National Security Council is held in Chile without major announcement

Santiago de Chile, Nov 8 (Prensa Latina) Without major announcements given the seriousness of the social and political crisis in Chile, a meeting of the National Security Council (Consena) was held this Thursday summoned by President Sebastian Piñera.

The President of the Republic, the presidents of the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and the Supreme Court, chiefs of the armed forces and police as well as the comptroller general, the ministers of the Interior and defense were summoned by Piñera.

At the end of the meeting, the head of the Interior, Gonzalo Blumel, briefly informed the press that the objective was to inform the main state entities about the current situation at national level and request support of the institutions for the fastest solution to the conflict that is in its third week.

He listed among other issues that the legislative branch was asked to expedite the processing of a series of bills to strengthen public order that were announced in the morning by President Piñera, and the Judiciary, greater diligence in processing of justice.

The strengthening and coordination of police agencies to guarantee public order was raised, and the Armed Forces were only asked to cooperate in intelligence tasks, according to Minister Blumel.

The meeting of the Council raised a great expectation and rejection especially in the opposition parties in full. However, after the meeting, the president of the Senate, Jaime Quintana, described it as 'unnecessary and unproductive.'

Addressed by the press, Quintana said he told President Piñera that 'there are no conditions to return to the states of emergency, which ultimately brought more violence' to the country.

Opposition forces deemed summoning this meeting, as a demonstration of Piñera's blindness to the real problems that demand solution, and a push to repression instead of attending the just demands of the population and summon a Plebiscite for a new Constitution as requested by most Chileans.