Romy Vargasthe conscript’s mother Franco Vargaswho died on Saturday, April 27 after an instruction march in Putreaffirms that his companions told him that it was beaten to death by an Army captain.
Vargas, 19 years old, did military service in the Motorized Brigade No. 24 “Huamachuco”, in the Arica and Parinacota Region, when he lost his life, presumably due to respiratory problems.
“They told me that Franco’s canteen brokewho notified his superior and they told him that he had to continue alone, and He began to express that he was very cold and a captain came and hit him, “and he started telling him that he was a ‘faggot’, that he didn’t want him alive, that he wanted him dead, and he continued hitting him.”said Romy Vargas in dialogue with Cooperative.
“When he (Franco) fainted and woke up –I think he fainted like twice, then this guy said: ‘Noo, die already‘, and started hitting him, and when my son died he said: ‘One pelao less’, that’s how cruel they were“added the woman, based on the testimonies she says she has collected from witnesses.
“THEY DON’T WANT TO FACE ME”
She added that the military institution has not communicated with her and, rather, “they have taken it upon themselves to deny all the testimonies of the children who witnessed the torture and death of my son; “They have not approached me at any time to show my face, nothing.”
Romy Vargas affirms that the high command of the institution “(the situation) got out of hand and they don’t know what to doand they are vile cowards because They don’t want to face meand there are other things that the children are suffering, that they want to go home and are not allowed, so I don’t know how much they are hiding; I don’t know why they hide the truth.”
“The children are there with several problems: There is one who lost his hand and another who will have to undergo dialysis for life.… Something happened in that march, these guys wanted a tragedy to happen… How is it possible, they didn’t learn anything from Antuco?” he expressed.
THE ARMY VERSION
This mother’s story is opposed with the position that the Army maintains regarding the case: on Friday the General Rodrigo Pino, Chief of the Army Staffquestioned the alleged attack on conscript Vargas, pointing out that in the military institution “Physical abuse of soldiers is prohibited, it is not accepted”and that the reported antecedents still do not have effective “verification.”
Romy Vargas announced that, together with her lawyer, she will file “a civil lawsuit to explain and show my face, and a detailed report of what happened that day, because they don’t want to give it to me.”
“They hide by saying that everything is in the Military Prosecutor’s Office, and with my lawyer we will file a criminal complaint, because these murderers – because they were all of them – have to pay: the commander or general Sebastián Silva is covering up all this, and that cannot be” , he sentenced.
FAMILIES OF OTHER CONSCRIPTS ALSO STUDY LEGAL ACTIONS
Romy Vargas is not the only one studying legal actions, since the mothers of 45 other conscripts who were affected by respiratory symptoms – two of them are still in serious condition – are taking steps to find out the status of their children.
Two of them traveled to Arica and were received in the aforementioned regiment to find out the state of health of their children and to be able to take them back to their homes.
“No one from the Army told me anything, “No one called me to tell me that my son was sick and isolated because he is with the most serious young people, no one called me for that,” he told Cooperative one of the mothers, initials GG
“As a mother, you sense when your children are doing well or when they are being pressured.”. “I feel that every time I spoke to my son he was under pressure, because he answered me (only) yes or no, or told me ‘mom I can’t tell you now, don’t ask me that now,'” the woman said.
“I asked him if they had treated him badly, if they had done or said anything to him, and (he responded) ‘Mom, that’s the least important thing, please get me out of here.’he sentenced.
