Chile police round up 2,000 after riots

May 16, 1983

Soldiers and military police sealed off two working class suburbs of Santiago this weekend and rounded up more than 2,000 people. The move was part of a search for extremists said to have provoked antigovernment demonstrations last week. The same day, Chile's military government banned the country's leading independent radio station from broadcasting news programs, saying its reporting was partially responsible for the violence. The latest riots follow months of growing opposition to military rule amid a worsening economic situation.