The demonstrations that took place in Iquique marked the informative day of this recent Monday. The city was completely paralyzed yesterday in protest against the increase in insecurity in the north of the country.
It is in this context that the Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Delgadopaid a visit to the capital of the Tarapacá region, where he met with unions, neighbors and local authorities with a view to planning how to combat the wave of violence that has been experienced recently in that city.
The Secretary of State was accompanied to Iquique by the Undersecretary for Crime Prevention, Maria Jose Gomez; the undersecretary for the Armed Forces, Alfonso Vargasthe director(s) of the Investigative Police, Claudio Gonzalez; the deputy director general of Carabineros, Esteban Diaz and the inspector general of Carabineros, Enrique Monras.
“We have an agenda, first with the unions, then with some neighborhood associations, we are going to be with the mayor of Iquique (Mauricio Soria) with the governor (Jose Miguel Carvajal)with the delegate (Miguel Angel Quezada) and, in the afternoon, we are going to train Carabineros in redirection,” Delgado said.
Measures
After his meeting with the union of carriers, taxi drivers and the free zone (Zofri), the head of the Interior portfolio announced the first measures that will be taken to face the complex scenario that exists in Iquique.
As of this Tuesday, the number of Carabineros in the city will be increased, reaching a total of 80 extra uniformed officers and plainclothes policemen will also be added to carry out immigration controls in the cities.
In addition, there will be interventions in critical neighborhoods -which were pointed out by the unions and neighbors- by Carabineros in conjunction with the Investigative Police (PDI).
These operations will begin this Tuesday -according to Minister Delgado- and will last until March 11, the date on which the new government takes office. In turn, an increase in resources for the region’s prosecutor’s office was announced.
Delgado also referred to the expulsions, which he indicated will continue to be carried out on immigrants who commit crimes: “Any foreigner who meets the conditions to be expelled will also be notified of the expulsion for a flight that is going to leave at the end of February or early March, that has also been part of the agreements.”
Reactions to the visit
The governor of the Tarapacá region, Jose Miguel Carvajal, had words for what he expects in Delgado’s visit to Iquique: “The only thing I hope is that the minister has two attitudes, the first of dialogue (…) And also that he meets with the unions that we have talked about and that They are being part of the mobilization. And I think that the most important thing is that he meets with the police and with the prosecution, where we see a need for important support”.
“And the second thing, and I think it is fundamental, is that the minister addresses the border situation, (…) this does not change if it is something that we see, if a protocol is not defined, a policy of how to go to collect the information of the people from whom to enter, because today it is not known who enters, ”he added.
The mayor of Colchane also referred to the visit, Xavier Garcia, who stated that he did not receive any invitation to meet with the minister.
“Your visit is of no use if it does not come with the regulations of the new Immigration Law in hand and it is of no use if it does not come with the signed decree of the opening of the Colchane border complex to, at least, control a percentage of migrants who comply with the requirements to enter the country (…). If it does not come with an effective border control mechanism through the Carabineros and the Army that prevents the indiscriminate entry of migrants into the region, unfortunately your visit is useless, “said the mayor.
