At least 29 people were arrested this Sunday, October 18, during the march marking the seventh anniversary of the social uprising in Santiago, according to CNN Chile. The outlet adds that several police officers were injured. So far, no other outlet has independently confirmed the information.
The figure comes from a preliminary report by Inspector General Manuel Cifuentes Quezada, head of the Metropolitan Zone police, according to the outlet.
According to that report, the demonstration drew between 2,500 and 2,800 people. The march set off peacefully from Plaza Baquedano and proceeded along Alameda at around 13:00.
Later, a group of masked protesters moved to the front of the march and attacked police with blunt objects and Molotov cocktails, according to the police report cited by CNN Chile.
Those arrested include a person accused of throwing an incendiary device at police officers, another accused of violent robbery at a business and a third accused of vandalizing security cameras. The report does not provide their identities.
A police officer suffered a facial injury from a pyrotechnic device. According to the police, there is still no final injury count. The source also does not say whether any civilians were injured.
For now, the 29 cases are at the detention stage. This means that police have arrested these people, but a judge has yet to review the cases. Detainees usually appear at a detention review hearing, where a pretrial judge reviews whether the arrest was lawful. At that hearing, the Prosecutor's Office can formally notify them that they are under investigation. The source does not report the date of those hearings or the position of the Prosecutor's Office or the Public Defender's Office.
Police will maintain preventive operations throughout the afternoon and evening. Once the operations end, the police will issue an updated report with the final number of people arrested and injured.
