Chile Holds 78 After Raids in Hunt for Leftists

Soldiers rounded up more than 2,500 people and arrested 78 of them in raids on the slums of Santiago to search for leftists opposed to the military government, police reported Saturday.

Soldiers armed with automatic weapons and wearing camouflage paint on their faces sealed off two southern Santiago slums Friday. They kept residents from entering or leaving and searched the area house by house.

Witnesses said soldiers rounded up all the men between the ages of 16 and 60 on football fields in pouring rain. Police said that 2,594 men were detained during the sweep and that all but 78 were set free after identity checks.

In a separate incident, soldiers fired into the air to disperse high school students demonstrating against the military government’s plan to decentralize schooling. Police said a 23-year-old woman was shot in the head and was in critical condition.

The raid was the 10th by troops since the government of President Augusto Pinochet began a crackdown on leftists in Santiago’s slums, carrying out mass arrests in a search for urban guerrillas.

Opposition leaders attacked the use of troops and said the raids were aimed at intimidating the civilian population to prevent mass protests against the 12-year-old military regime.