Gabriel Boric signing the decree for the National Search Plan for prisoners disappeared under the dictatorship. CRISTOBAL VENEGAS
Chilean President Gabriel Boric has sparked intense controversy with his words surrounding the suicide of Hernán Chacón Soto, 86, a retired brigadier general in the Chilean army who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of singer-songwriter Víctor Jara. who took his own life on Tuesday before being arrested by police to serve his sentence. In the wake of the former President of the Communist Party, Guillermo Teillier, the President assured: “[Teillier] He died a dignified man, proud of the life he had led. There are others who die as cowards to avoid being brought to justice. There are human differences,” said the former uniformed officer, without mentioning him by name.
The Chilean President’s words reinforce the tension that is prevailing these days in Chile, a country where there is no consensus on condemning Pinochet’s coup and where political tensions are increasing with the days, less than two weeks before his commemoration, gain weight. the 50th anniversary of the coup, the next September 11th. A week ago, the Chilean right managed to get the Chamber of Deputies to re-read the declaration of August 1973 in which the company accused the government of Salvador Allende of unconstitutionality, which, according to some sectors, represented a strong push for the constitution to be more democratic Collapse led by the armed forces.
Last week, MP Gloria Naveillán, from the Social Christian group, assured that complaints about systematic sexual violence during the dictatorship were part of the “urban legend”, another example of the state of affairs.
One of the first to respond to Boric’s words was the leader of the far-right Republican Party, José Antonio Kast, a political force that has not broken with the legacy of the dictatorship and is concentrating support from the military world linked to the regime. “Coward,” he simply posted on the social network. And he had the same cowardice when he laughed at Jaime Guzmán [el senador de la UDI asesinado en democracia]wears a T-shirt [camiseta] with his murdered face laughing at this murder,” Kast said. “He had the same cowardice when he met privately and without telling anyone with the murderer of Jaime Guzmán,” he said, alluding to the trip that MP Boric made to France in 2018 to meet with Ricardo Palma Salamanca who was convicted of murder in Chile. of the parliamentarian in 1991.
Gabriel Boric in the entourage of the President of the Communist Party (PC) of Chile, Guillermo Teillier.LUCAS AGUAYO LUCAS AGUAYO (EFE)
For the general secretary of the right-wing radical RN party, Diego Schalper, “this comment is a disgrace. Ask for forgiveness, because not only does this in no way contribute to the unity that you so much boast about, but it also indicates a complete lack of awareness of the position you are taking. Meanwhile, UDI chairman Javier Macaya questioned that “using the death of a person to apologize for division and insult families who suffered the death of a loved one by suicide is not the right way have.” for the unity of the country. Would you like to give signals to your own personality? “What about filling the office?” said the president of this historic right-wing party.
Boric’s words were criticized not only by the extreme right and the traditional right. Analyst Cristián Valdivieso, director of Criteria, wrote: “The claim to moral superiority is now expressed in the critical qualification of suicide.” And he added: “Suicide is unclassifiable. Many people kill themselves because they are overwhelmed by debt. Are they cowards running away? Many commit suicide due to fear and depression. Are they cowards for not facing life? A leader is least expected to show more respect when committing suicide. At least me.”
The one who defended President Boric was his Justice Minister Luis Cordero, who since taking office last January has been the main defender of the government and the president himself, especially in complex moments and conspiracies such as the Covenants case. “I think that the president probably exposed the helplessness of many of the victims’ relatives who receive punishment after many years and such circumstances arise, and I understand these statements in that context.” What we are witnessing in recent years is the completion of a series of investigations that have taken a long time,” said the minister.
Former military man Chacón Soto, 86, lived in the municipality of Las Condes in the east of the Chilean capital. The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Court of Appeal’s 2021 sentence against him and five other uniformed officers: 15 years in prison for qualified homicide and 10 years for qualified kidnapping as perpetrators of the Jara and Littré crimes. Quiroga, in charge of prisons in the government of Salvador Allende, committed on September 16, 1973, five days after the coup. A seventh former soldier was convicted as an accomplice.
Police arrived at Chacón’s home to notify him when he had asked for permission to go into his bedroom to look for medication. At that moment it would have started.
Chacón was born in Santiago and was a retired army brigadier general. According to the presentation of his defense during the long trial, in his rank of army major, he only exercised the function of guarding the external borders of the Chile Stadium, which, for the court, is inconsistent neither with his high rank nor with the various elements of the conviction gathered.
According to the 2021 Court of Appeal ruling, confirmed this Monday by the Supreme Court, he had tactical and intelligence skills, “conditions that allowed him to intervene directly in the development of the interrogations” that they were conducting in the dressing rooms of the Chilean stadium where Jara and Littre were detained, “as well as the preliminary process of classifying the detainees,” deciding who should be taken away for questioning, and finally “the final destination of these detainees in the absence of evidence.” that at Chile Stadium there was an order imposed by the rigid structure of the existing command.”
The ruling adds to the investigation that “several witness statements confirmed that he was involved in the selection tasks and reported them to his superiors, so his statements were neither credible nor believable as he only claimed to have guarded the external perimeter of the premises, functions , which” They do not agree with either his high degree or with the various elements of conviction collected.” And he also points out that “at the time he was carrying a STYER pistol of 9 millimeter caliber, weapons that completely “consistent with the technical description of the injuries that, according to the forensic history, caused the deaths of Jara Martínez and Littré Quiroga.”
The seven former soldiers convicted of killing Jara and Quiroga rose to high ranks in the army, brigadier general and colonel. They are between 73 and 86 years old and all were free, so they had to serve their sentence in the real prison at the Punta Peuco center, where those convicted of human rights violations during the dictatorship are held.
On Tuesday, amid his tribute to Teillier, Boric reiterated his call for a comprehensive condemnation of the coup, which he had already expressed in Spain in mid-July: “I will not give up my efforts Let’s bring the system as a whole. Politically, we are committed to never again abolishing and breaking democracy in Chile, and I say this not in the spirit of an interpellation, but in the spirit of how we shape the future.” This call, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the coup, has in Chile However, no fertile soil was found.