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Child Latest Victim of Chile Violence as Strike Begins

Agence France-Presse

   SANTIAGO - A four-year-old child was killed during the latest round of
   protests against economic inequality in Chile, raising the death toll
   from five days of social unrest to 18 as unions launched a general
   strike on Wednesday.

   The child and a man were killed on Tuesday when a drunk driver rammed
   into a crowd of protesters, Interior Undersecretary Rodrigo Ubilla
   said. A third person died after being beaten by police, according to
   the victim's family.

   The news came as a two-day strike called by the country's largest union
   began despite Chile's President Sebastian Pinera announcing on a
   package of social measures aimed at stemming protests that have at
   times turned violent.

   "THE STRIKE IS ON! We say it loud and clear: enough of the increases
   and abuses," the Workers' United Center of Chile (CUT), which organized
   the action alongside 18 other social organizations, tweeted late
   Tuesday.

   Pinera had apologized in an address to the nation for failing to
   anticipate the outbreak of social unrest, adding that his government
   had "received with humility and clarity the message Chileans have given
   us."

   He vowed to increase the universal basic pension by 20 percent, cancel
   a recent 9.2 percent increase in electricity bills and propose a law
   that would see the state cover the costs of expensive medical
   treatment.

   "I recognize this lack of vision and I apologize to my compatriots,"
   Pinera said in an address from the presidential palace in Santiago
   following a meeting with some of Chile's opposition leaders.

   Pinera also pledged a state subsidy to increase the minimum wage from
   301,000 to 350,000 pesos ($482) a month and said the government would
   introduce health insurance for medication, which is among the most
   expensive in the region.

   Worst violence in decades

   Since protests against a now-scrapped hike in metro fares escalated
   dramatically on Friday, Chile has experienced its worst violence in
   decades.

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