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Hi everyone, This is my
post-protest video
I just got back from the student movement
protest in Chile and
I saw lots
of things. First when I
left my hostel right here...well,
right next to this hostel is the Argentine Embassy
and maybe
one block farther down is a big plaza where
the march was starting so
right in front of the argentine embassy there
was
a bunch of policemen standing there
I saw them looking a few people's bags but they didn't say anything when I passed
by.
Then I walked down
to the plaza to meet up with a friend.
He is part of
the Radical Party in Chile so he was there with...
the people from his party
and they had their flag and their sign.
It didn't seem like there was that many...
I mean there was a lot of people but it didn't seem so big at that point.
Maybe 15 minutes later we started
walking, everyone started walking in the same direction
and that's when I started seeing a lot more people
and the farther we walked the more people
came and the more excited people started getting
and more chanting and singing, lots of people with signs, lots of people just
in groups and also just
individuals, couples...everyone walking in the same direction.
So at that point I was trying to get some
interviews...It was kind of hard because people were walking and I was trying to ask them
questions and
be recording at the same time but I got some interviews
and...there were definitely people of all
ages, a lot of people who appeared to be
students but also older people
and a couple a couple kids, families
So we all walked down to
another big plaza and
there I did a couple more
interviews and people were kind of stopped there and then
that is where they had someone...
they had kind of like a balcony and some people were speaking
like some of the leaders were speaking with the microphone...so there were some people there
so we went and watched that for a little
and then we turned around and
my friend said that there was the...
like a big police truck that
was coming in our direction and I could see it coming
and he said, Oh they're coming, they're coming...and then
I was looking for maybe something that...
like violence or something that was going on that the police would be coming
and my friend said that maybe like
down the way farther down the street you could see some fire
and maybe some people were starting fires but I didn't see any...
I was right there and I didn't see any violence or anything
but they were just getting closer and closer, and then people started to notice
they were getting closer and closer even though
before I didn't see any violence
or anything happening but once they started getting closer and closer people started
saying, Oh Police, Police!...
and which is when people started
moving away........Sorry I just got a knock on the door...
So, the police were coming and the people started getting a little more
anxious and started to walk away and some people were running and
more people yelling
and so we kind of walked in the direction away from them
and then I saw down the way where we thought people were maybe starting fires
they were spraying the tear gas out of these
big trucks or machines or whatever they're called...and so
we were kind of just moving away but I also was trying to take a couple pictures,
and then they started getting a little closer and then I saw
a big group of police coming...walking
and then my friend said,
Oh, they got one of them and I turned around and
there was a police man kind of pulling the guy to the ground and he was trying to get away,
other people were throwing things at
them...And then more and more people started coming
which is when I started going in the opposite direction but I saw a lot of people were
coming and
my friend actually said, Let's go see, let's see,
and I said, No, no, you can stay but I'm leaving,
and so we walked farther away
until a point where we could see them but I could see they were coming with the
the tear gas behind them so
at that point I just said I'm
going to take off and how do I get back to my hostel
so my friend showed me and said keep going
so that's when I left..
walking back there was a lot of people
leaving at that point, a lot of people sitting on the grass...
then it was almost like
a couple blocks away
as I got farther away like in the plazas people were just sitting and
enjoying the afternoon and
it was kind of weird because a couple blocks behind me all of this
chaos was going on but
I guess not everyone supports the movement
or maybe they support it but they don't participate in the protests
and then also as I was walking back because I walked all the way back to where
we had marched and there were people cleaning the streets like a bunch of
workers cleaning the streets that
we had just been on where people had been throwing confetti so I imagine
that the city prepares for that
and has those people ready when they know there is going to be a protest to clean
the streets afterward.
So...That was my experience.