The Chamber of Deputies and Deputies approved this Monday the Government’s request to extend for 15 more days the constitutional State of Exception that governs four provinces in southern Chile.
The measure that installs members of the Armed Forces in the provinces of Biobío and Arauco in the Biobío Region, and Cautín and Malleco in La Araucanía was approved with 74 votes in favor, 49 against and 3 abstentions.
It is the fifth time that the State of Exception has been extended, which has been in force since October 12 and aims to stop the acts of violence that have occurred in the area in recent times, granting special powers to the Armed Forces to collaborate with the police.
In the debate in the room, Defense Minister Baldo Prokuica highlighted the results of the mixed patrols carried out by the police and the military. “I come with the feelings of thousands of compatriots who today feel safer, calmer thanks to the deployment of men and women from the Armed Forces,” he said.
The initiative will be reviewed this Tuesday in the Senate.
