Twelve hours of uncertainty were experienced by the mothers of 4 conscripts of the “Huamachuco” Motorized Brigade, who finally, after their children signed various documents and testified before an Army prosecutor, managed last night to obtain their discharge and leave the Arica hospital and the Barracks. Fontecilla of this city. In this way, they put an end to their eventful period of training in military service in the foothills town of Putre, where they witnessed the death of their companion Franco Vargas, in addition to the aggravation of 2 comrades due to the action of 2 aggressive bacteria and the development of a violent viral condition in 45 soldiers.
Nicolle Ortega, Bianca Arellano, Heidy Henríquez and Carolina Muñoz arrived from Santiago on a flight financed with their own resources to Arica, through collections, savings and the support of family and friends. The four set out to carry out what they called a “rescue operation” for their children, because they no longer wanted them to continue as recruits. They had no money for accommodation and were willing to sleep in a tent outside the military compound until they achieved their goal. Their face changed when Councilor Dolores Cautivo told them that she would support them with transportation and with accommodation in a municipal shelter.
The procedure that allowed the discharge of the conscripts was not at all easy, to the point that the Regional Presidential Delegate, Ricardo Sanzana Oteíza, had to go to the military unit on two occasions to facilitate the departure of the 4 young men. Inside the facility, the mothers at times received various contradictory information from the officials, about the procedures they had to carry out and the deadline to resolve them, leaving them uncertain for several moments about whether they could achieve the release of the now former conscripts.
One by one, between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., Ariel Indo, Bastián Castillo, Jacob Cárdenas and Cristóbal Sanhueza, left with their mothers through the brass door of the barracks. They had tired faces, nervousness and little desire to talk about what had happened. Two still had coughs and body aches.
Hours before, they, without knowing it, received support with honks from drivers who passed outside the barracks and also the solidarity of women and families who came to offer tea, coffee, food and accommodation in their homes to welcome them with their mothers. The last one was the Trigo family. The group arrived in their vehicle, improvised a table in their trunk and set up a small entertainment with drinks, hot coffee and a snack just as the young people began to leave the barracks.
Four other mothers also arrived at night from Santiago. They came hoping to get their children out of the compound. They knocked on the door and the guard told them that the visits had ended and that they had to return at 8 in the morning. They only accepted the delivery of food for their children. There was crying and anguish. However, the Presidential Delegate confirmed that the discharge of these 4 conscripts would be processed today.
The process was also closely followed by the National Institute of Human Rights. In fact, when the process of releasing the young people began to get stuck, a team from this institution was stationed outside the unit, filling out forms with interviews with the mothers and young people, to document this eventful procedure.
Another team from the Municipality of Arica was also present, including Mayor Gerardo Espíndola. The communal chief ordered the setting up of the Villa Albergue as lodging for the mothers and their children, since none of them had the resources for accommodation in the city.
“I came out of hell”
“I feel like I came out of hell, but I’m happy to be happy with my mom. I don’t want to talk too much about that. It was not a very good experience, but I emphasize that not everyone is bad and that there are some good people as well as bad ones.” This is how Cristóbal Sanhueza summarized his 23-day experience in military service, in the foothills town of Putre, 3,500 meters above sea level. He struggled with altitude sickness, lack of oxygen, and the desperation of wanting to return home but not being able to. He also lived through the fateful training march on April 27 where his comrade Franco Vargas died.
Regarding the walk, the former soldier denied the Army’s version that that early morning of April 27 they left with the necessary shelter to face the high-altitude cold in Pacollo, the training field at 4,200 meters above sea level from where the walk began. 6 in the morning bound for Putre.
“I was in that march too. I want to tell you that it is a lie that we had shelter charges. They forced us to take off that position and we walked around with t-shirts and shirts. Warm jackets were worn in certain parts of the campaign, but not on the march. During the march we were forced to remove these items. We don’t use gloves or coipas, just t-shirts and shirts. “I had never felt cold like that,” he recalled.
The height, although not as devastating for Cristóbal, still kept him on edge. “I am one of the people who was not so affected by the height, but I did feel the pressure on my head. I bled from my nose many days and the temperatures are too cold. “This is not for everyone,” he said.
Despite what he experienced, Sanhueza affirmed that he will insist on his life project: to pursue a military career. For this reason, his mother insisted to the officers at the Fontecilla Barracks that the discharge should not include any harmful clause in his background, given that his interest is to apply for the Army non-commissioned officer school.
long process
The final withdrawal process lasted almost 12 hours. Inside the Fontecilla Barracks, Army officers began to demand that the 4 soldiers sign documents in which they had to ensure that they had not been subjected to mistreatment and that they released the institution from any responsibility.
The young people Ariel Indo and Bastián Castillo experienced this process in the military unit, where they were also required to give a statement within the summary initiated by the institution regarding the death of Franco Vargas and the treatment they received during their brief instruction.
Meanwhile, his colleagues Jacob Cárdenas and Cristóbal Sanhueza had to overcome a first obstacle: obtaining a medical discharge from the Psychiatry Unit where they were admitted for self-harm that was caused after their discharge was prolonged and they became depressed due to the death of their comrade.
During the morning, their mothers had been informed that they would be leaving the hospital soon. However, when they visited them, they received another version: they would not leave until Monday, because a psychiatrist was not available to authorize their medical discharge and that they would be placed at the disposal of the Army. Thanks to the efforts of the Presidential Delegate, during the night medical authorization was obtained, which allowed them to be transferred to the Fontecilla Barracks to finally finalize their discharge.
More self-harm
Although the Army reported only 2 cases of young people admitted to the Psychiatry Unit of the Juan Noé Hospital, yesterday it was known through testimonies from family members that there were 4 cases of self-harm and that warranted their referral to the medical center.
The reasons why the institution did not provide the exact number are unknown. However, there are still 2 conscripts in the care center. Last night, even, a cousin of one of them came to the barracks to find out about his condition, given that his parents died some time ago and he was in the care of his sisters in Santiago, who had no information about him. since he entered military service. The Presidential Delegate promised to arrange a visit to the soldier.
Up Commander in Chief
Once the four young men and their mothers left the military unit, the Commander in Chief of the Army, General Javier Iturriaga, unexpectedly arrived at the same facility after midnight. At the site he was received by the Commander in Chief of the VI Division, Brigadier General Rubén Castillo along with other officers. The meeting lasted for an hour and then the highest military authority left the premises without making any statements.
Meanwhile, the Regional Presidential Delegate, Ricardo Sanzana, reported that an Army plane is scheduled to arrive today. The aircraft will transport a group of soldiers from Arica to Santiago, who have decided not to continue with their military training, so their administrative discharge will be processed.
The arrival of the Undersecretary for the Armed Forces, Galo Edelstein, is also expected again, who remained in Arica until Friday supervising the Crisis Committee formed to address the emergency that arose in the military brigade. The Government would have ordered his return, because, after his departure, the discharge procedures for conscripts began to get bogged down in the military institution with procedures that were too rigid, causing criticism and anguish from the mothers and the soldiers themselves. .
