They expect the president to renew the State of Exception for another 15 days
By
Cristián Torresfrom Santiago, Chile
The parliamentarian from the Chilean right, Cristián Labbé, called for greater support for the Armed Forces positioned in the southern macrozone of the country.
A group of government and opposition parliamentarians hope that the President Gabriel Boric extends the State of Exception decreed to the south of Chile, due to the serious acts of violence caused by radicalized Mapuche groups in recent days.
On May 16, President Gabriel Boric invoked a State of Exception for the provinces of Arauco, Biobío and for La Araucanía, which is known as the southern macrozone of Chile. In these places, a political and social conflict has been going on for years between the Mapuche, the civilian population, and the authorities, which has led to arson attacks, injuries, and deaths.
< b>The decree of the State of Exception was communicated by the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Izkia Siches, who stated that this measure was invoked to “provide security to our citizens” in the southern Chilean macrozone. “We have decided to make all state tools Russian, to provide security to our citizens. Declaring a state of emergency to protect the routes of the provinces of Arauco and Bío Bío, and in the Araucanía Region,” Siches said.
The announcement of the State of Exception forced a “limited” military deployment for these areas, something that some parties in the Chilean government did not want. In addition, La Moneda had previously proposed an Intermediate State, that is, an intervention that was not so radical in the area, something that did not prosper due to pressure from the opposition and the little support this idea had within the ruling party.
Despite having decreed this measure, which former President Sebastián Piñera also used in the last months of his term, the problems of violence continue in the area. Last week a forestry worker died in an armed attack after being shot in the head, while a truck was burned in La Araucanía.
Extend the State of Exception
Official and opposition parliamentarians hope that the government of Gabriel Boric will extend the State of Exception in the southern macro zone of Chile.
In this context, opposition and government parliamentarians expect La Moneda to extend this state in the southern macrozone of Chile for another 15 days. Deputy Tomás Hirsch told BioBioChile, “the extension of the State of Exception in the southern macrozone is something expected. When the government decreed this State of Exception for 15 days, we knew that a 15-day extension was coming and, probably, after 30 days, the government will request its extension further through a vote in Congress.”
A similar opinion was held by deputy Cristián Labbé from the opposition, who demanded more tools from the police. “That the president and his entire cabinet understand and reason about what is happening in the southern macrozone, and that means that he can extend the limited state of emergency that he called it, but also that he can give him more powers and more support for the Carabineros and the military”.
The foregoing is a recurring criticism that has been made of the “limited” State of Exception decreed by President Boric. When this measure was invoked, it was ensured that it would only be applied to highways and roads, something that the right wing assures is not happening and that it does not agree with the way in which this measure is applied. For the same reason, the opposition demands greater powers for the Armed Forces and expand the military deployment in the area.
“What is needed here are controls and patrols, which is what which was actually done in the first stage. We have to be very honest here: it is not that the State of Exception is going to solve all the problems that the region has today… We know that The attacks are not going to reach zero, but we cannot forget that we had a significant improvement from the point of view of usurpations (in the first state of exception), the same attacks decreased during the State of Exception”, The governor of La Araucanía, Luciano Rivas, told Cooperativa.