The 2019–2020 Chilean protests are characterised by widespread

eye injuries Physical or chemical injuries of the eye can be a serious threat to vision if not treated appropriately and in a timely fashion. The most obvious presentation of ocular (eye) injuries is redness and pain of the affected eyes. This is not, however ...

, including many

globe rupture Open-globe injuries (also called globe rupture, globe laceration, globe penetration, or globe perforation) are full-thickness eye-wall wounds requiring urgent diagnosis and treatment. Classification In 1996 Kuhn et al. created the Birmingham ey ...

s ("exploded eyes"), among protesters as result of Chilean riot police's use of

rubber bullet Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Altho ...

s and tear gas grenades. Data from the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) shows that the use of rubber bullets and pellets by security forces has left at least 1,863 injured, including 268 with eye problems. According to the Chilean Ophthalmology Society, this is the highest number of injuries of this type registered during protests or in conflict zones in the world. In late November, security forces announced the suspension of the use of rubber pellets as a crowd control method in the protests. The INDH updated figures at the end of January 2020 reporting that 427 persons had received eye injuries at the hands of the police. Almost 90% of the injured are men. As of early January 2020 the age of injured goes from 14 to 59 years, and averages 28 years. UTO, the Ocular Trauma Unit () of Hospital del Salvador has treated the majority of eye injuries. By November 18 it was estimated that nearly 30% of the cases of eye injury that had occurred in the context of the protests involved "exploded eyes", a trauma for which there is no remedy, and results in complete blindness of the affected eye. Monday October 21 is reported by ophthalmologist Mauricio López as one of the days with most eye injuries, that day Hospital Salvador received twenty cases of which ten alone came in the span of a single hour. The high command of the Chilean police ordered an end to the use of supersock cartridges on October 31. Despite this and other initiatives declared by the high command the number of severe eye injuries in November was about the double as in October. As a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, many of the injured were reported to be unable to continue their treatments for some time. In cases where the injured went to hospital for treatment and supervision, some had to share rooms with COVID-19 patients. Bandaged eyes had become so common among those who attended protests that they became a symbol for protesters. Among protestors the injured are considered "martyrs" and "proof of police brutality". The eyes bandages featuring in the "

A Rapist in Your Path "A Rapist in Your Path" (), also known as "The Rapist Is You" (), is a Chilean feminism, feminist performance art, performance piece that originated in 2019 to protest violence against women. The performance has garnered international attention a ...

" performances are references to the victims that have experienced eye injuries 2019–2020 Chilean protests. Singer-songwriter

Nano Stern Nano Stern (born in Santiago de Chile, March 30, 1985) is a Chilean singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer of the "third generation of Chilean singer-songwriters" who appear after the 1990s. His work is linked with popular song movements and h ...

released the song ''Regalé mis ojos'' (lit. "I gave away my eyes") on November 19 paying homage to Gustavo Gatica, who lost both eyes in the protests.

Álex Anwandter Álex Anwandter Donoso (born March 24, 1983, in Santiago) is a Chilean singer-songwriter, musician, and Feature film, film and music video director. He became popular as the vocalist for the band Teleradio Donoso (2005–2009). In 2010, he began ...

covered one of his eyes in homage to the injured during the

Olmué Festival The Olmué Festival () is a music festival that has been held annually during the 3rd week of February in Olmué, Central Chile. The first edition dates back to 1970 being televised for the first time in 1984. Relative to the Viña del Mar Internat ...

in January 2020. Anwandter then added that he hoped that "this time, in difference to the inochetdictatorship, there will be accountability. And the politically responsible, such as Piñera, will pay." During

Mon Laferte Norma Monserrat Bustamante Laferte (born 2 May 1983) better known as Mon Laferte, is a Chilean and Mexican musician, singer, songwriter and painter. Her musical style is diverse, spanning across different genres such as pop, rock, bolero, cu ...

