The fatalities occurred in an incident involving rioters and a runaway truck. Police said they were investigating who could be responsible for the deaths of two women, ages 19 and 23, who were run over by a truck. Several other people including a child were injured and reported to be in critical condition.

Chilean news media said the casualties might rise because of continuing unrest that cut off routes between regional capital Punta Arenas and the rest of Chile.

Traffic flow in and out of Punta Arenas was blocked by rioters and then police action to isolate pockets of protest and try and detain people suspected of leading the protests.

At least 32 people were arrested in early police action and more arrests were reported by Chilean news media but not confirmed. Some of those arrested were later released.

Discontent in the economically hard pressed southern region of Chile came to a head as the government announced reduced subsidies on fuel as part of an economy drive.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera assumed the presidency amid optimism -- and a multibillion-dollar cash surplus -- but his plans were thwarted by a February 2010 earthquake and continuing effects of the global economic downturn.

Roadblocks, street fires and looting marked the first three days of unrest, Chilean radio reports said. Much of the urban center in the Magallanes region remained closed.

Response to strike action against the subsidy cuts remained patchy. The Asamblea Ciudadana Magallanes called for a strike to force the government to reverse its decision on reduced gas subsidies.

Despite early government warnings the armed forces would be called upon to restore calm, no army presence was reported during the demonstrations. Officials indicated the government decided to exercise restraint rather than force a confrontation between the protesters and the government.

Punta Arenas Gov. Vladimiro Mimica said he regretted the violence. "It was never the spirit of the people of the region to have violent demonstrations," he said.

But neither the regional government nor the administration of Pinera appeared in the mood for compromise.

Rodrigo Ubilla, Chile's undersecretary for the interior, told Mimica in talks the government wouldn't reverse its decision to cut gas subsidies for Magallanes and that the only official offer on the table was to implement more gradual price changes.

"We are open to making the gas hike measure more flexible," Pinera's spokeswoman Eva von Baer announced. She indicated there was room for negotiation on a possible compromise.

earlier related report
Zimbabwe reforms state-owned oil company
Harare, Zimbabwe (UPI) Jan 14, 2011 - Zimbabwe will divide the state-owned National Oil Company of Zimbabwe into two companies intended to attract foreign investment.

In a tacit acknowledgement of the government's mishandling of NOCZIM Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma said that the new firms would be open to both local and foreign investors, telling journalists: "In terms of partners being local or foreign it's immaterial ... all we want are investors and their money. A business venture with sound capital is far better operational wise than one with no money," the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported Friday.

Mangoma added that no time frame had been set on the search for partners, noting that "the government is going ahead with the project at the same time seeking partners" and while "several companies have shown interest in the project," no definite bids had been submitted.

Mangoma, who is a senior member of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party, said the reform of NOCZIM followed the government's conclusion that it wasn't viable for NOCZIM to be both a regulator and a player.

NOCZIM's reform is an element in the unity government of Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe to privatize and make commercially viable state companies currently losing money that need Treasury intervention to save them from collapse.

The NOCZIM reform isn't the government's first attempt to privatize loss-making government businesses. In November the government sold its controlling stake in the state's Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company to India's Essar Group in a deal believed to be worth nearly $500 million.

Mangoma added that the government was yet to decide exactly how much investment it would require from potential investors to invest into the oil trading company formed from NOCZIM, saying, "The partner for the infrastructure company will be taken in on an operational basis and they will be assisting in the stock management of the company. For the trading one we are looking for an equity partner though we are yet to come up with the actual figure of the kind of investment we require."

According to Mangoma, there are up to eight other government-controlled entities that are earmarked for immediate privatization or restructuring.

Under the government's privatization plan for NOCZIM, one of the new entities would solely be responsible for national fuel depots and infrastructure with its primary agenda being managing the importation of petroleum products through different modes, including the Beira pipeline running from Mozambique to Zimbabwe, while the second firm would be devoted to fuel retailing.

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