• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Chile

Chile: Cargo Workers Threaten to Stage Roadblocks Nationwide

  • A group of truckers blocks routes, Chile, 2019.

    A group of truckers blocks routes, Chile, 2019. | Photo: Twitter/ @elEstadistaAfta

Published 5 February 2021
Opinion

Truckers denounce high levels of insecurity due to violent attacks in the La Araucania region.

Chile's Federation of Southern Truck Owners President Jose Villagran Friday announced new roadblocks if President Sebastian Piñera's administration fails to address the arson attacks against truckers in the La Araucania region. 

RELATED: 

Chile Launches Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign

Villagran requested an "urgent" meeting with Piñera whom he accuses of having done nothing to put an end to the insecurity suffered by truckers.

He also assured that since their last mobilization in August last year no progress has been made on truckers' protection while condemning the inobservance of previous commitment signed with former Interior Minister Victor Perez. 

"Unfortunately, today the law of the strongest is working... they are shooting our drivers in the head, they are hunting us like rabbits. It is not possible that this continues to happen," Villagran said.

The meme reads, "Trucks halted in the first hours of the strike in Duqueco, Los Angeles, Coigue, Negrete, Horcones, Arauco, Ports San Vicente, and Talcahuano."

Expressing concern about the upsurge in violence in the region, the National Trucking Confederation President Juan Araya proposed that drivers do not work at night to ensure their safety. 

From Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, 2020, Chile's National Confederation of Freight Transport staged a national mobilization that blocked several highways in the Biobio, La Araucania, Metropolitana, Valparaiso, and Maule regions to pressure the passing of 13 security bills.

"We do not need more Police forces, nor helicopters, nor money to solve the problem. This is a political issue and it has to be solved by the President Sebastian Piñera's government," Villagran stressed. 

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.