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Victims Amid Wave of Arson Attacks in the Southern Macrozone: "We Have No Protection or Security"

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The quiet early hours of Friday were once again disrupted by violence in the city of Cañete, Arauco province, in theBío Bío region. Unknown individuals stormed a property located in the Las Quilas area and reduced three buildings to ashes, leaving behind a trail of destruction that frustrates residents and victims of rural violence, primarily in the Southern Macrozone.

At the scene, the unknown perpetrators left a claim of responsibility. A banner found at the site attributes the act to the RMA, a new radical organization operating in the area.

Carlos Sanhueza, a retired PDI prefect and previous victim of an arson attack in July of last year, expressed his deep frustration and pain over this new episode of violence.

He shared his feelings in an interview with Radio Bío Bío, where he addressed the lack of effective measures by authorities to stop this wave of attacks. His urgent call for concrete results reflects the fear and anxiety currently gripping the Cañete community.

“The truth is, this is the second time I’ve been attacked. This is the second time I feel frustration, with more pain, more impunity, more despair. I believe this has already become normalized. A word I struggle to say, but that’s the truth. Things have become normalized. I don’t know what’s happening with the authorities, with the measures being taken. Today, we’re worse off than before in Cañete, as part of Arauco province, which is part of Chile. And when I say part of Chile, it’s because I see no results here,” said Carlos.

Meanwhile, Fernando Fuentealba, president of the Foundation for Victims of Terrorism in the Southern Macrozone, harshly criticized the government, calling them “indifferent” to the “impunity” of these attacks.

“This early morning, we suffered another attack in the southern cone of Arauco province. Once again, a member of our Foundation, retired Sub-Lieutenant Carlos Sanhueza, was the victim of a brutal attack where three homes on his property were burned down,” he lamented.

“He had already been a victim before, and now only two cabins remain, which will likely be torched in the coming days, destroying his entire complex,” he stated.

“We have no protective measures”

“We have no protective measures, no degree of security. This is absolutely clear. This escalation of violence has not been stopped, and the RMA is a new armed wing of the CAM. They operate freely in total and absolute immunity,” Fuentealba asserted.

“Carlos is in a very difficult situation, very complicated, because he has debts and commitments, like all of us. Moreover, he is already a displaced victim, and this government, like the others, has failed in all its obligations. They don’t pay our rent, they don’t support us, and we have no solution,” he clarified.

“Members of the government; Minister; Undersecretary; you are a disgrace, you are incapable of anything. This government is inept and indifferent, because this will keep happening, because these groups continue to act with absolute impunity,” he criticized.

Carabineros Respond to Latest Arson Attack in the Southern Macrozone

Meanwhile, the prefect of Carabineros in Arauco, Colonel Óscar Sandoval, confirmed that this incident is already under investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and procedures have also been assigned to the Carabineros Forensic Lab (Labocar) in Concepción.

“Public Order Control (COP) personnel, who were patrolling the P60-R route, noticed that at kilometer 34 in the commune of Cañete, two buildings were being consumed by fire. Upon entering and verifying, they found two vacation cabins and a reception building,” said the officer.

“This incident was reported to the Cañete Local Prosecutor’s Office, and the prosecutor ordered forensic investigations to be carried out by Labocar personnel from Concepción,” he added.

Pursuit of Radical Organizations

For his part, the presidential delegate of Arauco province, Humberto Toro, distanced this self-proclaimed “RMA” group from the Mapuche cause, accusing them of insensitivity amid the frontal system that recently struck the country.

“This is happening in the midst of a tragedy the country is facing due to the rains. We have flooded cities, people who have died, people who are isolated. And this group, which identifies itself as RMA—apparently Autonomous Mapuche Resistance—commits these violent crimes against people who are also entrepreneurs in the territory,” he lamented.

“They do not champion any Mapuche cause, nor do they represent it. They are insensitive criminals who, despite the entrepreneurs working for the province and despite the tragedy the country is enduring, commit these crimes, which speaks to their dehumanization and brutal delinquency. We will keep pursuing them, we will find them, as we have done in other cases,” the authority asserted.

Source:www.biobiochile.cl