Chile Increases Military Presence on Northern Border

The Chilean government has increased the presence of its armed forces on its northern border with Peru and Bolivia in a move that the Bolivian minister of defense classified as an attempt at intimidation.

Border security in Chile has been traditionally handled by soldiers known as the Carabiniers of Chile, the gendarmerie of the country, however Chilean Minister of Defense Jose Antonio Gomez said the levels of crime merited the involvement of the armed forces.

“In the north, we have problems that because (criminals) from Bolivia  come in to assault, rob, steal vans, even trucks. The Carabiniers police sometimes do not have the ability to respond,” Gomez told El Mercurio.

Bolivian Minister of Defense Reymi Ferreira responded accusing his Chilean counterpart of using the issue of crime as an “excuse.”

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“This should be seen as part of policy of ostentation and intimidation,” said Ferreira on Monday.

The use of the armed forces for internal security is a contested idea in Chile, which emerged from the bloody dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1990.

Nevertheless, the Chilean minister of defense said it was an idea worth considering, though he tempered his comments.

"I'm not suggesting that the army do the work of the Carabiniers, but they could take their technological means to report on where problems may occur. We find ourselves in a place where we can discuss more openly collaborations (between the police and army) that eventually may happen," said Gomez.

Yet when presented with the hypothetical scenario where the army might need to conduct an arrest, Gomez said it would be “irrational” to expect a soldier to call the police instead of making the arrest himself.

Gomez added that he wishes cooperation between the army and police to begin “as soon as possible” and that the presence of the armed forces in border areas had already been increased.

Bolivian Minister of Defense Reymi Ferreira announced that his ministry would conduct an inspection of border posts on Thursday but denied it was in response to the recent actions by the Chilean army.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled in September that it would hear Bolivia's claim demanding access to the Pacific Ocean, a longstanding dispute between the two countries.

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​The coastal territory was taken from Bolivia in The War of the Pacific (1879-1883) a conflict that also involved Peru.