[resumen.cl] An exceedingly concerning incident occurred at approximately 11.15 PM this Monday in the Remodelación Eleuterio Ramírez neighbourhood of Concepción, Chile. In an action that recalled the methods of Pinochet's secret police CNI, a group of civilians exited a privately owned white Toyota All New Yaris, registration no. JYJB78, driven by a man wearing the helmet and body armour of the Chilean military police (Carabineros), and brutally beat at least two demonstrators. One of them was left with bleeding head wounds that were severe enough that, minutes later, he had to be taken away by an ambulance. They left the scene together with two military police vans, whilst aiming a green laser beam at those who remained, but returned 5 minutes later to photograph those who remained on the scene. A registration search revealed that the vehicle is owned by Santander bank.

This incident followed a day in which tens of thousands of people once again took to the streets of Concepción to protest, as they have done for exactly one month now. As is customary, many protesters regrouped at the Paicaví roundabout after the protest was attacked by military police, setting up barricades at the junctions of Av Los Carrera and Janequeo, as well as Los Carrera and Ongolmo, at the roundabout itself, and at the junction of Paicaví and Maipú near Heras and Bulnes.

It was in this setting that this highly concerning incident occurred around 11.15 PM in the Remodelación Eleuterio Ramírez neighbourhood, also known as Remodeación Paicaví (between Bulnes and Rozas) in central Concepción. Using methods that recalled the Pinochet dictatorship’s secret police, the CNI, a group of persons in civilian clothes exited a private vehicle, a white Toyota All New Yaris (registration no. JYJB78) with a red rear windscreen. The vehicle was driven by a man wearing a Carabineros-issue helmet and body armour (indicating that those on borrad the vehicle were police). Those who exited the car proceded to brutally beat at least two demonstrators, crushing one of them against an outer wall of the car dealership located in Paicaví and leaving him with visible wounds and bleeding from the head. For this reason, a few minutes later, he had to be picked up by an ambulance.

The private vehicle, with its occupants in plainclothes and its driver in military police-issue kit, left the scene together with two military police vans and a large number of Special Forces who had also been involved in attacking the protest. It should be noted that there was a particularly absurd scene some minutes thereafter. The moment the plainclothes attackers began their retreat, they began pointing a green laser beam at those who remained on the scene, only to return 5 minutes later to photograph them. What is odd about all this is that a search of the vehicle registry revealed that the vehicle belongs to the Spanish-owned transnational bank Santander, and not as a leased vehicle.

Image: Resumen.cl

Image: Resumen.cl