The government of Chile has announced that it will strengthen the northern border of the country in anticipation of a potential new wave of migration due to the situation in Venezuela, where Nicolás Maduro won re-election in a contested election. During a press conference, the Undersecretaries of the Interior and Defense, Manuel Monsalve and Ricardo Montero, respectively, confirmed new measures that will include, among other things, biometric controls and aerial surveillance.
From Colchane, on the border with Bolivia, Chilean authorities confirmed the purchase of 33 new trucks, as well as new ATVs and vans. Monsalve indicated that aerial surveillance will also be enhanced with the acquisition of drones and a new camera for the Carabineros’ surveillance plane.
In this regard, they emphasized that the key in this scenario is to “provide greater resources to the forces operating at the border” to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants through unauthorized crossings.
For this reason, they added, a biometric control system for voice, face, and fingerprint recognition will be installed in Huara for identifying those entering Chilean territory, with the information being entered into a database. This type of control “cannot be done today,” admitted Monsalve.
Although the Undersecretary of the Interior acknowledged that it is impossible to guarantee that no one will enter Chile illegally, given the vast border the country has, he promised to deploy “all the state’s resources to prevent this from happening.”
It should be noted that the Armed Forces have been deployed in the Arica and Parinacota region since February 25, 2023, and since then 272,000 people have been controlled. The Army has stated that the main actions carried out are “Identity Control,” followed by “Detentions.”
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