Five people were wounded yesterday, including police agents, during violent protests in the streets of La Herradura and Barrio Lindo in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros in demand for drinking water, electricity and other issues. The injured include civilians Julian Jimenez and Jose Peralta, who were taken to hospital in the Bella Vista barrio in the south of Santiago. National Police Captain Felix A. Villanueva Rodriguez was wounded by a rock, and Corporal Mario Antonio Sime Paez was shot in the face. During the disturbances, five people were arrested, one with a homemade shotgun and several cartridges in his possession. In the midst of the protest, unknown persons set fire to several shops that sold fried meat in the area and destroyed the windshields of some vehicles whose drivers refused to pay a “toll”.
According to Diario Libre, some of the demonstrators, who also called for the repair of the streets, blocked the main roads of La Herradura with burning tires, rocks and tree trunks. Representatives of the local neighborhood association are planning to visit the Santiago Water and Sewer Corporation (Coraasan) to find a solution to the water shortages in the area.