Prevention is the only way to stop crime from recruiting the young
En Chile, una fractura dentro de la derecha revela una pregunta más profunda sobre la naturaleza del crimen y la responsabilidad del Estado: ¿se disuade la violencia con registros y sanciones, o se previene construyendo mundos donde la vida valga más que el dinero rápido? Evelyn Matthei, ex alcaldesa y figura política de peso, cuestionó públicamente la propuesta del presidente Kast de crear un Registro Nacional de Vándalos, argumentando que castigar sin ofrecer alternativas es responder al síntoma e ignorar la enfermedad. Su mirada apunta a Medellín como espejo: una ciudad que aprendió que la seguridad se construye también con canchas, música y esperanza.
- Jóvenes chilenos están siendo reclutados por organizaciones criminales en un contexto donde el esfuerzo legítimo parece no rendir frutos, y algunos han llegado a preferir una vida corta con dinero a una larga en la precariedad.
- El presidente Kast propuso un Registro Nacional de Vándalos que restringiría beneficios sociales a quienes cometan actos de vandalismo, apostando por la consecuencia como disuasión.
- Matthei rechazó esa lógica desde adentro de la coalición de gobierno, advirtiendo que marcar a los infractores sin atacar las condiciones que hacen atractivo el crimen perpetúa el ciclo en lugar de romperlo.
- Citó el modelo de Medellín —presencia policial combinada con programas deportivos, culturales y comunitarios— como evidencia de que la prevención real exige inversión en oportunidades, no solo en sanciones.
- La disputa expone una tensión estructural en la derecha chilena entre una visión punitiva y una preventiva de la seguridad, con consecuencias directas para cómo el gobierno distribuirá recursos y prioridades.
Evelyn Matthei rompió filas con el presidente José Antonio Kast al cuestionar su propuesta de un Registro Nacional de Vándalos, anunciada durante su primera Cuenta Pública. La medida busca restringir beneficios sociales a quienes cometan actos de vandalismo, bajo la premisa de que las consecuencias disuaden la conducta. Matthei, hablando en Radio Pauta, rechazó ese enfoque como insuficiente y llamó a centrar la estrategia en la prevención y la creación de oportunidades reales.
Su argumento parte de un diagnóstico duro: hay jóvenes que ven a sus padres trabajar sin descanso, que estudian y se titulan, y aun así no logran pagar el arriendo. Frente a eso, el crimen ofrece dinero rápido y sin preguntas. Algunos, dijo Matthei, han concluido que una vida corta con recursos en mano supera una larga en la pobreza. Cuando la vida pierde ese valor en el cálculo personal, la amenaza del castigo se vuelve casi irrelevante.
Para ilustrar lo que sí funciona, Matthei señaló a Medellín: una ciudad que combinó presencia policial con programas de música, deporte y cultura para devolver a los barrios una razón de ser y ofrecer a los jóvenes alternativas concretas al mundo de las pandillas. La lección, sugirió, es que no se puede arrestar la salida de un problema de reclutamiento.
Matthei valoró el anuncio gubernamental de siete mesas de trabajo en seguridad, pero fue clara: la represión sola no alcanza. La verdadera prevención exige educación, redes comunitarias y espacios donde los jóvenes puedan construir sus propios proyectos de vida. El debate entre ambos líderes conservadores revela una fractura de fondo sobre qué significa realmente la seguridad —y si Chile está dispuesto a invertir en las condiciones que la hacen posible.
Evelyn Matthei, the former mayor of Providencia and onetime presidential candidate, has broken ranks with her coalition partner over how Chile should fight crime. President José Antonio Kast announced a National Vandal Registry during his first State of the Union address—a proposal that would restrict social benefits for those who commit acts of vandalism. Matthei, speaking on Radio Pauta, rejected the approach as insufficient, arguing instead that prevention and opportunity are the real tools for keeping young people out of criminal networks.
The registry itself is straightforward in its logic: create a list, impose consequences, deter behavior. But Matthei's critique cuts deeper. She has studied how other cities have tackled youth violence, particularly Medellín, where a combination of police presence and community investment—music programs, sports leagues, cultural activities—helped restore neighborhoods and gave young people reasons to stay out of gangs. The lesson, she suggests, is that you cannot arrest your way out of a recruitment problem.
Her argument rests on a diagnosis of desperation. She painted a picture of young Chileans watching their parents work themselves to exhaustion, studying hard, earning degrees, and still struggling to pay rent. Then, she said, they see the alternative: quick money, no questions asked. Some, she noted, have concluded that a short life with cash in hand beats a long life of grinding poverty. When human life loses its value in that calculation, punishment becomes almost irrelevant.
Matthei emphasized that the best crime prevention strategy is keeping children and adolescents from ever entering the world of violence in the first place. This requires real tools—education, sports, culture, community networks—not just restrictions on benefits. She praised the government's announcement of seven task forces on security but made clear that enforcement alone will not solve the problem. The focus must be on building safer neighborhoods with genuine opportunities for young people to develop their own life plans.
Her intervention represents a notable tension within Chile's right-wing coalition. Both Matthei and Kast are conservatives, but they disagree on whether the answer to youth crime is primarily punitive or preventive. Kast's registry assumes that marking offenders and limiting their access to state support will discourage vandalism and crime. Matthei counters that without addressing the conditions that make crime attractive in the first place, such measures will fail. Young people will continue to be recruited, and the cycle will persist. The debate signals a fundamental disagreement about what security actually requires—and whether Chile's government will invest in prevention or rely on enforcement.
Citações Notáveis
The best strategy to combat crime is preventing children and young people from entering circuits of violence and criminality in the first place— Evelyn Matthei
When young people see their parents work hard and still struggle, while easy money is offered to them, human life loses its value. They become willing to die.— Evelyn Matthei, paraphrased
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Matthei think a registry won't work? It seems straightforward—mark the vandals, restrict their benefits, deter the behavior.
Because a registry only punishes after the fact. By then, the young person has already made the choice to enter that world. She's saying you have to prevent that choice from seeming rational in the first place.
So she's arguing poverty is the real driver?
Not just poverty—it's the specific experience of watching your parents work hard and still fail, while seeing easy money right in front of you. When those two things collide, a registry doesn't change the calculation.
What does she think actually works?
She points to Medellín. Police presence, yes, but paired with music programs, sports, cultural activities. Things that give young people a reason to stay in their neighborhood and a community that values them.
Is she saying Kast's approach is wrong?
She's saying it's incomplete. She praised his task forces, but she's warning that enforcement without prevention will just keep feeding the same pipeline. You can't arrest your way out of recruitment.
And the human cost she describes—young people willing to die?
That's her way of saying the problem has become existential for them. When life itself has lost value, punishment is almost meaningless. You have to restore that value through real opportunity.