When he said goodbye, he told her something that she believed was an impossible dream: That he would work until the end of the month. That she was bored of being away in the truck and that she would look for “another problem”.
She asked him to take care, as he always did, that the area had a reputation for being very dangerous, due to roadblocks and arson attacks.
But, what happened on February 9 was not in any previous record. Sure, yes in all the past, before any truck fire, hooded people asked to get out of the cabins and then they proceeded.
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That time it was without “the benefit” and Juan Barrios could not get out, or even open the door and ended up with 30% of his body burned. He was sleeping, it was night.
Juan fought for his life for three weeks and died from deep burns in his cabin turned into a death trap with the gosolin from the molotov.
“My angel is gone”said Sandra Coñonahuel, now the widow of Juan Barrios, the first martyr of the truckers, who was wrapped in tires inside her nephew’s truck.
And just, as always happens in this type of story, Juan did not want to continue working, the house, that’s what I wanted.
In the name of the law
A tense previous day marked this Monday the meeting between the national leaders of the truckers and the Minister of the Interior, Victor Pérez.
Threats of paralysis, roadblocks, a “blow on the table” to the Government to put a stop to the acts of violence that affect them in Arauco and La Araucanía. Also, the requirement of a law that considers attacks in a truck cabin as if it were a house. The “Juan Barrios” law, as it became customary in Chile, with the name of The victim, as a heartfelt memory.
Pérez said that President Sebastián Piñera will send the pending text to Congress.
“This is not only a project that generates a tribute, rather it is (…) that the burning of trucks is going to have a concept of dwelling, just as it can have a house, a property that burns and a person dies inside, ”said Pérez.
He added that “this crime of arson will have the same seriousness as that committed in a house or property, a shed that burns and a person dies inside.”
Damn day
Juan spoke several times with Sandra to tell her about his day, about the transportation of wheat between Traiguén and Victoria that he did and to tell her that he ate where “Mamita”, the “picá” where he usually went. It was February 8.
“First a policeman called me to tell me what had happened. I couldn’t believe it, I thought it was a joke. But later, my nephew, the owner of the truck with whom I worked, called me to tell me that Juan had suffered an arson attack in his cabin and that he had been left with part of a burned body, ”said Sandra. It was February 9.
Later, Juan was transferred to the former Central Post Office and after three weeks he died from burns.
At 54 years old, Barrios was buried in the San José de Mariquina cemetery, place where his widow is a native, who liked to call him “my angel”.
“For 10 years we were together,” Sandra stressed.
The woman wants justice, she says she hopes to have the results of said investigation and thereby evaluate a lawsuit against the State. Juan was the holder of the house.
“In any case, nothing is going to give it back to me “Sandra added.
From the La Araucanía Prosecutor’s Office it was reported that it is a open investigation, with ongoing proceedings, There are no detainees and the investigation is in the hands of the High Complexity Prosecutor’s Office, installed in the area, and the Bipe of the PDI.
Weapon defense
“Trucks are our home. I go up in Puerto Montt and suddenly I’m in Arica, where I eat and sleep is my truck. It is my home. For this reason, we have asked the government to decree a law called Juan Barrios, because the terrorists killed him inside his truck, “he said. Juan Villagrán, president of the Federation of Truckers of the South.
Villagrán says that the idea is that the penalties are increased and it is considered as an attack on home.
“What’s more, if that driver has a weapon, inside the truck, he could defend himself and nothing would happen to him “added.
The latter leaves the question of whether the drivers are trained to use weapons. Surely, it will be part of the debate on the bill, if the Executive considers it in the text that it will send to Congress.
“Juan Barrios was a person who was 54 years old and had many more to serve the country. Juan Barrios was an entrepreneur, who always searched for them to bring sustenance to his home, “added the trucker leader.
For now, the last word is in the Government, with the commitment put on the table by the Minister of the Interior, Víctor Pérez.
As a terrorist offense
The former prosecutor in Bío Bío, Andres Cruz, explained the implications of the modifications that are to be established with a change in the law.
“As it is a movable property, it has the characterization of a conduct that constitutes a common crime. The crimes of fire that are in articles 474 and following of the Penal Code, specifically, are figures in which real estate is considered as the most serious, 474, 475 of the CP. But, it turns out Article 477 of the same legal body, it would be applicable to the burning of a truck, which would be a personal property, ”said the expert.
He adds that “under the antiterrorist law only those of articles 475 and 476 of the CP are considered as terrorist crimes and not of 477. So, when trucks are burned, now, they cannot be considered as terrorist crimes, because they are not incorporated in the catalog of the second article of Law 18,314 ”.
“What they want is that be included in the truck cab within the possibility that it can be considered as part of the catalog of terrorist crimes ”, stated Cruz.
However, on the option of transporting weapons, Cruz confirmed that a debate will be opened, since current legislation considers the option of legitimate defense, however, not the use of firearms.
Justice for Juan
At 47, Sandra assures that she will continue fighting for her partner, but what she lacks is money.
“He was the provider of the house and everything has become difficult,” he explains.
Specifies that the first months after the death of Juan Barrios, he received help from fellow truck drivers of his partner, but that today is complicated.
That is why it points to the need for the Government to support it with a widow’s pension to face what is coming.
“We want justice and that what happened to him does not happen again to other truckers and I hope this law serves so that this does not happen again “Sandra adds.
“If they don’t want to pass the law, we are going to pay a visit to Congress “, Juan Villagrán passes the notice.
The truckers left the table set and the other diners, Minister Víctor Pérez offered them a “New hand” in Arauco and La Araucanía, with the law included.
However, the other actor is not willing to give in. They did know, early this Tuesday in Cañete, with another arson attack, and on the side of dialogue, with the declaration of the Mapuche leader, Aucán Huilcamán, who said that the truckers seek to impose laws in their favor, through threats.
They also complain because there is only talk of the victims on one side and little or nothing on the other.
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