The 31st National Women’s Summit (ENM) ended in rubber bullets and tear gas.16 people were hurt after police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the protesters in front of the city’s Cathedral, in Rosario, Santa Fe province. The incidents happened at 10 PM and several women were arrested.
A group of male Catholics were praying in front of the Cathedral, which was sealed off from the public. A group of demonstrators broke off from the main column of the ENM march of around 70,000 participants. The demonstrators demanded legalized abortion, an end to human trafficking.
The group broke off from the demonstration started throwing things (bottles and stones) at the fence surrounding the Cathedral.
Many people were hurt including several journalists who were hit with rubber bullets to the face and head. 10 police officers were treated for injuries sustained from projectiles and six people for injuries caused by rubber bullets and breathing difficulties from the gas. “There were two policemen on either side of the Cathedral but when they started throwing things, they came out of the church and started firing,” said one witness. The Archbishop of Rosario, Eduardo Martin tried to distance himself from the praying counterprotesters, saying he “does not know any of them personally” and thinks that “they came from outside Rosario.”
This is not the first time that the ENM has seen violence and controversy. In the march in Mar del Plata last year, violence also broke out in front of the city’s Cathedral. Edited from The Bubble
Comments