The militarization of the urban sky in Santiago de Chile: the vision multiple of a video-surveillance system of aerostatic balloons

Under a climate of insecurity, two of the wealthiest municipalities in Chile implemented a controversial system of aerostatic balloons equipped with next-generation cameras for urban surveillance. The municipalities sought to use this technology, which was originally designed for war and border control, to manage public space more efficiently in the so-called “war against crime”. The balloons immediately met with opposition from those concerned about the invasion of privacy and hyper-surveillance that might involve in the city. This paper addresses the discourses of public officials and the critics involved in the controversy, but also explore in the maintenance operations of this surveillance system and the ways in which people live with the system on a daily basis. Through the analysis of the dynamics about, under and behind the balloons, the article shows how this foreign technology presents a vision multiple of the city that depends on entities and frictions that are not always considered in public debate.