SANTIAGO — Thousands of students took to the streets of Chile’s capital on Thursday to protest proposed cuts to education spending, with clashes breaking out between demonstrators and police in central Santiago.
The protest, organised by major student unions, came a day after President José Antonio Kast’s administration presented its preliminary budget proposal for 2027. Student leaders said government funding for education remained at serious risk despite recent assurances from the president.
Demonstrators gathered at Plaza Italia and marched along the Alameda toward La Moneda, the presidential palace. Police blocked the protesters after they had advanced about 800 metres and used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Some protesters responded by throwing stones, bottles and wooden sticks at police, according to reports.
Chile’s deputy interior secretary said at least 17 people had been arrested following the unrest.
The demonstrations took place after Kast, a conservative leader who came to power in March on a platform focused on fiscal restraint, pledged on Wednesday to maintain free higher education for more than 600,000 students. His administration had previously discussed limiting the programme but later backed away from that position.
Tensions also escalated near the main campus of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where a group of masked protesters reportedly attacked a counter-demonstration by government-supporting students.
The conservative students had displayed a banner reading, “We don’t want a paralysed Chile, we want a prosperous Chile.”
Kast later condemned the violence against students associated with his political movement in comments to the media.
Student organisations have warned that they will intensify their protests if the full budget bill is presented to Congress for debate.
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