Constanza Martínez, has announced that they will file a “complaint in view of the serious disorders that concluded with people being run over.” “It is condemnable and unacceptable”, she has assured in a message on her Twitter account.