Ministers from five South American countries agreed in Chile on Thursday to create a plan to halt the advance of international organised crime which will also include measures of immigration and financial control.
The meeting brought together the foreign and security ministers of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, countries affected by rising crime and the arrival of criminal gangs like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.
"We will confront crime together. We want to bring safety and calm to our compatriots," assured Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna.
The worst case is Ecuador, which in only five years has become the most violent country in South America with 51 murders per 100,000 inhabitants last year, a 550 percent increase in that period.
The murder rate in Latin America is 18 per 100,000 inhabitants – treble the global average of 5.6 with half of it linked to organised crime, Chilean prosecutor Angel Valencia pointed out.
The ministers decided to create a working group to define measures in not only crime-fighting but also financial and tax intelligence and immigration and frontier control.
"We want to join forces. The next step is to present the Regional Commitment of Santiago to the OAS” so that more countries can work together, added Pérez Mackenna, referring to the Organisation of American States.
The so-called “Santiago Commitment” was signed by the foreign ministers of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. It promotes regional cooperation in the areas of security, intelligence, immigration control and other matters of “common interest.”
The document promises "concrete, measurable and verifiable measures in five priority areas"; information-sharing, coordination at border crossings, the tracing of illicit finances, technical cooperation and regional response mechanisms.
The initiative was headed by the far right government of José Antonio Kast, who won the Chilean Presidency on the promise to fight crime.
“These five countries have grown tired of watching organised crime kill our young people, take over our neighbourhoods and buy people’s allegiance. We must move from words to action,” Kast said as he opened the meeting.
Although Chile is still one of the safest countries in the region, murders and kidnappings for ransom have increased with the arrival of the Tren de Aragua.
The murder rate was 5.4 per 100,000 inhabitants last year, doubling from a decade ago, an increase which makes Chileans feel less safe.
Even before taking office, Kast toured several Latin American countries, seeking to coordinate the fight against organised crime.
Argentina is considered the safest country in the region with 3.8 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, a rate lower than neighbours Chile and Uruguay (10.3).
The next meeting of the working group will be in six months time in Argentina.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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