Cicardini Urges Expansion of State of Emergency to Copiapó Province: «Bureaucracy Must Not Take Precedence Over Lives»

Original article: Cicardini pide extender Estado de Catástrofe a la provincia de Copiapó: «La burocracia no puede estar por sobre la vida de las personas»

Daniella Cicardini, the senator for the Atacama Region, has requested the government to extend the State of Emergency to the province of Copiapó due to a severe crisis affecting several communities in Atacama. Families are isolated, roads are blocked, remnants of flooding are active, and areas urgently require evacuations.

The legislator strongly criticized the government’s response, claiming that the measures taken so far are inadequate given the scale of the disaster.

“The government has proclaimed itself as an ‘emergency government’, yet during the first real emergency, they faltered. The State of Emergency was necessary, but in Atacama, it arrived late and is still insufficient. The government seems unable to grasp the magnitude of this tragedy,” she stated.

Cicardini warned that in Alto del Carmen, Mayor Cristian Olivares urgently requested helicopters to evacuate families trapped in Junta Valeriano due to the risk of new avalanches. She questioned, “Do you know what response he received? To submit a formal request in writing. In an emergency, bureaucracy cannot take precedence over lives,” she asserted.

The socialist senator also raised concerns about the situation in Vallenar, where Mayor Víctor Isla urgently needs an aerial bridge to reach Incahuasi, Cachiyuyo, and Domeyko, where around 2,000 people are cut off, including three individuals dependent on electricity.

Additionally, Mayor Cristóbal Zúñiga from Tierra Amarilla has reported that there is no government machinery addressing the emergency, while communities in the precordillera have been cut off for two days.

In Copiapó, Cicardini noted that the conditions are also dire in areas such as Totoral and Pajonales, where active flooding has necessitated family evacuations. Therefore, she emphasized that the decree must be expanded to ensure tangible state presence, resources, coordination, and field operations.

“It is essential to extend the State of Emergency to the province of Copiapó. A State of Emergency cannot remain just a decree. If the government and military do not deploy helicopters, machinery, and assistance now, the State of Emergency will remain merely a signature on paper while Atacama faces this crisis alone,” she concluded.