He March 8, International Women’s Day, is approaching and the police are preparing for the demonstrations that will take place throughout the country. But this year, the strategy will be different: Carabineros will deploy a mostly female contingent to control public order. With a 70% women in the forceit is expected that this approach help to empathize with the protesters and avoid any incident that could create mistrust towards the police.
In the Metropolitan Region, will be deployed 600 troops to guard Plaza Baquedanoone of the historical epicenters of the demonstrations.
Meanwhile, the Municipality of Santiago will also be involved in security, with security patrols at hot spots to ensure that protests are peaceful.
But the protests do not end on March 8. The next day, Carabineros will focus on containing any disorder in the “Backpack”a protest called by high school students in the Metropolitan Region.
It should be remembered that this Friday, March 3, the school year officially begins.
The police will have a contingent in the vicinity of the emblematic high schools and will also send troops to the Army Engineers Division, which was the focus of attacks last year.
The Director of Order and Security of Carabineros, General Enrique Monras, indicated that attention is being paid to social networks to monitor what is happening. Besides, The number of troops will be redoubled in the morning, since an increase in vehicle flow is expected.
The mayoress of Santiago, Irací Hassler, called for non-violence in the demonstrations and stressed that the demands of the social movement are expected to be raised peacefully.
With the Day of the Young Combatant on the horizon on March 29, Carabineros plans to cover the critical points with 3,000 members of Public Order Control. One of the key sectors is Villa Francewhere most of the confrontations usually take place.
