According to El Mostrador, the government announced that Las Condes would be declared a disaster-affected area about five hours after the mudslide in Quebrada Honda. In July, by contrast, six days passed between the start of the storm and the government's declaration of a constitutional state of emergency due to catastrophe for the Coquimbo Region and Huasco Province.
The contrast prompted questions about the government's response. The damage caused by the two emergencies was very different.
The July storm left Coquimbo with six dead, 12,997 people affected and 21,480 homes damaged. There were also connectivity problems and isolated communities. The mudslide in Las Condes left six people injured, homes flooded, vehicles swept away and streets covered in mud.
The outlet clarifies that the measures were different. Coquimbo was placed under a constitutional state of emergency due to catastrophe. In Las Condes, a disaster-affected area was announced. These are distinct legal instruments that confer different powers.
Coquimbo also had measures in place. Before the heaviest rains, the government declared a preventive emergency starting on July 13 for that region and other areas. The six days refer to the time it took to declare the state of emergency, rather than a complete absence of a response.
Undersecretary of the Interior Máximo Pavez denied preferential treatment. "For the government, all regions are equally important," he said. He attributed the differences to geography, connectivity and municipalities' institutional capacity.
Pavez also pointed to press coverage. He argued that perceptions of the speed of the response vary because the media have less of a presence in some areas. "It is not that we are responding differently to Las Condes than to other regions," he said.
The official acknowledged that Quebrada Honda was among the risk sites identified by the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred). He attributed the mudslide to intense rainfall, a high freezing level and the effects of a previous wildfire on the terrain.
Pavez acknowledged limitations in prevention. He said the area was being monitored, but systems cannot always provide advance warning of an event's intensity. The explanation leaves a question open for the government: what it will do about the critical sites Senapred has already identified.
