The protesters waved a number of flags, including the rainbow coloured Aimara wiphala flag of the indigenous people in Bolivia and the yellow, red, black, green and white flag of the Mapuche indigenous people of Chile and Argentina.
protesters wore goggles and face coverings to protect themselves from tear gas and rubber bullets.
Protester holding a chilean flag which reads "Wake up, Chile. The dictatorship is called neoliberalism"
Protesters running towards the police barricade to take control of a monumental square formally known as Italy Square and later symbolically renamed Dignity Square by the movement
Someone looking over a wall onto a barricaded street.
During his trip, Merlin met and became close with a lot of people in the movement.
Within days of them starting, the protests spread to all main cities in the country.
Merlin showing off his tattoos which he got from local artists he befriended.
The protest saw a huge participation from indigenous groups that have been historically ignored and discriminated against by Chile's governments.
Even the medical personnel – mostly composed of volunteers – helping injured protesters had to show up in protective gear for fear of the police.
The police sectioned off vast areas of the city to prevent protesters from freely moving through the streets.
Santiago's metro became one of the movement's main targets. Management would shut down all lines exactly at the time of the scheduled demonstrations, making life very difficult for protestors who needed the service to take to the streets.
The police repression was so brutal it was condemned by international organisations including the UN.
Posters of dissidents who disappeared during the chilean dictatorship and never accounted for.
Besides those directly attacked during the clashes or their aftermath, many people were traumatised by the violence they saw happening in the streets.
The protests involved many different groups – student organisations, various political groups but also many unaffiliated young people.
A protester holding a sign protesting Chile's privatised pension system.
Some of the protesters threw rocks at the police in response to their violent repression.
People watching by as the protesters attacked the police's main precinct in Santiago on the 4th of January, 2020
Aurian Merlin Cerise decided to hitch-hike from Buenos Aires to Santiago to meet people on the road and get a sense of where he was heading.
Some of the people Merlin met on his hitch-hiking trip