The Instituto del Mar, an educational establishment in Iquique, decided on Tuesday to suspend its face-to-face classes after death threats against the director and teachers of the campus. The series of intimidations were referred to the Public Ministry.
According Cooperative Radio, the threats began at the end of April and were directed against the director. Later, they increased. One of the messages demanded the reinstatement of all the expelled students, otherwise everything “will end badly,” the text states. This led to the suspension of face-to-face classes.
“This measure will be evaluated day by day, until the Seremi of Education and the Prosecutor’s Office can provide answers that provide guarantees of protection and security to the entire educational community,” the Institute of the Sea said in a statement.
“My companions at the first strange move will open fire against whoever it is, so they better take out the soldiers,” indicates another message posted on an Instagram account. That same account shared photos of students with weapons inside the campus.
According to the aforementioned media, a group of teachers demonstrated at the front of the establishment after the threats. “We are afraid because the Prosecutor’s Office and the PDI have not listened to us, they have filed the case, this was reported on April 27 and yesterday the threats were quite strong,” said a teacher who wanted to protect his identity.
“After the suspension of classes, the threats continued and we did not feel the support of our principal, the Ministry of Education,” he added.