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This Monday was a day of explanations for the Interior Minister Víctor Pérez and the General Director of Carabineros Mario Rozas due to the serious episode recorded on Friday at the Pío Nono bridge, when a Special Forces officer pushed a minor protester, throwing him into the Mapocho River.
The chief of staff and the police chief met in the Citizen Security Commission of the Chamber of Deputies to address the events. Hours before, the two held a half-hour meeting at La Moneda.
After the meeting at the Palace, Rozas withdrew through the door of Morandé 80 in silence, in a staging that drew attention, since unlike on other occasions, the Government avoided giving him public support.
Nor was there a version of the meeting at a time of crisis like this, given the pressure from the opposition that demands to take measures that include reviewing the continuity of Mario Rozas in command of the institution and reactivating the constitutional accusation against Minister Víctor Pérez, another flank that complicates the Government.
Pérez participated first in the Senate Human Rights Commission, and then coincided with Rozas when they met at the convocation of the Citizen Security Commission of the Chamber of Deputies to explain what happened on Friday. In that instance, Rozas answered a question from the deputy RD Maite Orsini, who asked him directly if he had thought of taking a step aside.
Without a hint of self-criticism, Rozas dismissed it outright. He maintained that “my resignation has constantly been requested, but I have a presidential mandate to fulfill,” alluding to launch the reform of the Carabineros. “I owe myself to my police officers, and my duty is to continue until the President of the Republic deems it appropriate,” he added.
In the instance, Pérez gave him a sign of support, insisting that the Carabineros and the Government have acted in a transparent manner. In addition, the chief of staff stated that the Carabineros’ presentation was “extraordinarily detailed” and focused on the different versions delivered by the Prosecutor’s Office on Friday’s event, calling to wait for the result of the judicial investigation. “We want to be very prudent, because there have been different versions of what happened,” he said, pointing to the Public Ministry.
Rozas’s numbers
Rozas’ day before Congress was not without controversy. First, he excused himself from presenting before the House Human Rights Committee, which unleashed the parliamentarians of this instance.
He deputy Miguel Crispi (RD) He claimed that March 11 was the last time that Rozas attended that instance and “all subsequent invitations have presented an excuse.” For this, according to the deputy Emilia Nuyado (PS), it was decided to send a letter to the Comptroller’s Office.
Later, in his presentation before the Citizen Security Commission, Rozas started the exhibition “contextualizing”. In this regard, she pointed out that from April to date, 918 “events of disorder” have been registered in the Metropolitan Region and that “only 0.0078% of the attendees” have been injured.
After giving a series of figures – such as noting that in the events of disorders this year 111 civilians and 487 have been injured -, Rozas chose to give the floor to Enrique Monras, head of the Western Zone of the Carabineros, to detail the procedure on Friday when the minor AJAA was thrown into the Mapocho River.
There are two facts from Monrás’s account that draw attention: one is the monitoring of the young man during the demonstration, where he showed images from different cameras where the minor is seen making disorders prior to the episode. In addition, according to his account, Carabineros went to the Santa María clinic on two occasions to make contact with his family: first, IAPA personnel attended at 8:30 p.m. and in the early hours of the morning he was the lieutenant in charge of the SIP and the mother was contacted outside the unit, said the police chief.
Opinions of parliamentarians
In the interventions of the parliamentarians, Rozas was under crossfire. Deputy Miguel Angel Calisto (DC) criticized that in the first hours after the event in Puente Pío Nono there was “silence” from the Government and “contradictions” in the versions of the Carabineros: “That damages confidence in our police,” he said.
While the deputy PC Marisela Santibáñez He pointed out that this case is not only a frustrated homicide but also a cover-up, as revealed by the prosecutor Ximena Chong at the formalization hearing on Sunday. Along the same lines, deputy Carmen Hertz (PC) called on the Government to act with “speed and truth” for the investigation and Tomás Hirsch (Humanist Action) He accused that “why the Carabineros once again give false statements trying to hide the human rights violations they commit.”
From the right, the deputy Luis Pardo (RN) assured that the idea that the young man was intentionally thrown into the river “is probably going to be false” in the judicial process, while his colleague Osvaldo Urrutia (UDI) commented that “I have seen other videos, I have heard the testimony of a protester, that tells how the events occurred. Clearly the policeman did not push him; there could have been recklessness, but there was no intent “
At the end, Mario Rozas He addressed other questions posed by the parliamentarians, and also assured that “yes (the minor) was helped, communications were made with SAMU and firefighters.” According to his version, he explained that the troops did not go down to the river bed because a withdrawal was ordered as a result of an attack by the protesters.
In this case, Rozas asked to act prudently and “let the institutions work,” noting that other accusations against the police have been dismissed by the Prosecutor’s Office, such as the complaint that a torture center was operated at the Baquedano Metro police station or that it was raped to a young man in a Pedro Aguirre Cerda police station.
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