MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

State of Emergency in Chile: 81.56% in favor of it

Governor Rivas asked Chile's Congress “not to be deaf.”

As the State of Emergency currently in force in Chilean Regions where armed conflicts are going on with alleged Mapuche rebels in arms in coming to an end next Tuesday, 81.56% of people were in favor of it being renewed by Congress, a Citizen Consultation in La Araucanía showed Sunday.

More than 140 thousand took part in the study which showed over 4 out of 5 voters supported keeping the armed forces active in the region, according to a survey carried out between last Friday and this Sunday at 6 pm local time.

A total of 144,994 people cast their electronic votes regarding a possible 15-day extension to the current State of Exception in the provinces of Malleco and Cautín, in the region of La Araucanía and the Arauco province in the Biobío region.

“We ask the politicians, especially all the deputies and senators of Chile, to listen to our voice, not to be deaf,” said Governor Luciano Rivas after knowing the results, which showed more than 118,000 voters were in favor of extending the State of Constitutional Exception for this area and only some 26,000 votes against.

Rivas made his plea “with great respect, but also with great force.”

Defense Minister Baldo Prokurica congratulated the regional governor and the people of La Araucanía for having made the decision to ask the people their opinion regarding the continuity of the State of Exception.

Prokurica wrote on his Twitter account that “Great support from La Araucanía (81% of 145 thousand voters) for the continuation of the state of emergency. The armed forces and the police provide protection to citizens and together face terrorism, drug trafficking and violence. I urge Congress to support this great citizen cry.”