The Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, addressed the current situation of violence in the southern part of the country, underlining that the Government has the right to propose “its own strategy”, since in past administrations “there were lawsuits over the State Security Law and Antiterrorist Law, but no one has been prosecuted or arrested”.
In a conversation with TVN, the authority indicated that the State “must make coherent decisions”, those that are currently related “to protecting the routes of the macro zone.”
“Those who have to define the places where there should be a security control is the head of National Defense. The government does not have to replace the security and risk analysis,” he said.
Regarding criticism of the “limited” state of emergency in the area, Monsalve stated that the concept “has generated a completely wrong debate,” emphasizing that it is the head of National Defense and the police who “do the analysis and take the decisions that improve security conditions”.
Along the same lines, he valued the work of the Armed Forces on the roads of Biobío and La Araucanía, pointing out that the latter “concentrates the largest number of kilometers on interior roads, with more than 22,000. Providing security in these conditions is a huge challenge and it must be complemented with measures that are outside the routes”.
“What matters is that the State improves its capabilities so that murders, deaths or victims do not continue to occur. That those who are part of criminal groups are prosecuted. That happened two days ago in an operation between the PDI and Carabineros to arrest the accused to kill an official,” he concluded.