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Several internal alerts arrived on Friday that immediately set off the alarms in La Moneda. The first thing they learned is information that, as part of the demonstrations that day in Plaza Italia, a young man had fallen from the Pío Nono bridge into the Mapocho river.
At that time, Interior began to gather information with the Segegob to see how the events occurred. The events were also reported immediately to the President Sebastian Piñera.
Little by little, the issue began to grow and audiovisual records began to circulate on social networks, in which the young man is seen falling from the bridge into the river, after a Carabineros official chased him, a fact that the prosecution investigates as an alleged homicide frustrated by the uniformed.
At 9:50 p.m., the Carabineros made a spokesperson, in charge of Lieutenant Colonel Rodrigo Soto, in which the institution denied on more than one occasion having any link to the events. “For no reason did the Carabineros throw this person into the river bed,” Soto said, adding that “I want to be reiterative, the Carabineros denies this type of situation.”
These first statements by the Carabineros did not go down well with the Executive, according to various government sources. This, because they put La Moneda in a complex situation: although the institution denied the facts, several records of the incident were circulating in parallel, for which, the following day, the Public Ministry arrested the policeman involved and established an alleged attempted murder.
In fact, according to the same sources, the government asked the Carabineros to specify the information. So it was. That Friday, at 11:51 p.m., the same lieutenant colonel uploaded a video to the institution’s Twitter account, clarifying that what he had denied was that “he had taken this person by the feet.”
On Saturday, meanwhile, there was a third version of the Carabineros. At 10.11, the general Enrique Monras He maintained that “what happened there is an arrest. Unfortunately when trying to stop this person falls ”. And he added that “(the young man) loses his balance and falls over the railing, falling to the banks of the Mapocho River.”
While these different versions were broadcast, La Moneda was silent. It took several hours for the Minister of the Interior, Victor Perez, went out to make a statement in the courtyard of Los Naranjos. At that point, the government recognized that they were in a complex situation because the institution was once again being put in check and several recalled the 2018 episode that ended with the death of the Mapuche community member Camilo Catrillanca in the hands of the Carabineros.
In that sense, Piñera and the ministers of the political committee discussed what would be the communication drop. This, in a scenario in which, according to several government officials, they cannot remove the support for the institution in the run-up to the commemoration of the social outbreak.
So, The Executive recognizes that there was a discussion regarding what would be the tone to defend the institution and that there were difficulties in finding a balance between the importance of having the Carabineros throughout the month of October and, at the same time, not accepting abuse or violation of human rights. And in that aspect – government sources admit – “very different souls coexist.”
Thus, it was finally settled to maintain strong support for the institution and put the weight on the fact that it is the courts of justice that have to resolve, a decrease that was reflected in a statement sent by the Presidency at 1:13 p.m. on Saturday, and also in a spokesperson for Pérez. “The Chilean government rejects and categorically condemns any action that violates human rights, in any place, time or circumstance (…). The government supports the necessary and fundamental work of the Carabineros, in compliance with its constitutional mandate to safeguard public order and citizen security of all people, within the framework of its protocols, ”said the presidential brief.
In any case, in La Moneda they affirm that this episode is very different from that of Catrillanca. First, because it did not end with a death, it is not related to the Mapuche conflict and because, unlike that opportunity, the government “did not champion” with any version and they stressed that it will be the courts that will resolve.
In La Moneda they recognize that the episode opened a flank for them for several reasons. First, because the Carabineros delivered different versions; secondly, because in the framework of the investigation carried out by the prosecutor’s office, the institution was accused of wanting to “cover up” the facts, arguing that Carabineros officials made telephone calls to the North Central prosecutors on duty to say that the adolescent had fallen.
These two episodes, government sources maintain, would be the most serious, because they show that the Carabineros continues to have a fundamental problem, despite the fact that, they emphasize, “efforts have been made”.
Thirdly, it generated a complication, according to what the government says, because once again the high command of the Carabineros and the continuity of the director general are put in check, Mario Rozas; fourth, because the constitutional accusation against Minister Pérez is reactivated; and because, in addition, it fosters an environment for what many fear to occur: a 2.0 social outbreak.
In fact, regarding Rozas, although Pérez said on Sunday that “by pointing the finger at another, we will not overcome this difficulty,” in the Palace they say privately that this corresponds to a presidential decision and that only Piñera finally knows whether or not he will make a change. In any case, Unlike on other occasions, at La Moneda there has not been a closed endorsement of Rozas. In fact, the minister spokesman Jaime Bellolio He said yesterday on TVN that “each one of us is always under review.”
In that sense, the Executive says that The future of the Carabineros director -who must present his proposal for a new High Command to the President- is a situation that Piñera is analyzing, who until now has remained silent. In the midst of this scenario, the chief of staff will meet with Rozas this afternoon, an appointment in which they are expected to address the events.
Sources of the institution assure that Rozas has kept in contact with the generals of the High Command so that they can help him prepare his presentation today before the Public Security commission of the Chamber. In addition, he led a meeting for Zoom with some officials in which they also addressed the case.
Those close to Rozas say he is calm. What has “bothered” the most in the uniformed police is the alleged obstruction of the investigation, since they assure the police that there was never any intention to torpedo the investigation of the Public Ministry.
Another thing that generates “concern” is that it is the prosecutor Ximena chong who takes the case. In the Carabineros, relations with the persecutor are not the best, mainly since he took on the investigations into the case of Gustavo Gatica, where he questioned General Rozas and General Ricardo Yanez. For this reason, yesterday among some officials of the institution, publications of the prosecutor Chong began to circulate on her Instagram, in which she made mentions of the “social outbreak.”
In the Palace they have had to publicly address the issue on several occasions and have held several meetings to see how to deal with it. The minister Bellolio, for example, met on Saturday afternoon with deputies from Chile Vamos to convey the government’s position. There, according to those present, they discussed promoting the discourse of condemning violence wherever it comes from; to dismiss the constitutional accusation against Pérez, and to highlight the projects that the government has promoted. The latter, in fact, in line with the contingency minute that the Segpres sent today.
In this text it is stated that “the government from the beginning promoted the reform of the police with the first agreement for national security, after the outbreak; the reform of the Council’s Carabineros has accepted the recommendations of international organizations regarding the act of police officers according to human rights protocols. Important advances have been made and they must continue on the path of reform ”.
Meanwhile yesterday On the same day that the police officer was formalized, Piñera met via Zoom with his political committee, while today he addressed the issue in person with his political team. In the latter instance, according to government sources, The President regretted the events and asked to highlight the progress that has been made in the institution regarding the protocols and projects that are in process.
Likewise, Interior is preparing a series of new announcements on the matter, which seeks to unzip the issue. This, due to the concern of a possible second social outbreak, which is why there are several who propose to accelerate the initiatives -related to public order- that are being processed in Congress in order to be prepared for this scenario.
