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"The atmosphere is tense": After attacks, victims of violence in the south take precautions to go vote

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Going to vote in groups, traveling during daylight hours with higher traffic on the routes, and asking neighbors to watch over their properties and machinery, for those living in rural areas, are some of the preventive measures that victims of violence in the southern macro-zone will adopt tomorrow to get to polling places, due to the resurgence of attacks during the last week.

When consulted by "El Mercurio," they point out that in previous years, the main problems have been roadblocks, which aim to prevent neighbors from going to vote.

In the face of potential transit obstacles, such as felled trees and burning barricades, they demand that the state of emergency be enforced and that patrols and vehicle checkpoints be reinforced.

Regarding this, the Regional Ministerial Secretary of Security of La Araucanía, Israel Campusano, assures that "we have a preventive deployment, in coordination with Carabineros, the PDI, the Armed Forces, and also the municipalities."

Similarly, Campusano emphasizes that "we have patrols on the routes, in strategic perimeters, and at all polling places, urban and rural, to ensure that the electoral process proceeds normally" and calls on citizens to go "early" to exercise their civic right.

"Despite the risks, we always vote"

"The atmosphere is tense, but in Ercilla, one always takes precautions; security is a daily concern," warns farmer Héctor Urban, whose family has frequently been the target of armed attacks, even though his property is located meters from Route 5 South. When it comes to elections, he says that "despite the risks, we always vote, and for no reason would my family stop doing so. We accompany each other and fulfill this duty together, and then we stay alert and await the results."

Urban comments that both he and his family, as well as other agricultural producers, also take turns watching over their properties and the machinery inside as a precautionary measure. "When we have to leave for an extended time, we always ask the neighbors to keep an eye out, and then we do the same to return the favor," Urban recounts.

"Never go out alone"

Truck driver Alejo Apraiz, who has suffered attacks on the road and at his facilities, agrees with the self-protection measure of going to vote in groups. He is assigned to vote at a location in the commune of Lautaro.

"The ideal is never to go out alone. Preferably in groups of two to three people and in vehicle caravans, so that in case of attacks, someone can report the situation and get help," states the also president of the Association of Victims of Rural Violence.

Regarding whether he has noticed an increase in military presence on the routes after the recent arson attacks, he responds that "although I've had to travel a lot on highways this week, I haven't seen increased protection or patrol presence, but I hope this is reinforced this weekend."

"We take turns to guard the camp"""

From Pidima, in Ercilla, lawyer Juan de Dios Fuentes Vega explains that although his father, the farmer of the same name, goes to vote accompanied by a family member, "in general, we vote separately and take turns guarding the field so it's not left alone."

He states that beyond the acts of violence, "we must not forget that in the southern macro-zone we are under a state of exception, managed by the military, and what is appropriate is that security and patrols on the routes be reinforced so that people can travel to polling points without risks."

"Three days before, we stop the work"

The Navarrete family, dedicated to forestry work and frequent victims of attacks on their machinery and facilities, has faced roadblocks on election days more than once. "Once I turned back, and on another occasion, I looked for an alternative route. But I always vote," says forestry contractor Yasna Navarrete.

With their activities concentrated in Collipulli, north of La Araucanía, she reveals that as a protective measure for their workers and equipment, "three days before the elections, we stop the work." And along with instructing their employees on the protective actions they can take, "we also move the machinery to safe places."

Source:El Mercurio