

For decades political leaders have promised that free markets would lead to prosperity, which would take care of other problems. The promises came to nothing, and thousands of protesters are chanting, ‘Chile, wake up’. The middle class struggles with high prices, low wages, a privatised retirement system, and the elderly in bitter poverty. A series of corruption and tax-evasion scandals eroded faith in the political and corporate elite. While protests began peacefully over three weeks ago, now there are images of metro stations destroyed, supermarkets looted, and flaming street barricades. There are accusations of torture and abuse by the 200,000 security forces, who have used tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators. Social media is reporting many deaths. The UN is investigating human rights abuses. Two centuries after independence from Spain, the Catholic Christian faith of the conquistadors remains the largest in Chile today. Pray for the Church’s voice of peace and justice to be heard.
Crosswinds Prayer Trust was founded in 1994, at Nailsea, near Bristol in the South-west of England by Canon John Simons. Its aim is to mobilise, inform, connect and equip people in Christian Prayer...
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