The Secretary of State also reinforced his call to comply with the measures established by Health. "If we extend the state of exception it is because people are not complying," he said.
One of the measures that has generated the most discussion as a mechanism to contain the advance of the coronavirus in the country is the permanence or not of the curfew at night. In this sense, the Minister of Defense, Mario Desbordes, assured that although it is a provision that is being permanently studied, he stressed that everything depends on the epidemiological situation that each city or region is experiencing.
"The evaluation of the measures is a constant. All measures are dynamic, there is nothing rigid. Suddenly the hours can be lengthened, they can be shortened, it also depends on each region. There are regions where vehicle restrictions will probably have to be evaluated to decrease the movement of people and there are others where greater flexibility can be made, "the Secretary of State began by pointing out. As Desbordes explained, "this is dynamic and therefore I cannot rule out the possibility that the curfew will also change in terms of the schedule," although he acknowledged that the general situation in the country due to the pandemic is not positive. "It is a decision taken by the covid committee after a fairly exhaustive analysis of what the numbers are and so far the numbers in most regions of the country are not good," he said. On the other hand, Desbordes insisted on his call to abide by the measures established by the health authorities and to "respond in a responsible manner" to contain the advance of the pandemic. "If we extend the state of emergency, if we extend the state of exception, it is because people are not complying. We cannot put a military man on every corner or in every house. We don't have a sailor or an aviator to supervise each place and for Therefore, the main thing here is the responsibility of each one of us. We have to understand that the virus will not regress if all Chileans do not take responsibility for what corresponds to us, if we take care of ourselves, if we wear a mask, if we respond with distancing If we maintain the toilets that we must have, etc. ", said the minister.
Formalization of Army Captain Another issue that Desbordes addressed was the formalization of Army Captain José Faúndez Sepúlveda, for whom the Prosecutor's Office requested preventive detention, charging him with the crimes of unnecessary violence with serious injuries, simple homicide and serious injuries, for a fact It happened in the middle of the social outbreak that ended with the death of a protester in the city of La Serena.
In this regard, the Defense Minister ruled out for now untying the military. "First of all, every Chilean has the right to the presumption of innocence and obviously also the military. Second, what is being done is an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office, the Prosecutor's Office will determine if with the background it has it determines to accuse, and recently a trial begins there. Therefore, the captain has every right to remain in the institution until responsibilities are determined, "he said. Likewise, he affirmed that "that is what corresponds and we are going to provide all means of defense. He is being defended by the Public Criminal Defense Office, incidentally. The Army has collaborated in everything during the investigation, has made available to the The Prosecutor's Office has requested everything and therefore we give a guarantee as a Ministry and we give a guarantee as an Army that everything possible will be done to ensure that these facts are clarified. " "So we hope that the process advances, but as far as I am concerned I believe that the captain should remain in the institution until a court decides whether he is guilty or innocent," concluded Desbordes.