The irruption of organized crime changes customs in Chile

Wiring walls, jewelry with panic buttons, armored cars and traces of blood in the streets. Chile faces an increase in organized crime which deteriorated its reputation as one of the last safe countries in Latin America.

Together with Argentina, Costa Rica and Uruguay, Chile registered until just over a decade one of the lowest homicide rates in the region (2.5 per 100,000 inhabitants), according to the UN office against the drug and the crime.

However, That indicator shot since 2012 Until 6.7 homicides for every 100,000 inhabitants in 2022, even below the average of America (15), the continent with more such crimes in the world, indicate the latest available data of the agency.

Far from the numbers, in Recoleta, a middle -class bohemian neighborhood in northern Santiago, fear passes from mouth to mouth.

“Now blood is seen in the streets, bullet caps, knives lying. We were not accustomed and today is very daily,” says Lina Bilbao, 45, president of a neighborhood board.

The bars and homes look different compared to two years ago. Gradually they multiplied The windows with bars, wired walls and security cameras.

They even see posters with emergency numbers in case of quarrels and robberies, according to the AFP during a tour.

For the authorities, the increase in crime is closely linked to bands such as the Train of Aragua, of Venezuela, and the octopuses, of Peru, involved in kidnappings, drug trafficking, people’s trafficking and hired murders.

They are “criminal organizations that the country did not have, that expanded in different parts of Latin America,” the Vice Minister of Interior Luis Cordero told AFP.

Basically they are distinguished from local criminal groups for committing more violence, “he emphasizes.

Alarmed by “The news” about “crime, robberies and kidnappings”, Sofía Carvajal, a 29 -year -old designer, joined a rising trend: Accessories with panic buttons.

On the way to a central point in Santiago, where you provide fabrics for your business, exhibit a necklace with a blue quartz coated with silver. Within the gem is a tiny chip that, when oppressed, sends the location in real time to emergency contacts.

Remember that two years ago his brother was assaulted gun in hand. Since then, she moves faster and wears worn clothes so as not to get attention.

“There is insecurity. I no longer walk quietly on the street. If it happened to the next door, it can happen to me,” he says to the AFP.

Next to the nascent jewelry market with panic buttons, the armor industry in Santiago, a capital of eight million inhabitants and city with more homicides per year in Chile is consolidated.

One of the specialized companies, Blindatek, went from adapting 30 vehicles in 2020 to 200 last year, according to its manager, Rodrigo Rivera.

For their workshop come from businessmen to officials, some still in ‘shock’ for the violent robbery of their cars. From 2014 to 2023, robberies with violence increased 25%, according to official figures. They are customers “who have had traumatic experiences (…) and that are being protected because the fire power in the streets has increased,” says Rivera.

With the rise of organized crime, Chile crashed with a reality: the lack of a police prepared to deal with structures that dispute entire neighborhoods.

As was a country that was considered safe, “the development of security and justice institutions was postponed,” says Jorge Araya, former public security director of the Ministry of Interior.

Ante a citizen that cries out hard, The government of the Social Democrat Gabriel Boric was forced to set as priority the fight against crime.

While reinforcing the Prosecutor’s Office with an anti -criminal unit of 200 agents, he announced the creation of a Ministry of Security, which will begin operating this year.

For now, homicides seem to go down: of the 1,330 cases registered in 2022 went to 1,248 the following year, according to the Public Ministry.

Even so, they are still scandalous figures for this country of about 20 million inhabitants.

“Chile cost a bit assimilated this new crime. But just as the crime adapts, the interventions of the State also have to adapt,” says Deputy Minister Cordero.