The murder of police officer Daniel Palma, 33, who was shot in the head as he was about to inspect a car in the heart of Santiago, has shocked Chilean society, which has taken to the streets to reject the killing and support the police and the officer to be fired. President Gabriel Boric attended his response and, as a sign of unity, he was joined by former Presidents Sebastián Piñera (who ruled between 2010-2014 and 2014-2018) from the right and Socialist Michelle Bachelet (2010-2014 and 2018-2022). ) and Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006). They sat on the same bench in the institutional church with the prosecutor Ángel Valencia, the Minister of the Interior Carolina Tohá and the general director of the Carabineros Ricardo Yáñez. It is an unprecedented image in the South American country, reflecting the urgency and need for political cohesion in the face of a severe security crisis, which is being experienced like never before following the outbreak of armed crime. Against this background, Boric already announced at the Palacio de La Moneda an increase of 1,500 million dollars for state measures against organized crime, most of which will be used to strengthen the protection of police officers and to secure material. “It is time to act together and we are doing it,” said the President.
Boric took part in the response together with Minister Tohá. The President knelt in front of the police officer’s mother and hugged her for several seconds. “You killed my son! They killed me, they killed me,” the woman said between sobs. Palma is the third police officer killed in Chile in 23 days. His death adds to the crime of Sergeant Rita Olivares, who was shot in the head by a group of criminals who were robbing a home just 11 days ago. Shortly before, on March 15, Corporal Héctor Salazar was deliberately run over during an inspection in the south of the country.
“Wretched people (…) be afraid because we will arrest you,” said General Yáñez in his reply.
The new police martyr, as he is known in Chile, had nine years of service behind him. He was married to a pregnant police officer and has a four-year-old son. In the morning, residents of the fourth police station in Santiago, where Palma used to ride a motorbike, came to place candles, fill the premises with flowers and offer their condolences to their colleagues.
Chilean television has been broadcasting information about the crime live since Wednesday evening. Likewise, the press has circulated the images provided by the Carabineros of two of the alleged suspects in the police murder, two young people of Venezuelan nationality accused of shooting at Palma from a vehicle in downtown Santiago that has become a pole of insecurity .
President Boric’s government, led by a generation that had promoted public liberties, has changed its original positions to try to find a solution to the crisis that has become the top priority of the people. However, part of his own forces did not escort La Moneda out of Parliament. As Congress debated the Naín Retamal Act, which would give police greater powers of action, left-wing Approve Dignity lawmakers refused to support the initiative announced today by the President in the wake of the new crime.