Arquus delivers 5 Bastion armored vehicles to Chilean Carabineros

[Judi Lynn]

Defense News February 2024 Global Security army industry
POSTED ON THURSDAY, 29 FEBRUARY 2024 16:22

Effective December 28, 2023, this new contract aims to strengthen the vehicles of the Chilean police forces with the production and delivery of 5 Bastion vehicles. This contract strengthens cooperation and confirms the good commercial relations between the Chilean Carabineros and Arquus. Scheduled for delivery in 2024, the production of the Bastions has already begun at the Arquus Limoges New Vehicle Production Center of Excellence.



With a total authorized weight in load (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating - GVWR) of 12 tons and a carrying capacity of up to 10 passengers (2+8), the Bastion is equipped with enhanced protection (Picture source: Arquus)

The arrival of the Bastion in the Chilean police force is a major asset for the modernization of their fleet and the improvement of their operational capabilities. They complement the range of Arquus vehicles already present in Chile: delivery in 2009 of Petit Véhicule Protégé (PVP) and in 2014 of a Sherpa APC Ladder. The Bastions will be assigned to the southern macro-zone of Araucanía.

Developed from 2012, the Bastion was specifically designed to meet customer requirements: robustness and exceptional mobility capacity. Today, renowned and approved, it is one of the benchmark vehicles in operational theaters worldwide.

More:
https://www.armyrecognition.com/defense_news_february_2024_global_security_army_industry/arquus_delivers_5_bastion_armored_vehicles_to_chilean_carabineros.html

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Expression meets repression
Social movements and police violence in Chile
Topics
STATE OF POWER
Publication date:16 May 2021

Chile's national police, the Carabineros, have a long and bloody track record of silencing groups demanding their labour, social and economic rights. Their continued existence and violence shows how the Carabineros serve as a key institution for maintaining social structures that perpetuate social injustices that benefit the elite.

October 2019 marked a watershed in Chile. The social uprising was the eruption of silenced and ignored demands, grievances and aspirations that had been building up for decades. In the words of one of the main slogans: ‘It’s not 30 pesos, it’s 30 years’. The slogan represented the anger at an economic development model instituted by the Pinochet dictatorship – and followed afterwards – that has led to more precarious living conditions and generated one of the most unequal societies in Latin America.

On 19 October, the government declared a constitutional state of emergency, which restricted freedom of movement and assembly. It sent the military out onto the streets and imposed a seven-day curfew,(external link) but this did not stop the protests. On the contrary, despite violent repression, huge demonstrations continued to be held daily. Carabineros, the Chilean national police force, used tear gas, water cannons filled with chemicals causing burns, and rifles loaded with heavy metal pellets against children, teenagers, protestors, artists and journalists. Many were arbitrarily detained. A Carabinero even entered, shot at and wounded adolescents at school. The authorities and the Carabineros intimidated Chilean artists who joined the public demonstrations.

Every day there were so many injuries that health professionals set up volunteer stations near the protestors’ meeting places to offer them assistance. But even the Red Cross health posts were attacked by the Carabineros. At that time, the COVID-19 pandemic had not yet begun so there was no objective or reasonable justification to prohibit mass gatherings.

By reason or by force: the state’s brutal response to Chile’s awakening
The October 2019 social uprising has been compared to the August 1949 ‘Chaucha revolution’ in Santiago. Both were characterised by a precarious economic situation, social discontent caused by the government’s failure to meet social demands and a hike in public transport fares, as well as the subsequent protests and severe repression that left several dead and injured. While there are clear similarities, the two historical moments also differ due to the government responses.

In 2019, force rather than reason prevailed, whereas in the Chaucha revolution, the government of Gabriel González Videla was forced to reverse its decision, change the cabinet and undertake extensive economic and political reforms. Videla even lowered the transport fare and created a reduced tariff for students(external link). The Sebastián Piñera administration, by contrast, opted to ignore the underlying causes of the conflict. It strengthened and supported the repression carried out by the Carabineros and invoked the internal state security act(external link), thus criminalising the social movement(external link).

As a result, the excessive use of force by the Carabineros and army violence in the name of order and security has become a regular occurrence. Reports published by international organisations such as Amnesty International,(external link) Human Rights Watch,(external link) the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights(external link) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights(external link) condemned the excessive state violence – and the resulting serious human rights violations.

More:
https://www.tni.org/en/article/expression-meets-repression