Almost two months ago, the government ordered cargo transportation had police escort in critical areas of the Araucaria and both workers and police need to wear reflective safety vest. Third he accompanied a convoy, between Las Chalcis and Victoria.
They are about 21.30 on Thursday. The second sergeant, Fernando Campos, Collipulli, is installed on the shoulder of one of the tracks from the Route 5 South. Flashlight in hand, reflective vest and white gloves, began to gesture with his arm, pointing to the side. Motorists see it. Everyone thinks he is making a routine traffic control along the road holding. Truckers and bus drivers that channel for this sector, however, have of course not.
It is not a mere oversight. It is an offer that makes them to integrate a security convoy with police escort, and circular slice up toll The Macias, on the north side of the Malice Province, the “red zone” of La Araucanía. This is the sector where there have been numerous arson attacks on cargo and passenger vehicles in the first half.
Thus one can summarize what each evening between 21.00 and 06.00, live in that area, between Victoria and Las Chalcis, north of Collipulli, against the action of hooded.
The motive for the attacks is unclear. In some events there were pamphlets claiming the indigenous cause. In others, only harm.
The convoys began on September 5, following a decision of the Ministry of Interior. And the third accompanied one of these caravans and what happens in them.
The activity begins with backup control that make the police stationed tenure in Victoria Road and the toll The Macias in the opposite direction simultaneously. There, the police officer gives drivers join the caravan.
“At this point, since the measure was implemented, they have declined to integrate; and that there is no tension or fear of going through this section; which realizes that it has regained sense of security when transiting the area, “explains the curator of Collipulli, Jorge Duarte, who heads one of the caravans.
Those who accept are installed in the seating area facing the holding, to form a convoy of eight to 15 vehicles, including trucks and buses, which are guarded by patrols with its respective detection- going back and forth. A bus company Turn Bus, is led by Jaime Raquel. He remembers that “last summer was behind two trucks that were attacked. We now expect the caravan for safety “.
A passenger on the same bus, Luis Cifuentes, said that “clearly gives lighter, but we cannot get in this way, is supposed to live in a state of law.” Others, like Guido Moraga, resolved to continue alone in his truck route. “It is not as insecure as before,” he says. Rodrigo Chrysostom, his copilot, anyway adds that “the measure is appreciated, to avoid problems.”
They have not been quiet times. During October, Multigremial of La Araucaria has recorded at least 11 arson attacks in the region and Biobío, mostly machinery on farms.
Forming the convoy, this time with nine trucks and two buses, the officer leading the caravan gives the order to advance. You enter the path and begin the journey of the “red” of 61 kilometers at an average speed of 75 km / h stretch. In parallel, but faster, make on center court other motorists and truckers in safety jackets and bus drivers not direct receipt welcome, but neither lose sight.
Effective Radio Patrol Prefecture of Santiago gives a parallel coverage. “They are permanent and simultaneous patrols overnight, supported by civilian personnel,” says the commander Duarte. They pass in both directions on the road. In addition, some gateways are installed in Overflow, as noted in the sector Podia.
Along the way, the caravan moves smoothly. The mission of the police is not interrupted even with a “key 41” (fire) that you hear on the radio. Captain Felipe Barras an explained that fire is seen in an area, but that does not necessarily correspond to an attack.
Nor alter other warnings traffic, which account for sporadic gunfire in the “faction” (fixed point on the field), and that could correspond to hunters, or a patrol has had to move to the “faction” René Urban, to inflating a tire using the compressor in place there. It is an area with permanent shelter, product of tens of attacks.
The officer with his driver make the path beside the caravan, with the mission not only to provide coverage, but “go all the way by observing if there are people acting suspiciously or foreign materials such as wood or tires that could be used to a barricade or attack “feature.
However, almost two months of implementing the plan, the violence stopped occurs on this stretch of Route 5 South. Truck drivers recognize that there is a sense of peace of mind. In fact, four trucks parked in different parts of the road, on the shoulder, with their drivers are seen resting. “That did not look a few months ago, it was dangerous,” says a convoy driver.
For the president of the truckers in La Araucanía, Jose Villa ran, Escort “it is just a band-aid solution, because it will not be forever. What we need is that the rule of law be restored. ”
Finally, after midnight, the caravan and police vehicles arrive at their destination and revolve 180 degrees to head a new caravan back. On average, police in reflective uniform made about six turns per day. Trucks and buses, meanwhile, fall from his escort and continue their journey.