Student protests occur in Santiago over new economic policies

On Thursday, thousands of high school and university students demonstrated in Santiago, Chile, to protest the austerity measures introduced by President Jose Antonio Kast. The government has ordered a 3% reduction in current expenditures across all ministries, including education, as part of a plan to cut total public spending by six billion dollars over 18 months. Proposed policy changes include potentially ending free access to higher education for students over thirty years old. During the protest, police used water cannons to disperse participants in the city center. Demonstrators expressed concern that these initial budget cuts are a precursor to further rollbacks of social rights. While the administration frames these cuts as necessary for fiscal consolidation, political opponents argue that the spending goals are incompatible with maintaining current social programs.