After the murder and burning of three Carabineros in the commune of Cañete, in Arauco, the general director of Carabineros, Ricardo Yáñez, in an interview with The Mercurydelivered some of his reflections on the crime that shocked public opinion and generated a deployment of the powers of the State in the area.
He also addressed the debate between the ruling party and the opposition about whether he should resign from office, ahead of the hearing of formalizations for the crime of omission of command responsibility within the framework of the social outbreak of October 2019, which prosecutor Ximena is investigating. Chong.
“Why are they killing us? Why do these crimes happen? Because we are the first line of crime control, because we are in the places where people need us, because the police expose our integrity to protect citizens,” the general said in The Mercury.
And he added: “And if anyone believes that these cowardly murders are going to intimidate us, well, I tell them that although beaten and hurt, today we are more cohesive than ever,” he emphasized.
Asked about his impression of the political controversy about whether he should remain in command or resign, he said that “I think it is disrespectful to the families of our martyrs and the Carabineros. Today we must focus on finding the murderers, accompanying the families and containing our own.”
“It’s not fair”
Before his formalization hearing – which would be postponed until the end of October or November – the highest authority of the uniformed police indicated that “It is unfair that in a situation that had a national character, responsibility is only being sought in a single institution. What I am certain of is that the Carabineros (in the outbreak) did what they had to do by constitutional mandate.”
“The figure of the general director is the institution. And, obviously, the fact that the institution is sitting in front of an accusation is not fair,” said the highest authority of the Carabineros.
Finally, he expressed the support of President Boric and the State authorities. According to Yáñez, he has “always” felt supported by President Gabriel Boric. “The president is the one who confirmed me in office and who confirms me as general director”, he stressed. Likewise, he asserted that, facing the formalization hearing on May 7, “I have not made any decision yet. Decisions will be made in due course, as the president indicated. I will take it with him, sitting in his office or wherever he arranges it.”
“I want to value the transversal willingness of the authorities to work together, all of us, against crime. I think that is the only possible path,” he said.