At 7:00 a.m. this Thursday, the President will meet with the ministers of the Interior, Finance, Justice and Defense to address the security crisis affecting the Metropolitan Region. “Security is the first priority of our Government,” said the head of State, who only made a statement through X after returning from a tour abroad.
He had just gotten off the plane from Paraguaywent to the La Moneda Palace. In this way, the Presidente Gabriel Boric expressed his concern for security in the Metropolitan Region. The objective was to meet as soon as possible with the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohaand the undersecretary of the portfolio, Manuel MonsalveThis, after the 15 homicides that have occurred in recent days.
Although the President did not make any statements after the meeting, Yes, he used his X account to express the following: “Security is the first priority of our Government. After participating in an important work day in Paraguay, I met with Minister @Carolina_Toha and Undersecretary @DrManuelMonsalv to promote new security measures.”
“For the same, I have decided to bring forward a new session of the Pro Security Cabinet to 07:00 AM tomorrowto continue working with the authorities of the Ministries of the Interior, Finance, Justice and Defense to increase security for Chile,” he announced.
Finally, he wrote that “With unity and together with all the State institutions, we will continue working hard to confront organized crime.”
This would be the second meeting in less than 24 hours held at La Moneda as a result of murders in violent contexts. The first was held on Monday morning, chaired by Tohá. It was attended by Monsalve; the Undersecretary for Crime Prevention, Eduardo Vergara; the General Director of Carabineros, Ricardo Yañez; the Director of the Investigative Police, Eduardo Cerca; the National Prosecutor, Ángel Valencia; and the Delegate of the Metropolitan Region, Gonzalo Durán.
Following the meeting, Tohá, who was vice president at the time, announced that “we are going to create a joint task force between both police forces, with the support of the prosecutor’s office, to put intelligence and criminal behavior analysis capabilities in the areas of greatest risk, to address them with joint strategies.” The proposal must be presented next Monday.
He also noted that they will be allocated recently graduated Carabineros officials to the Metropolitan Regionin addition to the fact that operational plans will be reorganized. It was also said that the activity of police stations and barracks in greater Santiago will be reorganized to have more personnel available in the area.
Security is the first priority of our Government. After participating in an important work day in Paraguay, I met with the Minister @Carolina_Toha and the undersecretary @DrManuelMonsalv to promote new security measures. For this reason, I have decided to bring forward… pic.twitter.com/YUwX1liIvB
— Gabriel Boric Font (@GabrielBoric) July 18, 2024
Request for a State of Siege due to the lack of security
During the day, President Boric also referred to the idea of applying a Site statusThis time, this request came not only from the opposition, but also from two senators from the Socialist Party, Juan Luis Castro and José Miguel Insulza.
The latter said in CNN Chile that “it is a limitation of rights, but at this point we are in a situation such that No one should complain about being asked why he walks around the street at a certain time”.
He also said that “it should be complemented with a much more drastic weapons policy than the one that exists now.”
For his part, Castro said that “the situation of insecurity, organized crime, has surpassed all limits. No one seeks to place force over reason, but reason has been lost here and organized crime is reaching all the most unimaginable places, therefore, corresponds to the State of Siege.”
“We have seen the comparative experience regarding what it means to involve Armed Forces that are not prepared for this, particularly in urban areas. The comparative experience is not positive, however, I do not rule out any constitutional tool“Boric said in Paraguay in front of the press.
“What matters in these cases is that the tools we have work and the tools that have currently been used in the Metropolitan Region have not had the expected results“, he acknowledged.
“I do not rule out any (measure), but what matters here is that we work together and based on the evidence, not based on who makes the highest, most rebellious, most radical proposal“, he pointed.
2024-07-18 02:46:05