Wired walls, jewellery with emergency buttons, armoured cars and traces of blood on the streets – Chile is facing a rise in organised crime that has eroded its reputation as one of the last safe countries in Latin America.
Along with Argentina, Costa Rica and Uruguay, Chile had until just over a decade ago one of the lowest homicide rates in the region (2.5 per 100,000 inhabitants), according to the UN office on drugs and crime.
However, that indicator has soared since 2012 to 6.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022. Though a rise, it is still below the average for the Americas (15) – the continent with the most such crimes in the world, according to the latest available data from the UN agency.
Away from the numbers, in Recoleta, a bohemian middle-class neighbourhood in the north of Santiago, fear spreads by word of mouth.
"Now you see blood in the streets, bullet shells, knives lying around. We weren't used to this and now it's very familiar,’ said Lina Bilbao, 45, chairwoman of a neighbourhood council.
Bars and houses look different than they did two years ago. Gradually, barred windows, fenced walls and security cameras are multiplying.
There are even signs with emergency numbers in case of fights and robberies, as observed by AFP during a tour.
'Greater violence'
For the authorities, the rise in crime is closely linked to gangs such as Venezuela's Tren de Aragua and Peru's Los Pulpos, which are involved in kidnapping, drug-trafficking, human-trafficking and hired killings.
These are "criminal organisations that the country did not have, which have expanded into different parts of Latin America," said Chile's Interior Secretary Luis Cordero.
They distinguish themselves from local criminal groups by committing crimes "with greater violence," emphasised the official.
Alarmed by "the news" about "crime, robberies and kidnappings," Sofía Carvajal, a 29-year-old designer, has joined a growing trend: wearing accessories with emergency buttons.
On her way to a central location in Santiago, where she sources fabrics for her business, she displays a necklace with a silver-plated blue quartz. Inside the gem is a tiny chip that, when pressed, sends her real-time location to emergency contacts.
She recalls when her brother was mugged with a gun two years ago. Since then, she moves faster on foot and wears worn-out clothes so as not to draw attention to herself.
"There is insecurity. I don't walk in the street calmly any more. If it happened to the person next door, it could happen to me," she explains.
Greater protection
Along with the nascent market for jewellery with emergency buttons, the armoured protection industry is consolidating in Santiago, a capital of eight million inhabitants and the city with the highest number of homicides per year in Chile.
One of the specialised companies, Blindatek, went from retrofitting 30 vehicles in 2020 to 200 last year, according to its manager, Rodrigo Rivera.
His workshop is frequented by businessmen and civil servants, some of whom are still in shock at the violent theft of their cars.
From 2014 to 2023, robberies with violence increased by 25 percent, according to official figures.
These are clients “who have had traumatic experiences ... and who are protecting themselves because gunfire on the streets has increased," Rivera said.
Cambio de prioridad
With the rise of organised crime, Chile has had to face up to a new reality: the lack of a police force prepared to deal with gangs that can take over entire neighbourhoods.
As a country considered safe, "the development of security and justice institutions was postponed," says Jorge Araya, former director of public security at the Interior Ministry.
Faced with a citizenry demanding a tough response, the government of leftist leader Gabriel Boric was forced to make fighting crime a priority.
Reinforcing the prosecutor's office with a 200-strong anti-crime unit, it announced the creation of a new Security Ministry, which will begin operating this year.
For the time being, homicides appear to be on the decline: from 1,330 cases registered in 2022 to 1,248 the following year, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office.
Yet these are still shocking figures for a country of some 20 million inhabitants.
"It took Chile a while to adjust to this new crime. But just as crime is evolving, state interventions have to adapt as well," said Cordero.
by Rodrigo Arangua, AFP
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