"The latest protests follow grievances over the cost of living, specifically the costs of healthcare, education and public services. Unsatisfied by partial reforms following widespread education protests in 2011, the metro fare rise has proved the spark that has awoken Chile’s formidable student body, according to psychiatrist and writer Marco Antonio de la Parra.

“Over the past decade, the Chilean state has lost touch with these problems,” he said. “The places that have been targeted tonight are deeply symbolic: transport and energy represent the success of the state and the model it upholds.”

On top of social discontent, anger has also been directed at the Carabineros national police force, once one of the country’s most respected institutions but whose reputation has been eroded by corruption scandals and a reputation for brutality, whose heavy-handed repression of protests has also come under the spotlight."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/19/chile-protests...