HE beating murder homeless disabled by four soldiers in the north Chilean city of Iquique It seems to link together several problems that are common in the region but exacerbated in that country: anti-immigrant rhetoricxenophobic and the rise of the far right. Milton Dominguez had reached Chili pepper from Colombia. He died a few hours after the parade for Navy Victory Day. A quartet of enraged sailors crushed him so viciously that even using one of the victim’s crutches as a weapon, the military establishment ordered him to be expelled from his ranks. The Iquique Court of Guarantee ordered preventive prisons. They will remain in jail for 120 days while the investigation continues.
The sailors, who were not wearing uniforms, claimed they had been robbed by a group of strangers before the navy celebrations, believing the homeless man knew what was going on. All Dominguez did was ask for money in front of the main church. But his soulless body bore the mark of doubt.
Iquique is one of the main cities of the Tarapacá region, located 1,759 kilometers north of Santiago. Its main urban neighborhoods, close to the Bolivian border, have become a necessary gateway for migration flows and are also a increased violence. A third of the murders were committed by people who were not born in Chile. This new reality became the fuel for rhetoric against “foreigners”. Words laden with hatred and prejudice that could not be pronounced before have become part of a common language since the end of 2021, when the first demonstration against immigrants was held in Iquique. That march ended with the destruction of tents of many Venezuelans and new climate of hostility that he was in a sense unaware of Domínguez’s death. He was 61 years old and often went to a foster home. “It’s always been a part of us, he was a good man‘ said Lorena Zambrano of the Immigrant Open Council.
He was a native of the Colombian city of Cali. He had arrived in Chile in 2021 from Bolivia. He wanted to work as a technician in the maintenance and installation of solar panels. In a refugee camp, he contracted an infection in one of his feet that caused him to amputate. His obvious weakness did not prevent him from finding himself on the same street as death. HE National Disability Service (Senadis) expressed his immediate refusal. We believe that justice will fulfill its duty in a short time and punish those responsible in the most severe way. most vulnerable situation the location of the victim at the time of the attack. Such incidents cannot happen again in a State that respects human rights.”
Despite the weight of the footage captured by security cameras, Judge Verónica Opazo denied that the foursome planned the murder. “It got out of control on an impulse. It’s a serious mistake they’ll probably regret for life.”
contradictory situation
The crime took place at a very sensitive time in northern Chile. Hundreds of Venezuelans, Haitians, and Colombians They are stranded on the border that country shares with Peru. They are trying to return to their homes as the government of left-wing President Gabriel Boric tightens anti-immigrant laws. Men, women and children spend their nights in desert bags that barely dampen the chills that chill your bones. During the day they burn in the sun.
According to official figures, almost At the beginning of 2022, 1.5 million immigrants were in Chile. 45% of this torrent came from Venezuela. They are followed by Haitians (19%), Colombians (10%), Peruvians (8%) and Bolivians (7%). 45% of these people have higher education. A survey by the authorities themselves found that the main reason they came to Chile stability of the economy That country will be affected by negative numbers or have zero growth this year. Unemployment is at the level of 8 percent. Poverty affects 10.8% of the population.
The far-right takes advantage of the disturbance
The landscape of Santiago and other cities reveals a social situation unknown until a few years ago: begging on main streets and around the metro, camping tents in parks and streets far from the center. extreme right Jose Antonio Caste It has become one of the biggest instigators of rhetoric against foreigners. “Boric chooses the fugitives. it’s that simpleIn addition to proposing “Zero Illegal Immigration”, it demanded the Government to create “temporary places” for Latin Americans crossing the border before repatriation. In the last election of constitutional advisers, the far-right fed on its flamboyant words against “intruders”, especially in the north, where a Colombian died at the hands of four sailors who crushed his head with his own hands. crutches