Protesters Clash with Police Over Pro-Pinochet Documentary
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AFP/Getty Images(SANTIAGO, Chile) — Demonstrators protesting against a government-sponsored documentary that praises former General Augusto Pinochet have clashed with police in Chile, BBC News reports.
Police forces used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters outside of the Caupolican theatre, and made several arrests. The former general ruled the nation for 17 years, after a coup against democratically-elected Marxist president Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973. Thousands of citizens were tortured, arrested, killed or forced into exile throughout his 17-year reign. He died in 2006.
Relatives of victims have asked President Sebastian to ban the documentary, “Pinochet,” calling it insensitive and saying it glorifies the dictator’s vicious regime. Organizers say it intends to show the general as he really was, and not as the media portrayed him, according to the BBC.
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