CHILE: At Least 12 Injured, 67 Arrested During Patagonia Dams Protest In Santiago.

AFP/ In ESPANOL ONLY

     Police in Santiago arrested 67 people during a protest of some 30,000 against the construction of 5 dams in Patagonia.
     At least a dozen protestors were reported injured during the melee with water cannons.

CHILE: 13 Injured, 251 Arrested In Coup Anniversary Protests.

LAHT/      A protest turned violent in Santiago as 13 were injured, including 9 police, with 251 arrested on the 37th anniversary of the 1973 military coup. Some demonstrators in outlying areas erected burning barricades and looted stores, causing power outages that left about 100,000 residents without electricity.   This, however, was the “quietest (11Sept.) in the last 10 years,” said Gen. Jose Luis Ortega.

CHILE: Riot Police Tear Gas 3,000 And Arrest 15 Students In Education Protest.

LAHT/    Police arrested 15 after using tear gas and water cannons to scatter 3,000 students in downtown Santiago protesting the new conservative Pinera government's education policy. The mostly college age protestors demanded that the government increase public spending, eliminate the profit motive from education and lower tuitions at state universities.

CHILE: Mammoth Quake's Tragic Results: At Least 700 Dead, 2 Million Displaced.

BLOOMBERG Summary with BBC /LATIMES UPDATES/    Chileans are only just beginning to comprehend the earthquake's devastation while still  being shaken by more than 100 aftershocks. Concepcion, the nation's second largest city and closest to the epicenter, is the hardest hit. Many autos are strewn about on roads blocked by telephone and power cables and a new quake-code 14-story apartment building collapsed. Major seaports are out of operation. Cellphone and internet service is spotty. But the airport in Santiago has reopened. Officials say public transport is returning to normal. One metro line in Santiago is operating. Roads are also passable there. Looting has broken out in the most heavily damaged areas, where residents lack water and electricity. Crowds broke into supermarkets in Concepcion making off with food, water and diapers but also television sets. Several banks were also looted. Police in armored vehicles sprayed looters with water cannons and made several arrests, mostly young men.  The initial cost estimate is shocking -- one casuality expert estimates total damage at between $15 and $30 Billion USD -- 10-20% of GDP.

CHILE: Massive 8.8 Earthquake Strikes In Early AM; Hundreds Dead.

BLOOMBERG/   President Michelle Bachelet has declared a "state of catastrophe" and appealed for calm after an earthquake struck at 0634 GMT, 70 miles NE of Concepcion and 200 miles SW of Santiago. It is the biggest quake to hit Chile in 50 years and one of the biggest temblors anywhere in more than 100 years. It unleashed a tsunami that roared across the Pacific at 550 miles per hour -- the speed of a jet plane. Since 1973, the USGS reports that there have been 13 seismic events of 7.0 or greater in Chile. President-elect Sebastian Pinera told reporters that “this earthquake is a massive blow to Chilean society."

Proposed Giant Statue Of Late Pope Riles Chile.

GLOBAL POST/
A 40-foot-tall bronze statue of the late Pope John Paul II will tower over a bohemian Santiago neighborhood. But the statue has sparked outrage. Some call it the "Popesaurus." And not even the Catholic Church supports the project.

Thief Crushed To Death In Botched Chile ATM Robbery.

A thief died and two others were seriously injured Friday after being crushed by an ATM that they had stolen from a gas station. As they were getting away in the early morning, an empty bus smashed into their truck.

Dozens Of Dominican Rape Victims Refuse To Testify.

LAHT/
More than two dozen victims of a serial rapist arrested in Santiago are refusing to file complaints against him because they fear their husbands will leave them if they learn they were raped.
Police arrested a man in connection with 34 rapes in Santiago between June and September.
Police allege that Carlos Miguel Henry Patiña Santana, 30, pretended to be a taxi driver so that he could get the victims to get into his car.
“Machismo in Latin America is so huge and the Dominican Republic doesn’t escape it. Few men who share a life with a woman will understand something so difficult and traumatic that’s happened to her. So as not to abort the marriage, it’s preferable to keep silent,” said the victim, a teacher who also did not provide her identity.

Chilean Man Hangs Himself While Pictured Chatting Online.

LAHT.
A 26-year-old man in Santiago, Chile hanged himself in front of a Web camera while chatting with his ex-girlfriend, who saw it all happen.