In Chile, a massive power outage occurred that affected 99% of the national territory for more than seven hours. Gabriel Boric, the president of the country, blamed the private sector for this situation and described it as intolerable, as it put millions of people at risk. Boric expressed his outrage at what happened and stated that they would ensure that those responsible for this emergency would be held accountable.
The Chilean president informed the nation that, at the time of his message, electricity supply had been restored in around 4,150,000 homes, which represents less than 50% of those affected. Despite this progress, Boric decided to maintain the current security measures, including the state of emergency and curfew, in order to guarantee people's safety.
Boric emphasized the importance of acting responsibly due to the instability of the situation and pointed out the need for institutions to function adequately to overcome this crisis. The president attributed the massive blackout to a failure at ISA Chile and lamented that this situation should have been resolved sooner.
The deployment of military personnel, the militarized police of Carabineros, and the Investigative Police (PDI) has been a measure taken to maintain order and safety during this event. This is the second major blackout that Chile has experienced in six months, the previous one caused by an intense storm of rain and wind in the middle of winter. Boric urged calm and prudence while working on resolving this energy emergency.
