Santander Bank, on the corner of Agustinas with Miraflores.
For the majority of Chileans, yesterday was just a free day, making for a lovely three-day weekend.
For some however, it was a day of destruction and rioting.
Officially known now as "Día del Descubrimiento de Dos Mundos" (The Day of the Discovery of Two Worlds), it is more commonly known as "Día de la Raza" (The Day of Race, Columbus Day), a date remembering the birth of a new identity, a product of Columbus´ "discovery," fusing the indigenous population with Spanish colonizers.
In Chile, the largest group of indigenous peoples (six percent of the population), Mapuche, gather on this day to protest against "the theft, predation and contamination of their territory." As always, it started out peaceful, around 10,000 came out; however, rocks started flying and things turned very ugly.
Around this time, I was leaving my apartment, headed to the metro, which I could not even access due to the powerful tear gas and fear of getting pelted in the head with a rock. As I live in Chile´s financial district, my area was the main focus of the unbelievable destruction. For example, Santander is a Spanish bank, and the one on the corner of where I live had every single one of their windows busted in.
After the Carabineros got everyone under control, I took a stroll to take it all in. I sat and talked with two old men about what a shame it all was. One asked that despite my photos and despite the reality, that I not, as a foreigner, portray Chile as an unstable country where all Chileans act in this manner. I assured I would do nothing of the sort, as I too know that. Unfortunately, the majority of the destruction is done by ignorant youth, not realizing that they´re fighting against major discrimination. According to official statistics, the Mapuche have some of the highest levels of poverty within Chile. That´s why they march and speak out. Busting the windows of major banks serves little purpose, as they will all be repaired by the end of this week.
So this is not how all Chileans act, rather just a few. However in the end, those few are still Chileans, acting as their culture would have it. If peaceful marching only results in being ignored, you can be assured that they will take alternative measures to be heard. I just hope they know why they´re throwing those rocks, to better and equalize a beautiful country.
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