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Chile's Entry into Top 20 Countries with Highest Terrorism Rates Lamented
According to the Global Terrorism Index, in 2022 Chile ranked 18th among countries with the highest number of terrorist incidents, surpassed in South America only by Colombia.
The Association of Forestry Contractors -Acoforag- described Chile's entry into the Top 20 countries with the highest number of terrorist incidents as regrettable, based on the study presented by this year's 2022 "Global Terrorism Index," which placed the country in 18th position, at a "high" level.
According to the figures provided by this report, Chile rose 40 places in the last four years since the previous study conducted in 2018, when the country was ranked 58th among nations most affected by such violent incidents.
The Global Terrorism Index states that "Chile had the second-highest score in the region in 2021. There were 831 attacks and 11 terrorism-related deaths recorded in the last decade. In 2021 alone, there were 362 terrorist attacks in the country, more than half of which were attributed to Mapuche ethnic extremists."
It was further added that "there has been an escalation in the conflict between the Mapuche and the Chilean government in recent years, with 359 attacks attributed to Mapuche extremists since 2020. Most of these attacks have targeted companies operating in the region," as reported.
FORESTRY CONTRACTORS
The manager of the Association of Forestry Contractors, René Muñoz, addressed Chile's entry into this global Top 20 for terrorism-related violence. In this regard, he stated, "First, we regret that we have risen in this type of ranking, but it is not surprising because, ultimately, the outgoing government ensured we reached this position by failing to take necessary measures and not combating crime and terrorism. The results are devastating, being in the position shown by this latest ranking. The truth is, we can only lament it—there are no other words for this situation," he emphasized.
When asked about comparing these global figures with the Association's data on attacks in the Macro Southern Zone, Muñoz commented, "In the last four years, we have seen a doubling of attacks, damage to equipment, and harm to workers—everything increased by 50%. So, it indeed aligns with what we experience in the forests, though violence against workers is not included there, where I believe it has also risen by almost 100%," he clarified.
He added, "During President Bachelet's administration, we had no worker casualties, but now we have workers who have been murdered. So, we will likely appear in a future ranking under the category of killings via extreme violence, where we will climb even higher."
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE NEXT GOVERNMENT
When asked about expectations and the tasks the next administration of President-elect Gabriel Boric must undertake regarding security, he noted, "Undoubtedly, the next government has a major challenge ahead. We have had some engagement with them and heard about the plan they intend to implement. From the outset, we cannot be pessimistic about what lies ahead. We believe we must remain optimistic and engage in dialogue with authorities. But this is a serious problem because, being immersed in the issue of violence and terrorism, it has escalated to such a high level that, without a clear policy and direct action against these illicit organizations, we fear this may spiral out of control. I think the incoming government should adopt an attitude of wanting to solve the problem. But if it follows the same approach as the outgoing administration, we believe the situation could worsen and reach levels we don’t even want to imagine," he concluded.
René Muñoz, Acoforag Manager
Source:latribuna.cl
