Santiago, Chile.- The Government of Chile decreed nightly curfews in the areas hardest hit by forest fires in the south-central part of the country, a measure that will be extended to other regions under fire to prevent robberies and looting.
The measure, which will enter into force on Friday and will be in force from midnight to 5 in the morning, will begin in at least 20 municipalities in the Biobío and La Araucanía regions, as instructed by President Gabriel Boric, said Rear Admiral Jorge Keitel, chief of Defense for the Biobío region.
Boric announced on Wednesday afternoon that a curfew would be imposed in three regions of the country in which a state of catastrophe was declared due to the fires: Biobío, La Araucanía and Ñuble.
“The Government considers it necessary to establish curfews” with the aim of “guaranteeing the safety of the people who have been affected by the emergency,” said the President.
In La Araucanía, General Rubén Castillo, military chief of that region, indicated that the curfew in 12 of its municipalities implies restrictions on public transport “mainly in the province of Malleco.”
This is one of the areas most affected by clashes between radical Mapuche groups and state forces, in a historic conflict over land claims, now owned by forestry companies.
The flames, which leave at least 24 dead and some 2,180 injured, have devastated more than 309,000 hectares in the Ñuble, Biobío, La Araucanía and Maule regions, an area equivalent to a third of the territory of Puerto Rico.
