Meat riots

The Meat riots in Santiago, Chile in October 1905 were the earliest and one of the biggest riots to take place in Chile.

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.

The riots

The leftist groups had decided not to support the movement;^{[citation needed]} so the authorities, trusting the moderate leaders who were organizing the march, decided to relax security and not take any special measures.^{[citation needed]} 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 40,000 people.^{[citation needed]}

The original intention of the organizers was to ask for an audience and hand a petition to president German Riesco. When the protest leaders were informed that he was not at the palace but at his private residence, they deputized a group to go 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 crowd had not been told that the president was not in the palace and started to grow impatient when he did not appear. A rumour started to spread then that the president was not in Santiago, but on a pleasure trip to the countryside.^{[citation needed]} This was the spark that started the violence.^{[citation needed]} Then the police tried to disperse the masses 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 throughout the city, looting stores and businesses, and killing anyone who looked upper class.^{[citation needed]} The police was overwhelmed and quite powerless (and in some cases even passively supporting the rioters).^{[citation needed]} The army was called in but as it was away from the city on military maneuvers, it only 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.

Bibliography

• La "huelga de la carne" retrieved 03. September 2008