Meat riots

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Meat riots (Santiago - October, 1905) was the earliest and one of the biggest riots to take place in Chile.

[edit] Background

The price of meat was kept artificially high by the government, by means of the combination of a special tariff applied to cattle imports from Argentina, in order to protect the domestic producers, and a runaway inflation. These factors put the price of the product beyond the financial means of a high percent of the population. To protest against the high price of meat, the worker's associations and the newspaper El Chileno called for a public march in Santiago, to converge upon La Moneda presidential palace.

[edit] The riots

The leftist groups had decided not to support the movement; so the authorities, trusting the moderate leaders who were organizing the march, decided to relax security and not take any special measures. The march finally took place on October 22, 1905. By the time that the march arrived peacefully to La Moneda, it came as a general surprise when it had already swelled to more than forty thousand people.

The original intention of the organizers was to ask for an audience and hand a petition to president German Riesco. That day he happened not to be at the palace, instead being at his private residence. When the protest leaders were informed, they deputized a group to go to his home and meet him there. He received them quite amiably and after a brief chat, kept the petition, giving his word that he would study it and respond in due time.

In the meantime, the people had not been informed of the absence of the president from the palace and started to grow impatient when he didn't appear. A rumour started to spread then that the president was not in Santiago, but on a pleasure trip to the countryside. This was the spark that started the violence. Then the police tried to dissolve them, but they fought back and tried to storm the presidential palace first, and Riesco's house later. The police responded by shooting at the crowd, and riots ensued.

After they failed in their attack, the violence lasted for almost a week, in what was called the Meat riots or the "red week". The rioters spread out throughout the city, looting stores and businesses, and killing anyone who looked upper class. The police was overwhelmed and quite powerless (and in some cases, even passively supporting the rioters.) The army was called in, but it was away from the city, on military maneuvers. It only managed to arrived on October 24, under the command of Lt. Colonel Roberto Silva Renard, who immediately imposed martial law upon the city.

The riots lasted until October 27, and between 200 and 250 people were killed over this period, while more than 500 were injured. The financial losses were staggering. This revolt emphasized that the social problems were far more serious than what the authorities believed.