CHILE: Police clash with high school students
published: Wednesday | August 9, 2006

SANTIAGO Chile (AP):

Police used tear gas and water cannons Tuesday to scatter about 2,000 students protesting in a Santiago suburb, but the govern-ment said the surprise demon-stration was unrelated to the massive student protests that rocked Chile in May and June.

The students, who were demanding more resources for 21 schools in the Santiago suburb of Maipu, started the protest peacefully by marching toward the regional office of the Education Ministry. But they soon began throwing rocks at police and passing cars, and destroying traffic signs. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons. The clash lasted for about one hour. There were no immediate reports of injuries.