CIVIL UNREST

Death Toll Rises to 15 in Chile as Protests Erupt for Fifth Day

About half of Chile’s 16 regions remain under an emergency decree and some were under military curfew.

The Chilean government raised the death toll to 15 as violent protests raged throughout the country for the fifth day in a row, according to the AP. Unrest broke out last week when a 4 percent increase in subway fares led to students jumping over turnstiles in protest, and the next day demonstrations turned violent as protesters started setting fire to subway stations and buses. Chileans are now demanding improvements in education, health care, and wages. President Sebastián Piñera announced a program Tuesday night calling for slight increases to the lowest incomes and increased taxes on the wealthiest in the country in response to the demonstrations. However, about half of Chile’s 16 regions are under an emergency decree and some were under military curfew, the first time a curfew has been used since the country returned to democracy in 1990.