“Sump! Sump! Sump!”. With applause and ovations, he was received yesterday by a group of people, the mayor of La Florida, Rodolfo Carterupon arrival in Quilpué to attend the funeral procession of the police sergeant Rita Olivares, who was murdered last Sunday. And although several of his adherents clamored for his appearance and his arrival was broadcast on television channels, criticism of the community chief was filled with criticism of “opportunism” on social networks, since Carter is one of the leaders that sound in the right as a possible presidential candidate.
As well as the mayor of Florida, other potential presidential leaders in the sector have also been deployed due to the death of the sergeant and with criticism of the security agenda promoted by the government. This has happened with the mayoress of Providencia, Evelyn Matthew (UDI), and the community leader of Puente Alto, German Codina (RN), who have had an active participation on the subject.
Only this morning, Matthei was in interviews on TVN, on Chilevisión and on Agriculture radio about security. To this is added the territorial deployment of yesterday, when he went with Carter, Codina and the presidents of Chile. We go to the General Directorate of Carabineros to attack La Moneda. This activity, in fact, was organized by the mayoress herself, they recognize in her team.
In the opposition they take it for granted that the security agenda is an issue that complicates the government of Gabriel Boric, since traditionally the right has been tougher in terms of public order, while the left has opposed several of the legislative measures that are being requested today. Added to this is the fact that opinion polls show the area of security as a priority, which is why, among the parties of Chile Vamos, they recognize that the presidential leaders have seen an opportunity to deploy on the matter.
In any case, in Matthei’s environment they dismiss his involvement in a presidential plan, and They affirm that security matters have always been important to her. In this sense, they stress that they hope to give important signals in this area, but without neglecting the role of mayor and complying with working hours. Along these lines, they emphasize that today he will have a municipal council for the rest of the day, so he would not have any more public activities.
In Providencia, figures from the commune in terms of security stand out as part, they say, of “Matthei’s legacy.” In the municipality they affirm that they are the commune with the highest number of arrests by the municipal security team: 860 in 2022 and 39 gangs disrupted with the support of the police. They have also launched other attacks such as installing security cameras and making agreements with Ñuñoa and Vitacura to share the images. In this sense, they also affirm that it is normal for the media focus to be on security, so that the efforts that Matthei makes in this line will always be “more showy.”
Matthei, in fact, has always shown a tough speech in this area, which has been reinforced in these last hours. Yesterday in the activity with the police institution he stressed that “they (Broad Front and the Communist Party) also symbolically weakened the Carabineros”, while today on TVN he defended the uniformed officers during the social outbreak of October 2019: “If there were problems of human rights violations, it was because they had no way of defending themselves. When they came upon them, all they had were tear gas canisters, water and those famous rubber pellets that they had never had any training on how to use”.
In the case of Carter, the deployment has been notoriously more mediatic. The mayor has had the demolition of the so-called “narco houses” as a banner of struggle. Several of these procedures have been widely broadcast on television, and after a meeting on Monday with the national prosecutor, Angel Valenciathe top persecutor promised to attend one of the demolitions.
To this was added the deployment made in Quilpué, where he maintained that “the truth is that one does not only have to come to take a picture with the police when they are suffering and then leave. I wanted to accompany the tears of the policemen who are there.
Today, meanwhile, the community chief went to the response of the sergeant, according to his surroundings, after conversations with the brother of the uniformed woman, Raimundo Olivares. Besides, The former UDI militant intends to launch this Wednesday a special agenda regarding the “Day of the Young Combatant”.
In the case of Codina, in their environment they comment that the issue of security has also “always been their agenda” and that they have wanted to contribute with some measures, such as the purchase of vehicles for the Carabineros or the provision of a drone to monitor the commune. Along these lines, they add in their environment, it is that he seeks to attack with other initiatives, for example, he is managing a meeting with the national prosecutor and he wants to get into the issue of “narco houses”, but with a different nuance to differentiate himself from Sump. This is because, the same sources explain, in Puente Alto some think that more than demolishing the houses, they can be evicted and then use the properties for the public sector.
The mayors of the right, in any case, have worked together until now, but in the different sectors they recognize that Carter is the one who is “most untied” in the face of the 2025 presidential elections.
Another that has not remained oblivious is the presidential leadership of the Republican Party, Jose Antonio Kast. In social networks he has been especially harsh against the government. “They are killing our police officers and the President of the Republic does nothing,” he wrote two days ago.
In his environment they comment that Kast has a long history in security matters, and that this is a matter in which there is general awareness in the population, so there is no need to differentiate himself from other presidential leaders, such as Carter.
The distinction with the mayor of Florida would be given later, the same sources maintain, especially in other matters. But with Kast consolidated with his track record in the security area, they add, there would be no downside to the deployment.
In any case, Kast’s deployment has been more at a national level, and people around him say that only in the last week he has been in Valparaíso, Maule and right now he is in Los Ríos promoting candidates for the Constitutional Council.