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Residents of a Concepcion, Chile neighborhood complain to a soldier about the lack of food and water distribution in the city in the days following this weekend's earthquake. There was little evidence of government assistance in the city other than the presence of the soldiers and police on Tuesday.

Chile sends its army into post-quake chaos

By: Patrick J. McDonnell/Los Angeles Times

Posted: 3/4/10

CONCEPCION, Chile - The Chilean army marched into this wrecked city Tuesday, rounding up looters and receiving the applause of besieged survivors of the weekend's massive earthquake.

Despite Chile's tortured history with the military, the armed forces now are being looked upon by many here as their savior - a necessary, if slow-in-coming, show of force in the face of utter disaster and deteriorating security.

Within the first 48 hours of the temblor, one of the strongest recorded, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declared a state of emergency in the hardest-hit regions, putting them under military control, deploying troops and instituting a curfew. For some Chileans, the extreme measures were a throwback to the darkest moments of their national history.

It was the first time such measures were taken in the 20 years since democracy was restored to Chile, after decades of brutal military dictatorship led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

Marlene Elizabeth Franco, a 39-year-old mother of three, said roving bands of vandals had been terrifying neighborhoods in the aftermath of the magnitude 8.8 quake that roared through central and southern Chile before dawn Saturday, killing at least 800 people.

"It feels like we are living in a war zone," she said through tears, recounting the dark, sleepless nights in which her husband and others stand guard, armed with sticks and clubs against thieves and vandals with pistols.

"I believe in democracy," she continued, "but right now we have complete disorder. It is important to have a police and army presence on the streets."

A pall of acrid smoke hung over Concepcion on Tuesday after vandals torched a downtown shopping center on Monday - once they had finished clearing it of goods. Looting here in Chile's second-largest city, combined with mounting protests about the lack of food, water and aid, alarmed the government of President Bachelet and prompted authorities to prolong an overnight curfew to noon Tuesday.

"Our concern is to give security and calm to the population," Bachelet said after announcing that nearly 14,000 army and navy troops had been deployed. "We understand perfectly the anguish and overwhelming needs of the people, but we know well that the criminal actions of small groups of people are provoking enormous physical damage ... and will not be tolerated."

Bachelet said 50 military flights with supplies were headed to the region. But they were not immediately in evidence. Most of the zone remained without electricity or running water, with food and fuel acutely scarce. In places where staples like bread were available, residents complained of soaring prices.

Thus far, however, reaction to the use of the military has been positive, in part because the enormous scope of destruction and recovery operations far exceeds what Chilean police and civilian forces are capable of handling on their own. If anything, Bachelet was criticized for responding slowly; having initially declared international help was not necessary and failing to deploy the army on the first day.

"The important thing is that the military be seen as a resource and not a permanent nor complete solution," political scientist Guillermo Holzmann said.

Survivors had begun to set up self-defense squads in hopes, they said, of protecting their neighborhoods. They erected barricades on their streets, piled high with wood, metal and other debris to block access. Some built bonfires.

Ricardo Monsalve, 19, said he and his comrades communicate with whistles to warn one another of impending danger. He held a handmade spear with a sharpened metal point.

"We're here to take back our city," he said.

Men with clubs and axes were patrolling Villa Rene Schneider, a neighborhood named for a native son who served as Chilean army commander in chief until he was killed in 1970 because he stood in the way of Pinochet's coup.

"They should have sent the military here on the first day of the earthquake," Luis Rodriguez, 34, said. "What happened was that the city descended into total chaos, so we had to fight for ourselves."

Outside the nearby Super 10 grocery store, already picked nearly clean, a crowd gathered with the apparent intention of seizing whatever goods were left.

Soldiers arrived, firing shots into the air to scatter the would-be looters.

"Please don't go in, looting is not legal," shouted a military commander who declined to give his name. "We'll arrest anybody who loots."

The crowd shouted back, saying they needed help, medicine and food for their children.

"The help is coming," the officer insisted. "The airplanes are coming in right now with food. They'll be in Concepcion shortly, but please, no looting-we're here to maintain order."

Rodrigo Pino, a 42-year-old architect with wire-rim glasses, summed up the reason that public support for the army was so high, at least for now.

"I support democracy 100 percent," he said. "But now is not the time to talk about democracy. Now is the time to talk about control of gangs."