Mass demo in Chile demanding more education aid

Tens of thousands of students and teachers took to the streets in Chiles capital Santiago Thursday in a growing confrontation with the government over education spending that has already results in four months of marches.The demonstration, which organizers said gathered up to 180,000 people, was part of the biggest protest movement Chile has seen since General Augusto Pinochets military dictatorship came to an end in 1990.But Chiles current President Sebastian Pinera, a center-right billionaire who came to power in March last year, was stubbornly rejecting the protesters demands.This week he shrugged off calls for the school year be rearranged, and said that 70,000 high school students pressing that point who refused to sign on for remedial tests to make up course credits had simply wasted a year.That angered students and teachers, and gave new impetus to the protests, which had been dwindling in the past few weeks after months of marches and sit-ins.The breakdown of talks between the students and the government last week also contributed.Thursdays rally kicked off with participants playing musical instruments and wearing fancy dress. The march to the presidential palace blocked traffic in the city centre, home to six million people.Small groups of hooded youths taunted police and threw stones and set tires on fire in the street. Officers responded with water cannon and tear gas.There was no immediate count of arrests or injuries.Organizers said between 150,000 and 180,000 people took part in the rally.