Argentina's Embassy in Chile was the target of an attack from protesters on Tuesday night, according to reports.
The group surrounded the residence and tried to enter, forcing Argentina's Ambassador in Santiago José Octavio Bordón and others inside the diplomatic building to evacuate, according to local news channel Telefé.
Similar events took place at the Embassy, located in the Chilean capital, the previous Friday, as part of the violent protests that have persisted in Chile for 25 days.
Demonstrators threw rocks and tried to force entry for almost 30 minutes before they were taken into custody by local police. They also set a nearby cafe on fire. According to information from Telefé, when they tried to speak with the ambassador, they were told they were already being evacuated.
"We are inside. A restaurant just 50 metres away is burning. They entered the grounds between the residence and the museum. It's reached a half-hour that they've been trying to enter. We are here resisting," said Bordón in a conversation with Clarín, just minutes before being evacuated.
Last Friday, the ambassador was evacuated as a precaution. "They entered. There were a few people, they entered and broke glass...It's a worrisome time. It was a disaster," he said to Perfil before midnight.
The 25th day of protests brought clashes between protesters and the Chilean police in Santiago while hundreds of thousands of people protested in the capital as well as elsewhere in the country.
As protests seek to highlight inequality within Chile, the peso reached a historic low. It has collapsed by 3.1 percent. Meanwhile, the Bolsa de Comercio de Santiago fell 1.57 percent. Experts believe this can be attributed to fears about the economic impact of the prolonged social crisis.
That afternoon, just blocks away from Plaza Italia, a group of hundreds of protesters was broken up by police using tear gas and water jets. There had been fires and looting.
In the southern city of Concepción, protesters set the site of regional governance on fire and faced off with the police while various stores were pillaged in Viña del Mar and Valparaíso in the centre of the country.
– PERFIL
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