's show in the

Viña del Mar International Song Festival The Viña del Mar International Song Festival () is an annual international music festival held every third week of February in Viña del Mar, Chile. Started in 1960 it is the oldest and largest music festival in Latin America, and one of the long ...

members of her crew covered their eye in reference to the eye injuries.

Fabiola Campillai Fabiola Andrea Campillai Rojas (born May 17, 1983) is a Chilean Senate of Chile, Senator known for losing her sight in a case of police brutality in the 2019–2022 Chilean protests, 2019 Chilean protests. Life She is a former worker and fire ...

and Gustavo Gatica, two well-known victims, were part of

campaign advertising In politics, campaign advertising is propaganda through the media to influence a political debate and, ultimately, voting. Political consultants and political campaign staff design these ads. Many countries restrict the use of broadcast media ...

for the "Approve" option in the

2020 Chilean national plebiscite A constitutional referendum was held in Chile on 25 October 2020. The referendum asked the citizens whether they wanted a new constitution to be drafted, and if so, whether it should be written by a constitutional convention made up of directl ...

held on October 25, 2020. Gatica subsequently received a string of offers to run in the

2021 Chilean Constitutional Convention election An election for the members of the Constitutional Convention (Chile), Constitutional Convention was held in Chile between 15 and 16 May 2021. This election was called after 78% of voters in the 2020 Chilean national plebiscite, 2020 national pleb ...

which he declined. In November 2021 Campillai was elected senator for

Santiago Metropolitan Region Santiago Metropolitan Region () is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Most commercial and administrative centers are loc ...

with 15% of the valid votes in the

2021 Chilean general election General elections were held in Chile on 21 November 2021, including presidential, parliamentary and regional elections. Voters went to the polls to elect a President of Chile, president to serve a four-year term, 27 of 50 members of the Senate ...

, receiving more votes than any other candidate in her district. She celebrated her election in

Plaza Baquedano Plaza Baquedano, commonly known as Plaza Italia, is a major landmark in Santiago, Chile. The plaza was inaugurated in 1928, being crowned by a monument made by Chilean sculptor Virgínio Arias and featuring General Manuel Baquedano, giving th ...

. The government of

Gabriel Boric Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean politician and the President of Chile since 2022. He previously served two four-year terms as a deputy in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies. Boric first gained prom ...

has established grace pensions of 515,672

Chilean peso The peso is the currency of Chile. The current peso has circulated since 1975, with a Chilean peso (1817–1960), previous version circulating between 1817 and 1960. Its symbol is defined as a letter S with either one or two vertical bars super ...

s for those who sustained an "irreversible ocular trauma" in the context of the protest. The National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) has criticized the uncertainty regarding if these pensions are compatible with disability pensions.

Causes and responsibilities

200px, Mario Rozas, Director General of Carabineros de Chile, Chile's main police force and the force in charge of riot control. Analysis of the composition of the rubber pellets used by Chilean police shows that 80% of the pellets is made up of hard substances such as silica and barium sulfate while rubber makes up 20%. The measured hardness of the rubber pellets is 96.5

shore A The Shore durometer is a device for measuring the hardness of a material, typically of polymers. Higher numbers on the scale indicate a greater resistance to indentation and thus harder materials. Lower numbers indicate less resistance and sof ...

. The hardness of the pellets explain why "exploded eyes" are so common. Police sources cited by

Ciper Ciper also known as CIPER Chile is a Chilean alternative media of digital journalism. Ciper is the Spanish acronym for "Journalistic Investigation Center" (''Centro de Investigación Periodística''). It is a nonprofit organization A nonpr ...

indicate the shotgun munitions being of the brand " supersock", containing

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and reaching velocities of 82 m/s. Between October 18 and late December Chilean riot police shot 152 thousand rubber pellet cartridges of which 104 thousands were fired in the first two weeks of protests. As each cartridge has 12 pellets it means that 1.25 million pellets were fired in the first two weeks. A survey of 19 people who suffered eye injury shows that 9 of them recall Chilean police aiming directly at their face. The fact that fewer cartridges were fired in November relative to October but that the number of eye injuries doubled from one month to another imply police may have deliberately aimed to injure protesters. An estimate by astrophysicist Nestor Espinoza shows that if the rubber pellets were fired truly randomly against people the number non-eye injuries would be in the order of 750,000. It has been suggested that contributing factors to excessive police violence are the label of "

non-lethal weapon Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than convention ...

