The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, said this Thursday (24) that the strike for an indefinite period promoted by the truck drivers union “is not against the government, it is against the population” .
“If truck drivers want to insist on harming our country, we tell them that we are going to act with all the firmness that the law grants us (…). By the way, this reaffirms the importance of the railway project that we are developing for Chile”, added the Chilean president in statements made in Mexico.
The mobilization of the union, motivated by the increase in fuel prices and by insecurity on the highways, it takes four days and some cities are already suffering from fuel and food shortages, according to various local media reports.
“Chile as a whole faces a delicate economic situation and is not the time for this type of activity to interrupt the good progress of the economy, precisely when we are in a moment of reactivation”, declared Boric.
“There is no reason for the strike to continue, even less for those who spent hours talking to us, reached an agreement and today ignore it and insist on the stoppage, affecting the lives of thousands of compatriots”, he criticized.
The Minister of the Interior of Chile, Manuel Monsalve, asked truck drivers this morning to “take care of the country” and demanded that they “leave the roads” that are blocked.
The truck drivers union blocked different highways in Chile this Thursday morning, after the government presented the first ones the night before 13 actions invoking the State Security Law, out of a total of 27 written and sent.
The strike began on Monday with the Confederation of Transporters of Fuerza del Norte and the Association of Owners and Drivers of Paine Trucks, who demand a reduction in fuel prices and greater safety on the highways.
On the same day, union representatives who joined the protest met with the government and reached an agreement to reduce the price of diesel, but the scope of the negotiations was not enough to end the mobilization.
