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Rural Violence Causes Over 200 Million Dollars in Losses: Forestry Guild Demands State Action
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Rural violence in the Southern Macrozone has left a devastating toll on the forestry sector: over US$200 million in economic losses in the last 12 years, along with murders, ambushes, kidnappings, and arson attacks against workers and contractors.
Although the government claims that attacks have decreased by 70% since 2021, the Association of Forestry Contractors insists that insecurity persists and has taken the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, demanding that the Chilean state guarantee the rights to life and work under safe conditions.
The government stated that in the last year, violent acts are below 50%.
The presidential delegate of Araucanía, Eduardo Abdala, indicated that they are working together with the forestry industry and specified that there is now greater security for workers. For this reason, they will also await the pronouncement of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights following the complaint filed by the Association of Forestry Contractors.
"In this region of Araucanía, security conditions have improved, and in addition to that, we have also had elements that have allowed us to carry out better criminal prosecution, and in that context, a greater number of people are now convicted. We will have to wait and see what the pronouncement of this international body will be," he stated.
He added, "We have a rather positive view regarding what has happened in terms of the decrease in rural violence. However, obviously, some cases still persist, and we are working on them."
The representative of the guild who resorted to international instances, René Muñoz, said they are not seeking financial compensation but rather that the state fulfills its duty, as established in the Constitution, to protect life and the right to work under safe conditions.
The manager of the Association of Forestry Contractors indicated that in 12 years of violence, in addition to economic losses totaling over 200 million dollars, sector workers have been victims of murders, ambushes, kidnappings, and arson attacks.
"With this complaint request, we are asking the Inter-American Commission to join a lawsuit against the Chilean state for the non-compliance with these rights. So, we hope that with this and the background information we provided to the Commission, it can join, declare this complaint admissible, and through the lawsuit against the Chilean state, force Chile, its state, to comply with the rights established in our Constitution," emphasized Muñoz.
The submission by the forestry contractors seeks for their case to ultimately be analyzed and for there to be a pronouncement by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
The note on UATV's YouTube channel:
