Delegates begin coordinating Defense efforts in areas under State of Exception

The regional presidential delegates of Biobío, Julio Anativia, and La Araucanía, Francisco Ljubetic, arrived in Angol to lead the first meeting of the Southern Macrozone under the current Government administration with the provincial delegates of Arauco, Biobío, and Malleco, provinces that are under a constitutional state of exception.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from the Ministry of Public Security and the defense chief of La Araucanía, General José Manuel Soto, who as of June 20 will assume "unified command of the Armed Forces in the area." This follows the Congress approval on May 18 of a new 30-day extension of the state of exception in the Southern Macrozone. During the legislative discussion, Interior Minister Claudio Alvarado announced a series of initiatives to expand the powers of the Armed Forces, including the authority to carry out preventive and investigative identity checks, searches of clothing, luggage, and vehicles, as well as making arrests in flagrante delicto.

On that occasion, Alvarado announced the possibility of implementing a unified command in the defense leadership "for the purposes of better coordination and greater effectiveness (...) throughout the entire exception area." This situation was confirmed yesterday.

Thus, General José Manuel Soto, currently in charge of the measure in La Araucanía, will be responsible for coordinating personnel from both the Army and the Navy, the latter deployed in the provinces of Biobío and Arauco (Biobío Region).

Greater coordination between zones

The meeting, held behind closed doors at the Provincial Presidential Delegation of Malleco, allowed for an analysis of the strategic points where military personnel will continue to operate, as well as beginning to develop joint work between the Executive and the defense leadership to combat organized crime and drug trafficking in rural areas of both regions.

The presidential delegate of La Araucanía, Francisco Ljubetic, highlighted that the coordination "allows us to strengthen the work of the deployed personnel" in the area. He added that "from a geographical point of view, there is no territorial division because the events occur mainly in La Araucanía and the Arauco area," so he described having a single command and conception for the pursuit of armed groups as "extremely useful."

Meanwhile, the presidential delegate of the Biobío Region, Julio Anativia, stated that the main objective of the meeting was to coordinate actions with the future defense chief of both regions. He added that "this is a change of leadership, but it will continue with personnel from both institutions deployed across all the provinces that make up the Southern Macrozone (...). There are strategic reasons that have been considered for having a unified command (but) the resources and personnel remain deployed," he emphasized.

Source:El Mercurio