The Political Week: From State of Exception to State of Confusion in Curanilahue

June 20, El Mostrador

The head of studies at Athenalab, John Griffiths, was interviewed by El Mostrador regarding the criminal events of last week in Curanilahue, Arauco Province.

The request for explanations from Undersecretary of the Interior Manuel Monsalve to the Armed Forces for not responding promptly to the report of a flagrant crime in Curanilahue, Arauco Province, highlighted a weakness that was anticipated from the very day that President Gabriel Boric’s government declared a limited State of Constitutional Exception in the area of the Mapuche conflict: the lack of clear rules. The absence of such rules is so pronounced that even the former undersecretary is unaware of them, as are the law enforcement and security forces (Carabineros), whose actions or inactions in this particular case are also unclear. For General (r) John Griffiths, current head of Studies at Athenalab, and Gabriel Gaspar, former ambassador and former undersecretary of War and former undersecretary of the Armed Forces, the main problem is that the current State of Exception is characterized by a state of confusion, due to the lack of integrity in command—a single command—and a clear geographical delineation, which would allow for the provision of security and ensure compliance with the rule of law, as a basic foundation for building the political pillars that facilitate the construction of a dialogue aimed at addressing a long-standing conflict that requires long-term planning.