PHOTO "Chile is at war": Military patrols in Santiago for the first time since the fall of Pinochet

Chilean President Sebastian Piñera has declared the country "at war" after three days of rioting and looting in which seven people lost their lives, the biggest social unrest in decades.

"We are at war against a powerful and merciless enemy, an enemy that respects no one and nothing and is ready to use violence and crimes without any restrictions," Piñera told reporters yesterday.

Yesterday, for the second night in a row, a curfew was in effect in Santiago from 19.00:06.00 to XNUMX:XNUMX local time.

In addition to the capital, a state of emergency was declared in several regions, as well as in other largest cities.

General Javier Iturijaga, whom Piñera tasked with restoring order on Friday, called on citizens to remain "calm" and not to leave their homes.

Riots continued yesterday, and in the afternoon demonstrators clashed with the police in the center of Santiago, while looting took place in other parts of the city.

Firefighters said that five people died when a fire broke out during the robbery of a clothing factory, while two more died in the night between Friday and Saturday in a supermarket fire.

Two people were shot and hospitalized in a "serious" condition, following an incident with the police.

There are almost 10.000 policemen and soldiers on the streets of the capital of Chile.

Military patrols are moving through Santiago for the first time since the fall of the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

According to the authorities, a total of 1.462 people were arrested, 644 in Santiago and 848 in the rest of the country.

After three days of violence, the center of Santiago, like the centers of other large cities such as Valparaíso and Concepción, looks devastated.

As a result of the curfew, hundreds of flights from the airport in Santiago were canceled, so thousands of passengers remained blocked at the terminals during the night.

Protests began on Friday over an increase in the price of metro tickets in Santiago.

It is the most developed subway network in South America, which transports around three million passengers daily.

On Saturday, Piñera suspended the decision to raise prices, but the protests continued, fueled by popular anger over social-economic conditions and inequality in a country praised for its political and economic stability but where health and education are almost entirely in the hands of the private sector.

Gallery