The triple murder of Carabineros in Chile drives the proposal of radical measures such as the death penalty and the state of siege

The bodies of three murdered police officers who appeared in a burned vehicle in southern Chile were fired on Sunday with full honors by the Carabineros, at a funeral in which they were promoted in rank and considered martyrs. The triple crime shocked the country and prompted different authorities to propose measures, some more controversial than others.

As reported this Monday by the emol.com site, among the suggested initiatives are calls for restoration of the death penalty -repealed in 2001-, that a state of siege be declared, accelerate the processing of the Rules for the Use of Force (RUF) and the intelligence law, and the delivery of protection mechanisms to police officers.

The murder of the three police officers when they were patrolling the Cañete area, in the Biobío region, more than 400 kilometers south of Santiago, caused commotion in the country, since they were found burned on Saturday morning in an armored truck consumed by flames. It is believed that it was an ambushand the Prosecutor’s Office is still investigating on a confidential basis.

The Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, confirmed on Sunday to a local television program that, although she cannot disclose details of the investigation, The police were shot to death outside the vehicle before it was set on fire.

“They died from the bullets they received,” declared the minister in an exclusive interview with the “Mesa Central” program on the T13 channel. It is still unclear whether this happened at the location where the van was found on fire, she added, noting that there are still “many details to be worked out.”

The weapons of the carabinieri and their helmets They were not located, and there are many unknowns about what happened, said Tohá, who holds the highest government position after the president.

The three senior non-commissioned officers, who were promoted postmortem, were fired with full honors in a tribute by the organization in Concepción, the capital of Biobío. The general director, Ricardo Yáñez, gave his widow some of his belongings.

Three people were transferred to a local police station due to their possible connection with the events, but “technically they are not detained” but rather under “investigative identity control” to be interrogated, the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, confirmed to the press. He also said that they are seeking to reinforce the area police and militarily, in which there have already been greater controls in recent hours.

Monsalve indicated that the way in which the homicides were carried out proposes a different modus operandiand noted that it is possible that it is a change of strategy in acts of rural violence linked to mapuche conflictin which certain groups have confronted the State for decades.

The most controversial measure after the murders was suggested by the regional governor of Biobío, Rodrigo Díaz.

In statements to Radio Cooperativa he said: “I hope that the Government sends a bill to parliament and that it is accepted by parliamentarians, for example, to reinstate the death penalty for those who murder police officers.”

“Or, for example, that the Public Criminal Defender’s Office never defend people who murder police officers“he added.

Deputy Johannes Kaiser also announced through his X account that he is working on “a law to restore the death penalty “for anyone who murders a police officer, police officer or a member of the Armed Forces.”

Governor Rodrigo Mundaca, of Valparaíso, also opened the debate on reinstating the death penalty.

Always according to Emol.com, from the opposition in general The request to declare a state of siege was repeated in the southern macrozone, something that had already been attempted on other occasions.

“We demand that the Government declare a state of siege in Arauco, convene the national security council, reinforce the borders to prevent any escape and deploy all the police and military forces necessary to capture the murderers of these Carabineros” , the Republican Party reported in a statement.

José Antonio Kast – former presidential candidate of the party – also pointed out through his urgent security cabinet”.

The mayor of La Florida, Rodolfo Carter (UDI) and representative Camila Flores (RN) also supported moving forward along these lines. The state of siege It is decreed in cases of internal war or serious internal commotion in the country.

The President of the Republic – with prior authorization from Congress – can decree it. It can be extended for a maximum of 15 days (with extension) and gives special powers to the Government to maintain order.

Two of the proposed measures will accelerate their discussion this week in Congress: promulgate bills regulating the Use of Force Rules (RUF) and the Intelligence Law.

The RUF are a set of rules that regulate the actions of the Armed Forces and Public Order and Security in situations where the use of force is required. The project has been in Congress since April 2023.

At the beginning of April, the Executive entered indications. Shortly before, in March, his proposals had been criticized. And one of the modifications proposed by the Government was the “differentiated use of force in cases where there is presence of children, girls or adolescents, women, sexual diversities, People with disabilities, migrants, indigenous people or older adults”.

After the murder of the police, Congress suspended the district week that was scheduled for this week, in order to speed up the processing of these initiatives.

Another of the proposals that arose after the murder of the police in Cañete was that of amnesty to uniformed officers formalized during the period of social outbreak.

“The amnesty project that we entered this week must be supported and dispatched,” the president of the UDI, Javier Macaya, wrote in X, attaching a photo with the motion.

Both Chile Vamos and Republicanos lent their support, although from the government, through Minister Carolina Tohá, They ruled out evaluating this initiative for the momentarguing that it has no relation to the situation.

With information from AP and Emol.com