Ignacio Mendez, president of the Federation of Industrial Associations, criticized the surprise operation carried out by the military to clamp down on illegal gun possession. Mendez said that the decision to frisk vehicles on Monday morning increased production costs when thousands of people were caught in the bottlenecks. He said normal company purchases and sales were affected as well as the fulfillment of business commitments. He said that the Armed Forces and the Police have other mechanisms to fight crime without having to go to the extreme of Monday morning, with its distorting effect on the economy. The executive director of the Santiago Free Zones Park, Josefina Hernandez said that workers that live outside of Santiago suffered three and four hour delays in getting to work, causing major problems to the day’s production operation. She said that public forces need to guarantee citizen’s security but cannot do so by affecting productive activities.
