“We invite all people to return to their homes to evaluate the measures the government has announced and look after their families and their homes,” General Javier Iturriaga del Campo said, announcing a mandatory curfew between 10pm and 7am on Saturday night.

The president earlier stopped short of calling a curfew – but in order to defuse tensions promised that his government will reverse the contentious price hikes for metro rides introduced early October.

Santiago is under a state of emergency since Friday night, when crowds of protesters clashed with riot police, set fires, looted and destroyed public infrastructure in the capital – and the violence risked spilling to other Chilean cities.

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