The Chilean government criticized on Tuesday the proposal launched by the Bolivian presidential candidate Rodrigo Paz to legalize the ‘Chutos’ cars, since it considers that these vehicles are, mostly, stolen in Chile and that circulate without papers. From the Palacio de la Moneda, the measure of an “incentive for the commission of illicit” was described.
“Establishing some form of legalization is an incentive to continue committing those illicit, in Chile, outside of Chile, wherever it is,” said Interior Minister Álvaro Elizalde, in an interview with the local press.
Paz, who won 32 % of the votes in the first presidential return against former president Jorge Tuto Quiroga, He said that “it seems that it was a sin to have a ‘chuto’ car in Bolivia, When everyone has it (…) we will legalize them, because denying it would be a serious mistake. “
After his statements, the controversy arose in Chile when the candidate for deputy for the conservative Independent Democratic Union (UDI) in the November legislative elections by the Norteine Region of Arica, Sebastián Huerta, rejected the proposal in his networks and suggested that “if Bolivia takes this action, Chile must take away the Mercosur visa “because it cannot” give benefits to a country that seeks to legalize what has been stolen “in Arica.
Paz began, then, to inform himself “of the percentage (of robberies)” and pointed to the Chilean police in the theft of these vehicles: “Will they not the thieves, who are stealing and putting those products in Bolivia?”.
The statements of the militant of the Bolivian Christian Democratic party were reproached by several Chilean parliamentarians, such as the president of the Senate, José Manuel Ossandón, who said that It is “unacceptable” that Paz accuses Carabineros to steal cars and asked the Chilean government to send a diplomatic note requesting explanations.
Bolivia and Chile have no diplomatic relations at the level of ambassadors since 1978, due to the Bolivian claim of sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean lost in a war fought at the end of the 19th century.
Relations tensed when in 2013 Bolivia led to the International Court of Justice (CIJ) of The Hague its maritime claim so that Chile would negotiate in good faith the sovereign access to the sea, in a lawsuit that ended in 2018, when the ICJ determined that Chile has no legal obligation to negotiate with its neighbor.
In December both countries signed a Historical Agreement on Migratory Control and Border Safetyto guarantee the re -entry of its citizens and migrants from third countries. Until that time, Bolivia did not allow the return of people in an irregular situation from foreign territories, which generated a vacuum in the management of migratory flow.
“We are in the logic of strengthening relations with all our bordering countries; in the case of Bolivia we do not have diplomatic relations, the president himself (Ricardo) Lagos (2000-2006) raised and offered them, but it has been Bolivia that has been denied,” said Elizalde.
The minister urged the “collaboration between governments and between states” but – he concluded – “no incentive for the commission of illicit can be raised such as smuggling.”
