Chilean government considers state of emergency in the northern zone

The Chilean government is considering imposing a state of emergency in the country’s northern macro-zone due to the security crisis in that sector. The information was released on Wednesday (28th) after Chilean Interior Minister Carolina Tohá did not rule out declaring a constitutional state of emergency in the north of the country.

The measure is currently under consideration after the political party Renovación Nacional presented it as a condition of a possible national security agreement. A possible militarization of the Chilean north has so far been rejected by the government.

Minister Tohá has repeatedly not supported such a measure. “We will have some information on what we plan to do in the north over the next few days, but it’s definitely not going in that direction.”

However, this position appears to be changing as the state of emergency in the north of the country is being evaluated along with other measures.

“We are in a working group that is in the final stages of agreement. In order to get to the proposals that we have for this commitment in terms of border control and also control of illegal migration, I would expect us to discuss the various proposals and visions that are out there and try to come to an agreement. And these proposals will certainly be evaluated alongside the various others that are out there,” Tohá said.

In the northern part of the South American country, there is a great deal of insecurity due to increasing crime, organized crime and illegal immigration, which has particularly affected the cities of Arica and Iquique.

In mid-December it was reported that the number of homicides in the north of the country had risen by 89% over the past decade. Those charged with these crimes “are 30% foreign and the same is true for the foreign victims, which is more than 20%, suggesting that the migration of foreign offenders has an impact.”

In October 2022, the President of the Chilean Prosecutors Association, Francisco Bravo, warned that the fight against crime in the north of the country was almost lost. “I’m not saying the battle is lost, but we’re about to lose it. If you go to Alto Hospicio, in the La Mula sector, where there are many migrants (…) in this sector, for example, there are no lights, nobody is there at night, no police, no carabineros. This sector does not belong to anyone.”

The Advisory Council for Combating Organized Crime presented a report to Chilean President Gabriel Boric detailing the most common crimes in the northern regions of Arica and Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama and Coquimbo. The list includes violent crimes related to firearms, drug trafficking, smuggling and smuggling of migrants.

With information from latinapress