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The sixth day of the strike has been the most complex day for the truckers since the start of the mobilization. Although the leader of the National Confederation of Land Cargo Transport of Chile (CNTC), Sergio Pérez, assured in the morning that “the whole of Chile supports this anti-crime mobilization,” the truth is that the signs of food and fuel shortages in several Points of the country – evidenced by the government authorities themselves and the Supermarket Association – have complicated the union.
The claim of the supermarkets comes to put the corollary to a day that started badly for the truckers, by the diffusion of a video where a group of transporters is seen dancing with half-naked women in full curfew. The revelry in the middle of the pandemic earned them the threat of the Government to file a complaint for article 318 of the Penal Code, that is, for the crime of violation of the rules that govern the state of health crisis.
But along with the violation of the rules to face the health crisis, truckers must also face reproach for the shortage, despite the fact that the CNTC has assured that it has not obstructed the passage on the highways.
According to what was reported by Radio Bío Bío, the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Valdivia warned of difficulties in supplying perishable food to supermarkets in the area and the Minister of Economy of Los Ríos, Vianca Muñoz, confirmed a temporary stock-out of products.
The versions about the problems in supply chains were ratified by the Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Walker, who admitted in Cooperative radio that “from Ñuble to the north we have problems in the ports of Valparaíso and San Antonio, we have not been able to unload grain” and “from Biobío to the south we have fuel supply problems; the trucks that must collect milk have not been able to do so ”.
Earlier, the Association of Supermarkets of Chile issued a statement stating that “the situation is beginning to become critical in the area between the regions of Valparaíso and Los Lagos, and there are communes where there is already a shortage of perishable products, such as fruits. , vegetables and dairy ”.
“The supermarket chains that belong to the Association report a total of more than 180 trucks stopped on the roads during the last hours, which is translating into a lack of stock in some stores in the south of the country,” they warn.
In addition, they add that “we are concerned that, if a prompt solution is not reached, this situation could spread to a large part of the country. Furthermore, a potential loss of food is already beginning to be seen, which is very regrettable in a context of scarcity like the one the country is experiencing ”.
Moreover, they not only accuse that unemployed truckers obstruct the route but also threaten the safety of truckers who are not bent on unemployment and express their concern “for the safety of the transporters supplying the supermarket chains, since in some places we have seen complex events that can put their integrity at risk ”.
Victor Pérez complicated
The day has also been complex for Interior Minister Víctor Pérez, to whom not only the opposition questions the government’s reaction to face the mobilization. The problem for Pérez is that he was also the target of criticism by pro-government parliamentarians – such as the deputy RN Andrés Celis and the senator of the same party Juan Castro – for his handling of the trucking strike: “Chile needs a Minister of the Interior who exercises a real leadership, “they commented.
In addition, the bench of deputies of both the Christian Democracy and the Party for Democracy (PPD), as well as parliamentarians of the Broad Front, gave their own ultimatum and reiterated that they will present a constitutional accusation against the Secretary of State in the next 24 hours for not applying the State Security Law to truckers who are unemployed.
The head of the Interior portfolio asked the opposition for “responsibility”. “It strikes me that there is a desire to promote that at this time and, for example, when a violent group burned four and five houses in Contulmo, on Lake Lanalhue, and families were violently removed from their homes, nobody promoted actions of this nature, “he said
His call was reinforced by the minister spokesman Jaime Bellolio, who also maintained that “there is no reason why this could prosper, it was not the position they had when, in the last government, the Minister of the Interior was from the DC. The country does not need any more ultimatums ”.
In the Government they made a new call to the truckers to “stop the strike now” and during the day the version circulated that the National Confederation of Land Freight Transport of Chile would decline the stoppage today, which until the closing of this note has not materialized.
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