" which would have misled police regarding the harm potential of weaponry, and a lack of respect among the police officers in the field for the authority of

Mario Rozas Mario Alberto Rozas Córdova (born 2 February 1967) is a Chilean Carabineros de Chile, Carabineros officer, who was general director of that institution from December 22, 2018, to November 19, 2020. Biography He was born in the city of Linares ...

the Director General of Carabineros. A police officer identified in the press as "G-3" is accused to have used his rubber-pellet shotgun in an abusive manner against protesters in different times and places in late 2019. "G-3" is investigated for the complete blinding of Gustavo Gatica on November 8. According to

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

it is "unacceptable that the high command of the police tolerated that high ranking officials such as "G-3" made repetitive improper use of their weapons. By not taking measures to impede for this Subprefect G-3"and his subordinates to continue operating outside established protocols and international norms, the high command of the police contributed to one of the most regrettable episodes of recent Chilean history." After an internal police investigation on June "G-3" was fired, for manipulating evidence recorded in his corporal GoPro camera.

Political responsibilities

200px, Funeral of journalist Mónica Echeverría in January 2020. Her last wish was to wear an eyepatch in homage to the injurees. Eye injuries were one of the topics addressed during the

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

of Minister of the Interior and Public Security

Andrés Chadwick Andrés Pío Bernardino Chadwick Piñera (born 2 January 1956) is a Chilean right-wing politician and lawyer, member of the Independent Democrat Union (UDI) party. He began his political career as a supporter of the Pinochet dictatorship, and wa ...

in November 2019. On November 20 Ministry of Health

Jaime Mañalich Jaime José Mañalich Muxi (born 7 June 1954) is a Chilean physician (nephrologist), and former Health Minister. He held the position during the first Piñera government (2010-2014) and assumed the role again in June 2019 until he was replaced in J ...

declared to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

that there was twelve persons with the loss of one eye and about thirty with serious injuries. The President of the Chilean Medical College

Izkia Siches Izkia Jasvin Siches Pastén (born 4 March 1986) is a Chilean physician and politician, who served in 2022 as Minister of Interior and Public Security for President Gabriel Boric. She was the first woman to hold that position, the second most ...

made also declaration to the congress regarding eye injuries, expressing her belief that police has not followed the protocols on the use of rubber bullets. On December 11, 2019, the impeachment motion was passed in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

effectively barring Chadwick to hold public office for five years. An attempt to launch a similar impeachment process to destitute President

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean businessman and politician who served as President of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022. The son of a Christian Democratic Party (C ...

was rejected on December 12 as

unconstitutional In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...

in the Chamber of Deputies.

Victims with complete loss of vision

As of January 31, 2020, INDH counted 29 people who had suffered the complete loss of vision in one or both eyes. Some of these victims are: *Gustavo Gatica a 21-year old psychology student from Santiago. Gatica was blinded in both eyes by police identified in the press as "G-3". Gatica was blinded in November 8 and returned to

, the focal point of the protest Santiago, on March 11 amidst applauses from protesters. *A 16-year old from Coquimbo Region. He suffered the complete loss of vision in one eye as result of an

ocular explosion An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the eye ...

caused by the impact of shotgun rubber pellets on November 11, 2019. The teenager reports to have taken shelter against tear gas in a

bus stop A bus stop is a place where Public transport bus service, buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelter (building), shelters ...

