Violence continues in southern Chile: a group of hooded men destroyed 27 properties

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A group of hooded men led an attack during the early hours of Tuesday morning in the vicinity of Lake Lanalhue, in the Chilean region of Bío Bío, which has left at least 27 properties destroyed, something that the authorities have already criticized as “the action of violent groups that attack and threaten innocent people”.

Those responsible for the arson attacks have also made death threats against those at the site. They also fired shots and cut down trees on various routes to prevent security forces from accessing the site. Inhabitants of the area have also reported the theft of cars.

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The regional government of Bío Bío has repudiated this action while lamenting that “in addition, tourist activity continues to be brutally affected”. “The new Government must advance in the integral solution, not only in security but also in political, economic and social matters”, it has requested about the new president elected on Sunday. Gabriel Boric.

According to the coordinator of the South Macrozone, Pablo Urquízar, the attacks have been motivated by the debate planned for this Tuesday of the extension of the state of emergency in the Senate after it was approved this Monday in the House of Representatives.

Also, because “this week the sentencing of seven people who are currently in preventive prison for the serious murder of Eliodoro Raiman and the serious injuries to his two grandchildren will be announced”, said Urquízar, according to Radio Bío Bío.

The southern region of Chile, where the largest Mapuche population, the predominant indigenous group in the Latin American country, is concentrated, has been the scene of increasing violence, with clashes between security forces and citizens who hold historical territorial claims.

Violence has escalated in the region over the last decade without a solution to the conflict, with arson attacks on private properties and trucks. The confrontations have also brought to light the presence of drug trafficking and self-defense organizations and police operations denounced as staged by the indigenous people.

Last week, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera enacted the ‘Juan Barrios Law’ law, which stiffens penalties, up to life imprisonment, for arson attacks against vehicles with people inside and creates a new aggravating circumstance for those who commit the crime.

The legislation was approved last Tuesday by the Chilean Congress and bore the name of a truck driver who died due to an arson attack in 2020 in the Araucanía region of southern Chile, where clashes have been taking place between the Mapuche community, security forces, and truckers. His truck was attacked while he was sleeping inside.

In the act of promulgation, Piñera, accompanied by the Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Delgado, and the Undersecretaries of the Interior, Juan Francisco Galli, and of Crime Prevention, María José Gómez indicated that the law represents “an important step forward, to be able to do justice for Juan and for so many other people who have suffered the consequences of terrorism and violence”.

“With the Juan Barrios law, the penalty for the crime of arson may reach life imprisonment for those who commit it against motor vehicles, trucks or buses, when one or more persons are in them, and their presence can be anticipated”, the president detailed, reports Radio Bío Bío.