What does Temucuicui tell us?

El Mostrador, January 13, 2021

As someone who opposes the creation of new ministries, perhaps it is time to separate the Ministry of the Interior from Public Security, hoping that the former focuses on the political solution to the problems we have in La Araucanía, and the latter ensures that this region and the rest of Chile constitute a safe country. What I do not accept or recommend is a military solution to a problem that is primarily political in origin, which has gradually taken on a criminal aspect. The days of using the Army to establish and maintain internal sovereignty and pacify La Araucanía are over, and it is time for the democratically elected Government to fulfill the mandate of the sovereign who elected it at the end of 2017, and once and for all, for the rule of law to exist throughout the national territory.

I just finished watching the recording of the Public Security Commission session from January 11, 2021. A friend of mine recommended that I watch it, especially the intervention of the Undersecretary of the Interior, which occurs at the end of this session dedicated to reviewing the events of the past week that resulted in the death of a PDI inspector, and, on the other hand, in completely unrelated circumstances, the killing of a UDI member.

I will begin this column as is appropriate, with my deepest condolences for a detective who fell in the line of duty and mourning the death of a leader and farmer who stood up for what he believed was right and just. They paid with their lives; the rest of us continue in the world of the living.

As a result of the death of Inspector Luis Morales, I discovered that the PDI also makes a service promise similar to that of the Armed Forces, which literally ends with “to give one’s life if necessary.” This latest martyr of the PDI is the best example that this promise of service is not a set of empty words.

The time will come to investigate whether there were failures in the Temucuicui operation, but what matters most tactically and operationally are the lessons learned, so that if they have to carry out something similar again, their procedures are improved and the result is a more efficient and effective operation.

Why is the above important? It is important because there was a detective who gave his life in that operation, and we do not want there to be a second one the next time the Public Ministry orders an operation of a similar nature. It is also important because last week’s operation demonstrated what many were trying to hide or, as the popular saying goes, were trying to cover the sun with a finger: in some provinces of La Araucanía, organized groups operate that have training and weaponry typical of Armed Forces. These groups dominate certain territories where they do as they please and where the State of Chile is not exercising the sovereignty that belongs to it.

We could spend days, weeks, and months discussing the nature of the problem. Some will say that these insurgent groups are a reflection of the autonomy sought by the Mapuche people, while others will say that they are drug trafficking groups that not only engage in that but also in all kinds of paid illicit activities, such as unregulated logging.

My experience in Cambodia in 1992—as part of the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAC) in that country, established to implement the Paris peace agreements signed in 1991—indicates rather that they are the sum of both, which makes their solution more difficult. The Khmer Rouge, in order to survive in the Cambodian jungle, engaged in indiscriminate logging or facilitated drug trafficking through the territories they controlled. With that, they had a means of subsistence and continued in the struggle in which they had been committed for over 20 years.

On the other hand, what Colombia experienced for decades confirms the above. A virtuous circle is created by adding those who want independence or fight against the central government, with forms of income generation or collection that are not those to which we are accustomed.

Because it is necessary to be clear about the problem. It is necessary because, if the problem is understood or known, appropriate solutions can be chosen. This is the key to the current problem. Some closer to the Mapuche people say that the problem is political and long-standing, while those in the Government insist on classifying it as a police problem. And guess what: last week the Public Ministry decided it was a criminal problem and resolved to provide a police solution. The results speak for themselves, but above all, the death of Inspector Morales speaks volumes, which is the best evidence of a flawed diagnosis. They cannot come to him with stories. He already bought the story and paid with his life, which was ended by a person using weaponry more typical of armies than of criminals.

As a complement to the above, the Undersecretary of the Interior, in his intervention during the special session of the Security Commission, where—if you don’t believe me, I recommend listening to it—under the General Bases of State Administration Law, does not assume greater responsibilities for the operational management of public security and leaves it in the hands of the Public Ministry as it is a judicial matter, which leads me to think that Chile is governed by the Public Ministry and not by the Executive, which was elected for that purpose.

As the head of the PDI rightly said, they do not operate independently and are obliged to comply with the orders of the courts and the Public Ministry, which are not responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary equipment or intelligence for the effective execution of an operation aimed at capturing drug traffickers and smugglers, which also includes the aerial and satellite means necessary for the success of the task. In summary, and pardon my Spanish, this seems like a “cueca in the nude,” as we have a Government that does not govern, and instead, we have a Public Ministry and courts that control the police and determine how sovereignty is exercised in Chile.

As someone who opposes the creation of new ministries, perhaps it is time to separate the Ministry of the Interior from Public Security, hoping that the former focuses on the political solution to the problems we have in La Araucanía, and the latter ensures that this region and the rest of Chile constitute a safe country. What I do not accept or recommend is a military solution to a problem that is primarily political in origin, which has gradually taken on a criminal aspect. The days of using the Army to establish and maintain internal sovereignty and pacify La Araucanía are over, and it is time for the democratically elected Government to fulfill the mandate of the sovereign who elected it at the end of 2017, and once and for all, for the rule of law to exist throughout the national territory.

Luis Morales and Orwal Casanova deserve not to be just more victims of the conflict in La Araucanía, and it is up to us to demand that the Government exercise its authority and, at the same time, lead the corresponding political and police solutions, not the Public Ministry, which, while part of the State, was not designed for that end and purpose.

Richard Kouyoumdjian
Vice President of AthenaLab