when he leaned out his head to look out for his cousins when he was hit. According to his testimony he was subsequently thrown to the ground by a policeman and had then his head pressed against the ground by the boots of second policeman. The 16-year old was taken to the Coquimbo Hospital by police and recalls that police officers contradicted his version claiming to him that he was hit by a stone. In the same incident police would also have made commentaries about raping, killing him and hitting him. *Manuel Véliz a 21-year old

construction worker A construction worker is a person employed in the physical construction of the built environment and its infrastructure. Definitions By some definitions, construction workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers ...

from Santiago. Before the protests he had been

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (hu ...

since September. Véliz recalls that having participated in the protests the previous week on Friday November 15 he was returning home after having gone out to search for work. In the afternoon he encountered the protests and was subsequently shot in eye by police at 7:10. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance together with Fabián, another protester injured in the eye. Véliz stayed hospital until November 17. Fabiola_Campillai_2021

, a 36-year old worker and firefighter. On November 26 she was hit by a tear gas grenade permanently losing the sight in both eyes and the senses of

olfaction The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste. In humans, ...

and

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

. Campillai was going to her nighttime work when she was hit by the grenade. She was accompanied by her sister, Ana María, when the incident happened. Ana María immediately confronted the police squad who shot the grenade, but had a grenade shot next to her causing her dress to catch fire. As the police denied Fabiola aid, Ana María shouted for help to which a neighbour reacted and brought Fabiola to hospital in his car. The next day police showed up outside Ana Marías house aiming to bring her to the police station, without showing any valid

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a jud ...

, which Ana María rejected after consulting with her lawyer. As of June 19, 2020, no suspect had been identified, but then on August 14, 2020, two police officers were fired for their involvement in the case. Both the officer in charge of the squad and the one who shot have been identified, and the latter brought to justice. The involved officers deny having aimed at her body or noticed that Fabiola had been injured. *Diego Lastra, medical student. Lastra was celebrating

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

in Plaza Italia when he was struck by a tear gas grenade. He fell to the ground and was then moved around in the ground by the shoot of a

water cannon A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining. ...

. Lastra suffered the complete loss of vision in his left eye. *Matías Orellana, schoolteacher. Orellana was hit by a tear gas grenade in Valparaíso at 4 o'clock in morning of January 1, 2020. He was hit while walking in the street with a group of friends while they passed through a zone where there was a police operation in relation to protests was taking place. The resulting injuries led to the complete loss of vision in one eye. *Patricio Pardo Muñoz. Pardo was hit by rubber bullets fired by Carabineros in late October in

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

. On that occasion he was shot at a short distance and one rubber bullet entered his head through his face. Albeit that bullet did not make him blind it posed a threat since physicians were unable to remove it. Pardo had a new incident on November 27 when he was taking part in a protest in Valparaíso. There was hit by a tear gas grenade in his right eye causing the permanent loss of vision in that eye. Pardo was reported to have been depressed as result of his injury and committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in December 2021. He was 26 years old at the time.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eye injury in the 2019-2020 Chilean protests Police brutality in South America Political violence in Chile 2019 in Chile 2019 protests 2019 riots 2019 crimes in Chile 2010s in Santiago, Chile 2020 in Chile 2020 protests 2020 riots 2020 crimes in Chile 2020s in Santiago, Chile Disability in Chile October 2019 crimes in South America October 2019 in Chile November 2019 crimes in South America November 2019 in Chile December 2019 crimes in South America December 2019 in Chile January 2020 crimes in South America January 2020 in Chile Protests in Chile Riots and civil disorder in Chile

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Carabineros de Chile 2019–2020 Chilean protests Health disasters in Chile Police brutality in the 2020s Law enforcement controversies in Chile fr:Manifestations de 2019-2021 au Chili#Blessures oculaires

Causes and responsibilities

Political responsibilities

Victims with complete loss of vision

See also

Notes

References