Environmental crisis in the municipality of La Florida: More than 150 hectares of precordillera destroyed under the administration of Rodolfo Carter
The municipality of La Florida is experiencing a profound environmental crisis, a process that intensified under the management of the current mayor, Rodolfo Carter (2011 - 2019).
According to official figures, over the past 10 years La Florida has been one of the municipalities with the greatest loss of green areas, going from 3.5 square meters of green space per person to 2.5 m², a reduction of nearly 30%.
Furthermore, according to a study by a well-known foundation, between 2013 and 2016 there was a 22% reduction in square meters of green space per person in the municipality, placing us sadly in the top ten municipalities that lost the most square meters of green area per person — despite being one of the municipalities that spent the most on maintaining these areas. That is to say, Rodolfo Carter is not only responsible for a reduction in green space per person, but was also one of the most negligent mayors in using these resources.
The mayor lied to twenty-three thousand La Florida residents: real estate companies continue advancing in the precordillera
In 2012, the municipality held a public consultation to decide whether to protect the precordillera of La Florida and Bosque Panul: 98% of voters voted in favor of protecting the forests of our municipality. Despite this, under the current mayor's administration more than 158.1 hectares of native vegetation have been lost in the precordillera, as seen in images A (2011) and B (2019), using a conservative estimate (source: Red Precordillera, Google Earth). At the foot of the Quebrada de Macul alone, in the area known as Alto Macul, 110 hectares of native forest have been lost.
The mayor's justification for this inexcusable loss is that the construction permits were approved before he took office. In some cases this is true, but it does not strip him of the authority to stop environmentally destructive projects, as other mayors have done and courts have reasonably upheld. The mayor is lying when he says he has protected Panul and the precordillera, when the truth is that the municipal native forest has fallen dramatically under his management and the precordillera is completely unprotected and privatized. To protect it, a large public park must be created by purchasing the Andean properties at a fair price — something Mayor Carter could do but has preferred to opt out of, and instead has created better conditions for real estate developers.
And it is not only under his administration that precordilleran forest has been destroyed — the La Florida community also remembers the death of hundreds of native trees, mostly peppertrees, that the mayor dismissed in the media as the "poverty tree," in contrast to the palms and liquidambar trees he purchased in large quantities. In what other place in the world, in the midst of a global environmental crisis, do they cut down centuries-old native trees and replace them with palm trees?
More problems than solutions: Mayor and Representative Carter attempt to imprison opposing neighbors
Even before Chile's social awakening began, the Contraloría had already suspended Rodolfo Carter from office for a month due to negligent management of municipal resources, stemming from a profound financial crisis that had been dragging on for several years. After the social uprising, the controversial mayor called for the deployment of soldiers on a television program, and appeared in others wearing a bulletproof vest. This media spectacle did not conceal the profound social and political crisis gripping the municipality, aggravated by a municipal administration entirely out of touch with its citizens, where council meetings are held in private and municipal political decisions are made by an authoritarian mayor who barely managed to get 16% of the electoral roll.
As if that were not enough, Carter not only tries to cover up his poor management with media appearances, but also — together with his brother the representative — pursues and sues neighbors over Facebook and Instagram posts and a protest near his home. His conduct has reached the point where an environmental activist was detained and his home searched by OS9 carabineros officers, who took his computer and phone — completely disproportionate measures that violate his privacy and freedom of thought. He was placed under precautionary measures, and these events are under investigation. The mayor is more focused on imprisoning his neighbors than on finding collective solutions to the problems plaguing our municipality — but the data is hard and the environmental crisis is undeniable.
Mayor, the best solution to the crisis is your resignation
As we demanded some months ago, the mayor should step aside due to his disastrous and violent management of the municipality, where he will be remembered as the worst mayor our municipality has ever had. It is time for whoever comes to the municipality to throw its doors wide open so we can all work together to resolve this serious political and environmental crisis we are going through — without persecution or media spectacles, seeking solutions that allow for peace and put an end to the political violence that excludes communities from decisions about their own territories.
Red por la Defensa de la Precordillera, December 2019
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