Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera has asked lawmakers to allow troops back on the streets to defend key public infrastructure, despite reports of “abuses” committed by security forces.
Piñera’s announcement came shortly after the international rights group Human Rights Watch, said in a report that police had beaten protesters, shot teargas cartridges directly at them and run over some with official vehicles or motorcycles.
The continuing protests in Chile over inequality and a shortfall in some social services, have left at least 26 dead and thousands injured while grounding the country’s once famed public transport system.