Security: New Year, Same Problems

El Líbero, December 31, 2022

We have been nine months into this administration, during which diagnoses have been presented and recently a plan, but what good is all that if the government itself cannot reach an agreement on security.

“Violence has been normalized for a long time,” said the President Boric on Vía X, adding that the “sense of authority” must be restored. All of this seems quite logical; however, at times, it is hard to believe the intentions of the author of the phrase, especially given episodes where he sang controversial chants against the military, displayed a shirt with the face of a sitting senator murdered in a democratic context, and marched through the streets during the social upheaval, calling for the Armed Forces to leave them. 

What has changed? Now he is the President and must conduct himself in accordance with the office. But we do not forget his past as a student leader, his meetings with the Temucuicui community involved in violent events, and the pardon for those imprisoned during the uprising. 

The security problems that have deepened throughout this year foreshadow a complex 2023, with significant and varied challenges in each region of the country. The sense of urgency is evident, and regardless of whether the President is still that young man wearing the shirt with the face of that senator or not, what matters is that he now leads the country and must leave behind the revolutionary persona to take concrete actions. But actions that are clear, demonstrating a real willingness to advance and not just words for a television program. 

Migration will remain uncontrolled in the north , armed violent groups will not cease their attacks in theMacrozone South , homicides in the center without intervention in neighborhoods will continue to rise, and Chileans will continue to live in fear of becoming victims of crime. This is the reality that the government must and will have to deal with. The problem: We still do not see consensus among its ranks.It is true that the opposition is demanding certain minimums to advance in an agreement, but what is truly concerning is the fact that within the governing coalition, they are conditioning that agreement, as openly done by Deputy Orsini. 

Political or not, there is nothing wrong with demanding minimums for discussion; in fact, we should all demand that the government be transparent in its approach to security issues. Maite Orsini’s call to remove private arms does not solve the problem of local arms production or trafficking; it only raises more doubts about what the governing parties are really seeking. 

We have been nine months into this administration, during which diagnoses have been presented and recently a plan, but what good is all that if the government itself cannot reach an agreement on security. 

Much more than a plan is needed, and if the internal forces are not aligned, how will they find points of agreement with the opposition? Minister Tohá has stated that it will be a limited agreement. “There are specific issues, but I am not sure that it is essential to address them all,” said the chief of staff on Thursday. What will be excluded and what will be included in the agreement? Questions continue to arise around a topic on which we should be providing answers. 

Pilar Lizana

Researcher, AthenaLab
Source:

El Líbero.