By Xinhua
Santiago : One person was killed and 232 arrested in violent overnight clashes between Chilean police and demonstrators commemorating the “Day of the Young Combatant”, the country’s Vice Interior Minister Felipe Harboe said Sunday.
Rene Palma, 26, died of knife wounds after being attacked by angry demonstrators accusing him of being a police informant, Harboe said.
He said demonstrators had been peaceful during most of Saturday, but left-wing extremists in working-class neighborhoods in the capital became violent as night fell.
Police said the clashes were less serious compared with previous years.
Harboe said those who were caught carrying arms or Molotov cocktails will face charges. Others will be released after police checks their identities and addresses.
The protest was organized as part of the annual commemoration of the killings of two young leftist brothers, Rafael and Eduardo Vergara Toledo, on March 29, 1985, during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet made an appeal to avoid violence during the scheduled protest.
“There is no reason whatsoever for violence,” she said. “The best tribute to the two slain brothers is to respect the rules of democracy.”