In Chile, as many as eight people have died in widespread civil unrest that has brought Santiago to a standstill and sparked a violent police crackdown across the country.

The protests began in response to a subway fare hike two weeks ago and have grown into a mass uprising against rising inequality, high cost of living and privatization.

President Sebastián Piñera canceled the fee increase on Saturday, but protests are continuing, with a national strike called for today.

Over the weekend, Piñera declared a state of emergency in Santiago and five other cities, imposing a curfew and sending the military into the streets in response to civil unrest for the first time since dictator Augusto Pinochet’s regime.

Military tanks rolled through Santiago this weekend, and at least 1,400 protesters have been detained.

Francisca Perales, one of the leaders of the newly formed left-wing political party Social Convergence, and Andra Chastain, an assistant professor of history at Washington State University in Vancouver, joins Democracy Now! for a conversation about the massive protests in Chile.

Amy Goodman Chile Democracy Now! Francisca Free Speech TV President Sebastián Piñera