Just hours after the Naín-Retamal Law was dispatched by the Senate, Carabineros officials were attacked with firearms in the commune of Santiago as part of a police procedure, resulting in First Corporal Daniel Palma seriously injured.
Colonel Pedro Álvarez, Prefect of Central Santiago, confirmed at a chaotic press point that the institution is “carrying out actions to determine those responsible for this unfortunate event that has one of our officials in the emergency service, fighting for his life”.
The uniformed man reported that it was a service focused on the Caupolicán Theater sector, in the heart of the capital, to which the Carabineros attended and in that procedure Corporal Palma was shot twice. “One of them impacted his skull,” said Colonel Álvarez.
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The Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, said that “the facts are devastating, they are of the greatest gravity.” Also from the former Central Post Office, the Secretary of State commented that the corporal was carrying out a procedure regarding a vehicle that was seen firing shots. “He was on a motorcycle and as soon as he got closer he received two bullets to the head.”
Minister Tohá emphasized the fact that the policeman was shot as soon as he approached the unknown persons who shot to kill. Of course, she stressed that Corporal Palma is alive, but in critical condition and is receiving care.
The statement by the head of the Interior and Public Security portfolio was concise, and after meeting with the General Director of Carabineros Ricardo Yáñez, who also went to the former Central Post Office, Tohá will go to La Moneda to meet with President Gabriel Boric , to “take additional measures that we will resolve in the coming moments”.
“I work every day with the Carabineros, who risk their lives to provide security for citizens. The attack on Corporal Daniel Palma deeply shocks me. Chile must unite against organized crime, without pettiness. We are with his family, the institution and the entire country”, added the presidential delegate in the Metropolitan Region, Constanza Martínez.
On social networks, Mayor Irací Hassler (PC) condemned the “cowardly attack against Carabineros officials from our 4th Santiago police station, which has Corporal Daniel Rodrigo Palma fighting for his life.” And she added: “We send all the strength and affection to him, his family and his institution. We hope for the prompt arrest and delivery of the guilty to justice.”
Along the same lines, Senator Juan Luis Castro (PS) ruled that “the situation requires concrete action.” In his opinion, the laws that have already been approved are not enough. “This fight requires even greater measures,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter, along with a call to “evaluate, reflect, a limited State of Emergency in some communes of Santiago, such as Santiago Centro, where crime has taken the streets”.
“No one can rule out a State of Exception in the Metropolitan Region, given this level of aggressiveness against Carabineros despite the recently approved laws,” reiterated Senator Castro.
The deputy of the DC, Eric Aedo, for his part, asked the ruling and republican parties not to go to the Constitutional Court for the recently approved Naín-Retamal Law. “I want to ask those political sectors that insist on protecting organized crime and drug trafficking, not to go to the Constitutional Court,” he requested.
From RN, meanwhile, Senator Francisco Chahuán stressed that “the same day that we finally managed to approve the Naín-Retamal law, we heard the dramatic news that a new police officer had been wounded with a bullet to the head.” In this sense, Senator Chahuán asked President Boric “to exercise his leadership and immediately promulgate the law that grants powers and powers to the police.”
“This same day, two parties of the government coalition have announced that they will appeal to the Constitutional Court to delay the entry into force of the law, which is unpresentable. President, exercise your leadership, the country is demanding it from you,” the legislator lashed out. of RN.
It is worth mentioning that, after being admitted, it was determined that police officer Palma would undergo surgery by a neurosurgical team in an operation that could take several hours, according to the director of the former Posta Central, Valentín López.
“I have spoken with the neurosurgery team of the former Posta Central and they have decided that they will take him to the operating room due to a brain injury, for which he is in the ward (…) The injuries are serious enough for him to be in a ward for neurosurgery,” López said.
UDI deputies demand enactment of the Naín-Retamal Law
In a more critical tone, after the attack perpetrated against the Carabineros, the bench of UDI deputies demanded that President Gabriel Boric promulgate this Thursday the battery of laws on security dispatched from Congress this week, “especially the Naín-Ley broom”.
“This attack, which has a police officer in serious condition, affects the soul of Chile and impacts the public once again,” the legislators said in a statement.
“That is why,” they added, “in honor of the martyrs and the police officers attacked by crime, we demand that President Boric promulgate the Naín-Retamal Law tomorrow, as a sign to these sick delinquents who kill or seriously injure our police officers”.
“In addition, we ask that, in your capacity as head of your political coalition, ask your party and the PC not to present this dilatory appeal before the TC, so that this law begins to protect those who protect us,” they closed. union deputies.
General Director of Carabineros, Ricardo Yáñez: “We are going to find them”
The highest authority of the uniformed police expressed that they are beaten and hurt. “The criminal who tried to kill this police officer today, I hope he dares to hide, because we are going to look for him and we are looking for him with all our means,” said General Yáñez visibly moved after visiting Corporal Palma at the former Central Post Office.
“Enough that they continue to kill those who care for us. Today, there is a son, a wife, suffering, an institution that is suffering, but we are not going to rest and we are going to find them, we are not going to rest until we find them,” he reiterated the general director of the Carabineros, confirming that he will also meet with government authorities.
Consulted about the laws currently being processed in Congress, officer Ricardo Yáñez appreciated “the effort that the country and the authorities are making that are going in the right direction to give us greater powers.”
“We are facing terrible crime. People who shoot without cause,” the police chief said. And he concluded: “We are a preventive institution, which is close to the community. We cannot walk at the point of bullets with everyone, but obviously the way, the violence with which these people are acting, is obviously going to force us to seek other strategies to be able to face them”.
“I absolutely condemn what is happening, we are deployed as an institution to the maximum; one, supporting the family, complete; second, all my police officers are deployed looking for this criminal. This cannot continue to happen and we are not going to allow it, “he closed. .
