After six days of mobilizations, after they announced the end of the strike following an agreement with the Government but later backed down in the face of the complaints over the State Security Law —something the Executive does not intend to back down from—, the truckers continue to block routes and, from Arica to O’Higgins, there have been arrests and supply problems.
It is worth mentioning that, as reported yesterday by the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, the Government has filed 31 complaints under the State Internal Security Law: 2 in Arica, 7 in Antofagasta, 5 in Atacama, 4 in Tarapacá, 3 in Coquimbo, 6 in Valparaíso, 2 in the Metropolitan Region and another couple in O’Higgins. 19 of them are individualized and there are already five formalized (4 from Arica and 1 from Tarapacá).
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Without an agreement, the truckers’ strike initiated by the Fuerza del Norte Truckers Confederation and the Paine Truck Owners and Drivers Association —both autonomous and without legal personality—, to which national associations have joined, continues and has triggered supply problems in various regions. And it is that the demands of truckers to improve safety and reduce the price of fuel have not had a satisfactory response for mobilized carriers.
In the region of Arica and Parinacota the situation is critical. As stated Emol, the president of the Federation of Farmers of the North Zone of Chile (Feganoch), Jorge Mamani, 30% of the harvest that was going to be sold on Monday could be lost in a few days. Along the same lines, he assured that, although they respect the mobilization of the truckers and their requests, “they are doing us great harm.”
In Antofagasta there have been problems in supplying oil. According to the aforementioned media, the Seremi de Energía reports nine service stations that lack some type of fuel, “which is being corrected.”
In Coquimbo, the same problem. In the commune of Monte Patria, about 70 small farmers ran out of gasoline, which would cause production losses and a possible drop in the quality of the products.
Vegetable growers of such essential products as lettuce, tomatoes and cabbage, warned of an imminent shortage of fresh vegetables in urban centers, due to “not being able to move” the load due to blockades from La Serena to the north, and on routes from O’Higgins and Maule. This was reported by the Association of Vegetable Producers and Exporters of Chile, Hortach, to Fedefruta.
“With the routes cut today we do not have guaranteed movement for fruit and vegetables. The roads are collapsed, the terminals are ghost ports, and the supply is put at risk these days,” says the president of Fedefruta, Jorge Valenzuela.
In Valparaíso, the President of the Association of Companies of the V Region, Gerald Pugh, pointed out that “we are in a complex economic situation, where production levels cannot be reduced or stopped, therefore, this mobilization is harming many national companies and regional organizations that are working to recover the country’s economy”.
In Ñuble, although they have not been directly affected, they also anticipate strong consequences of the strike. This was expressed by the vice president of the Association of Farmers of that region, Álvaro Gatica. “There are producers from the central zone who are facing difficulties to embark in Valparaíso. I understand that until today (yesterday) the Cherry Express (fast ship for the exclusive transport of fresh cherries to China) of the week has been loaded with difficulties,” he commented. .
Osorno Agricultural Society expresses concern about the stoppage of transporters
Their concern about the effects that an extension of the stoppage of truckers could cause for all Chileans, stated the Osorno AG Agricultural and Livestock Society.
“We understand the demands of the carriers, because the high cost of fuel also affects us, in the logistical issues of our work. But above all, the high cost of fuel hits all Chileans equally, because it ends up influencing the rise in the cost of food,” said the union’s president, Sergio Willer Daniel.
The leader expressed concern about the effects that the paralysis of the transport union is causing in the distribution of products, and in fruit shipments abroad.
“What we do not share is the serious damage that this stoppage is causing to the distribution of food for all Chileans, as well as the export of our products abroad. Shipments of the first cherry harvests from the central zone have stopped, and the loss of these shipments can mean the bankruptcy of companies and the loss of jobs. And in Puerto Montt, thousands of people were left unable to go to their jobs, and children to their educational establishments because the microbuses and school bus drivers joined this mobilization”, he pointed out.
“We hope that the Government will soon have a clear solution so that this strike can be lifted, and thus prevent further damage to the distribution of products and food, and that our compatriots may suffer supply problems,” concluded the chairman of the board of directors. of the Agricultural and Livestock Society of Osorno AG
Unemployment could end this Saturday
Sergio Pérez, President of the National Cargo Transport Confederation (CNTC), was “excited” to put an end to the truckers’ strike this Saturday. in conversation with meganews, The leader said: “I am excited. I believe that today we are going to reach an agreement that represents the solution to the serious problems that we truckers in Chile have.”
“Truckers have been attacked, not only because of the issue of violence and crime, kidnappings, permanent robberies in the Northern Macrozone, where it is practically unlivable,” said the CNTC leader, mentioning the case of Byron Castillo —transporter murdered in Antofagasta—
Regarding the agreement with La Moneda, Sergio Pérez commented that “our national vice president, Iván Mateluna, with Carlos Bretti, were mandated to meet with their colleague Carlos Sandoval, who represents the mobilized truckers, to go together to speak with the Government.” .
“It has been said that we have signed an agreement, but that is not such. We have received a proposal, but at this minute our leaders are meeting and in a few hours we could have very good news,” he added.
“I am from the seventh region. I see the sacrifice of small cherry producers, I see how they are destroyed by the sun… We have always been in the solution (of the problem),” concluded the leader of the truckers union.
