Chile's currency dropped to a record low on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands took to the streets with anti-government demonstrations showing no signs of abating.

Citizens marched peacefully in Santiago, gathering in the capital's Plaza Italia district, brandishing both national and Mapuche indigenous group flags. Nearby, protesters confronted police, who used water cannons and tear gas to disperse them.

Read more: Opinion: Latin America needs solidarity

Demonstrations were also in full flow in the coastal city of Valparaiso as citizens forced government offices and local transport to shut down.

Protesters clash with security forces during a protest against Chile's government in Valparaiso, where a number of government buildings were forced to close down

Chile is one of the wealthier countries in Latin America, but it is also one that has a large disparity between the rich and the poor, which has been cited as one of the main reasons behind the unrest.

Currency drop

Meanwhile, the Chilean peso hit a record low of 784 pesos to the US dollar, while the government has admitted unease at the fall in value.

"It's a sign of concern that we're looking at closely," said Finance Minister Ignacio Briones, adding that the depreciation "is a sign of the instability that we are experiencing."

Watch video 03:55 Share Student leader: Change in Chile long overdue Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3SoTP Student leader: Change in Chile long overdue

jsi/se (dpa, AFP, AP, Reuters)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.