Chamber of Deputies Approves 30-Day Extension of Macrozona Sur State of Exception

The Chamber of Deputies voted 102-14-12 on August 18 to extend the Constitutional State of Exception in the Macrozona Sur (La Araucanía and the Biobío and Arauco provinces) for a further 30 days from August 23, sending the measure to the Senate. Security Minister Martín Arrau defended the extension as data-driven, citing a Subsecretaría de Seguridad Pública evaluation showing rural violence down 19% January–July 2026 versus the same period in 2025 and down 84% versus 2021, with incendiary attacks down 86%, burned properties down 93%, road blockades down 94%, and land seizures down 96% relative to 2021 — even as firearms-related incidents rose 9% year-on-year. The state of exception, in place since May 2022, has produced 715,551 controls and 1,485 arrests by Carabineros and the armed forces to date.