The British newspaper, Financial Timespublished a report over the weekend about security in Chile, where it warns that the presence of Venezuelan gangs has changed crime in the country with higher levels of insecurity.
The report from the British magazine maintains that Chile has been affected by a phenomenon, where criminal groups form cells in other places/countries, acting almost remotely on criminal movements.
“Experts consider that Chile has been the victim of a regional trend, where organized crime gangs have adopted business models less linked to their territories of origin after the pandemic. The cells in different countries work autonomously, but maintain communication with their home base and do contract work, which allows the gangs to expand to new regions,” the report indicates.
Financial Times also emphasizes the structure ofl Aragua Trainindicating that they have taken advantage of the migration of 7.7 million Venezuelans, infiltrating the most vulnerable groups in South America.
And although it has a presence in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, in Chile has been particularly successful, “due to the lack of criminal competition and Chile’s relative wealth,” and in a “desirable goal.”
“Chile’s homicide rate has almost doubled since 2019 to 4.5 per 100,000 people in 2023, very slightly below 2022. Last year it lost its place as the country with the lowest homicide rate in the region off El Salvador, where an offensive against local gangs drastically reduced violence, according to the security NGO Insight Crime,” the newspaper adds.
