The CMPC Chairman visited the forest truck driver wounded by a bullet: “In the last three years there have been 75 attacks on people who provide us transportation services.”
The driver underwent surgery this morning and is out of vital risk, hospitalized in the Hospital del Trabajador de Concepción in Chile. Regarding the attacks, Luis Felipe Gazitúa commented outside the health center and said, “Police reports have been filed in every case, and with criminal complaints even lodged in many of them, and no one has been prosecuted yet.”
CMPC Chairman Luis Felipe Gazitúa arrived at the Hospital del Trabajador de Concepción in south-central Chile on Thursday to visit and learn about the state of health of Camilo Montenegro, a driver with the Transportes Capitán Pastene company was wounded by a gunshot on Wednesday while driving on Route 5 South in the Ercilla District in the Araucanía Region.
After talking with Montenegro, who underwent surgery this morning and hearing about the details of the attack, Gazitúa thanked the medical teams that treated Montenegro and said, “In the last three years there have been 75 attacks on people who provide us transportation services. Nine of them have been shootings and firearm assaults. What happened yesterday is an act done by criminals. Camilo was ambushed on Route 5 while we’re already in a state of emergency here.”
Camilo Montenegro, 54 years old, works as a forestry transporter in the Capitán Pastene sector and around the Araucanía Region (Chile). Montenegro was attacked by unknown assailants while passing through the Pidima sector. They fired weapons at the cab of the truck he was driving and wounded him with a bullet in one of his shoulders.
“The most troubling thing is that in these 75 attacks that have happened over the last three years, police reports have been filed in every case, and with criminal complaints even lodged in many of them, and no one has been prosecuted yet. That should be a cause for concern for all authorities as well as the citizens and those with decision-making power in Chile. We private companies also have to do our part and cooperate with the measures adopted by the government,” said the CMPC Chairman.
Regarding the feeling of insecurity in the area, Luis Felipe Gazitúa said, “Unfortunately the things that happen in the region are not having as much impact as they should in Santiago. These matters are only discussed for a few hours, while the situation that is ongoing here throughout the year is quite distressing. I just came here to Concepción, Temuco and La Araucanía, and I can sense the feeling of insecurity of workers like Camilo, of our forestry workers and of the people who work in the plants.”
Despite the wound, Camilo Montenegro drove for nine kilometers, during which time he warned other drivers by radio about the attack. Then he arrived in Collipulli where he was admitted to the municipal hospital. Later on he was transferred to the hospital in Angol due to the severity of the injury. This morning, at the Hospital del Trabajador in Concepción Montenegro underwent surgery to remove the bullet from his shoulder.
From the health center, they reported that Montenegro is in the Critical Condition Unit, where he remains stable and out of vital risk after surgery.
The CMPC Chairman said the company filed a police report about these events and that it will also support the family in case they decide to take legal action. “We are very concerned for our people. Our company’s first concern is that the people who work for us need to work under safe conditions. Unfortunately, in recent times we have seen in the Araucanía Region and in the Province of Arauco that is not given priority as it should be in a country like Chile,” he concluded.
