Until November 11, President Sebastián Piñera extended the State of Exception in four southern provinces, a decision that maintains the militarization of this area of the Mapuche conflict and that raised a wave of skepticism and questioning among political and regional actors. For a third extension, the President must have the authorization of Congress.
For Eduardo Vergara, Executive Director of Chile 21With this, “Piñera will go down in history for declaring war on the people and militarizing the Wallmapu” and “thereby renewing his failure in security as well as in politics.”
In the opinion of the expert, and former Director of Public Security of the Government of Michelle Bachelet, it is very “dangerous” that President Piñera has extended the State of Emergency in Arauco and Bío Bío in the Biobío Region, and Cautín and Malleco in La Araucanía, arguing that “this act has a clear electoral tinge and that is simply unpresentable.”
The deputy PPD Andrea Parra, representative for the area of La Araucanía, also insisted on this “electoral” key, pointing out that this Government, although it is “more concerned about the campaigns” –as he said– should listen to “the thousands of proposals that we have put into the table to advance to an Araucanía in peace ”.
“There may be hundreds of States of Emergency, but if the underlying issues of the region are not addressed, the truth is that this is bread for today, hunger for tomorrow,” he added.
In the opinion of the parliamentarian, “indeed the State of Emergency can give peace of mind to some people, but the truth is that the acts of violence have not stopped in the Region of La Araucanía.”
This, despite the fact that the President was in charge of highlighting, during this day, that thanks to the military presence of the last 14 days, more than 30 people have been arrested on whom an arrest warrant already weighed and there has been a reduction “to half of the arson attacks and to a fifth of the usurpations of property.”
From the Biobío, meanwhile, the Governor Rodrigo Díaz He said that La Moneda’s decision was “expected”, but reiterated his call for the search for a comprehensive solution.
“It is absolutely expected that it would have been extended, because this term was for 15 days and the President has the power to increase that term for another 15 days. The second thing is that I still think that the problems that are addressed in terms of security are one part of those that must be considered to bring tranquility, order and security to the southern area. As I told President Piñera this morning, I continue to hope that progress can also be made in these matters (…), that we also advance in matters such as social and environmental policies, which are very necessary to move towards a definitive solution to this problematic, ”said Díaz.
