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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Tue May 26, 2020, 01:35 AM May 2020

Social Unrest Is Lurking in This Latin American Virus Hotspot

20h ago

Matthew Malinowski, Philip Sanders and Eduardo Thomson, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Chile’s government is struggling to control a coronavirus outbreak that’s pushed hospitals toward collapse and could threaten to revive mass social unrest.

With a population of just 18 million, Chile is reporting new Covid-19 cases at a pace comparable to that of Spain at the peak of the virus’s spread in March, on a per-capita basis, and resources are close to maxed out in Latin America’s wealthiest economy. In Santiago, the nation's capital, 95% of intensive care beds are occupied, and hospital patients are being airlifted to other parts of the country. Adding to the public health dilemma, the current crisis has highlighted the inequality and poor public services that drove millions of protesters to the streets last October.

“Coronavirus is testing Chile’s health system, which is already deficient,” said Dr. Jose Miguel Bernucci, the national secretary of Chile’s medical professionals association, in a WhatsApp message. “It is another symptom of the shortcomings of Chilean society.”

The country was still recovering from last year’s wave of anti-government riots when the pandemic hit, and now President Sebastian Pinera finds himself in a delicate situation. With social upheaval fresh on their minds, government officials walk a tightrope locking down Santiago to slow the virus spread, at the risk of stirring more discontent.

More:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/social-unrest-is-lurking-in-this-latin-american-virus-hotspot-1.1440702

You may recall the Chilean police were inclined to aim for the eyes of the protesters, and many young Chileans were blinded during that sadistic period. What kind of perverts would even think of doing something like that?

~ ~ ~

DECEMBER 4, 2019 / 6:02 AM / 6 MONTHS AGO
Blinded by rubber bullets, Chilean student becomes rallying point for protesters
Aislinn Laing, Gabriela Donoso
3 MIN READ

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Protesters against Chile President Sebastian Pinera’s government have rallied around a student blinded by police rubber bullets and his family hopes a photo capturing his injuries will increase international pressure on the administration.

Gustavo Gatica’s name is shouted at police, borne on placards and scrawled on walls around the city.

Gatica, 22, was taking pictures of a protest when he was hit on Nov. 8. His case became a lightning rod in Chile for fury directed at police for alleged widespread human rights abuses during more than six weeks of demonstrations over social inequality that have left at least 26 people dead and 13,000 injured, according to prosecutors and human rights organizations.

He is one of two known cases of people left completely blind but at least 241 Chileans have suffered from eye injuries during the protests, according to Chile’s Institute for Human Rights (INDH).

More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-protests-blind/blinded-by-rubber-bullets-chilean-student-becomes-rallying-point-for-protesters-idUSKBN1Y81GW

~ ~ ~

Hundreds of Chileans blinded by police since protests began

More than 200 protesters have been blinded by pellets fired by state security agents. The National Congress has bowed to a key demand of the monthlong rallies and ordered a referendum on a new constitution.



The principle medical organization in Chile announced Thursday that well over 200 people have lost their sight, either partially or completely, due to being shot by pellets fired by state security agents during protests in the South American country.

Of those, at least 50 people will require prosthetic eyes said Dr. Patricio Meza, vice president of the Medical College of Chile. "This means that the patient doesn't only lose their vision, but they lose their actual eye."

Additional statistics from the medical body showed that the average age of victims is 30. In a large majority of the cases, the wound is caused by the impact of a lead or rubber projectile on their eyes, the Medical College confirmed.

"We are facing a real health crisis, a health emergency given that in such few days, in three weeks, we have had the highest number of cases involving serious ocular complications due to shots in the eye,"

More:
https://www.dw.com/en/hundreds-of-chileans-blinded-by-police-since-protests-began/a-51260524



ETC., ETC., ETC. ...........

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