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EDUARDO GALLARDO, Associated Press Writer
August 30, 2007 1:12 PM
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Police arrested at least 750 people in clashes that extended through the night in Chile's capital as a protest demanding higher wages led to looting, officials said Thursday. Police said 98 people were injured.
The protest was called by Chile's largest labor federation to demand better conditions for workers frustrated that they haven't received a greater share of the nation's economic boom.
But it grew increasingly violent, with riots and looting in working class neighborhoods.
Police used water cannons and tear gas against the demonstrators who sheltered behind barricades of flaming tires. Police said some protesters fired guns and hurled gasoline bombs. Power was knocked out in some areas because protesters threw chains over electric power cables.
''Never mind how just the demands are,'' President Michelle Bachelet said Wednesday night. ''We will not tolerate violence.''
Interior Minister Belisario said ''no more than 5,000 people'' took part in the protest.
Authorities said Thursday that at least 48 police officers and 50 demonstrators had been injured, and about 750 people detained. Most were quickly released, but the government said several would face charges, including one demonstrator who threw a gasoline bomb at police.
Union leader Arturo Martinez called the protest ''a success for Chile's workers,'' and urged the government to hold talks about their demands for higher wages and better health, education and other services.
Belisario said the government is open to dialogue.
Bachelet's 15-month-old government follows mostly free-market policies with strict fiscal discipline that critics say holds down government spending despite a windfall from high prices on the copper Chile exports.
AP-WS-08-30-07 1600EDT
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