Scandal in Chile: Gendarmerie Director Denounced for Labor Abuse and Smuggling of Cigarettes to Abstain Prisoners

The Director of the Chilean Gendarmerie, Christian Alveal, was accused of labor abuse by Carlos Esteffan Codoceo, Deputy Director of Administration and Finance of the institution itself, who, in a letter addressed to the undersecretary of justice of Chile, Jaime Gajardo, details harmful behavior and inappropriate decisions. Among what is most surprising in the accusations is the establishment of an illicit business selling cigarettes inside prisons.

The role of the Chilean Gendarmerie is to safeguard security in the country's prisons. In this context, his highest administrative position is held by Christian Alveal, who has been the target of a series of complaints. ''I come to denounce the National Director of the Gendarmerie of Chile, Mr. Christian Alveal Gutiérrez, who is currently my direct chief, for conduct that has violated my personal integrity and labor rights during the three years that he had to work in the service under his command, '” said Esteffan, who was asked to leave his position due to 'lack of confidence' as soon as he returns from his respective vacation, on May 23.

The history of complaints and complaints by officials of the agency against Christian Alveal does not cease, since the director of the institution has been involved in several conflicts and situations of high complexity that have put the Chilean Gendarmerie in check. Alveal, among other controversies, was the operational chief of the San Miguel Preventive Detention Center at the time when a voracious fire struck tower 5 of that prison, leaving 81 prisoners dead and 16 others injured on December 8, 2010.

Similarly, Alveal expressed his rejection of the former Gendarmerie Director, Claudia Bendeck, who left her post after an alleged break with the then Chilean Minister of Justice, Hernán Larraín, due to internal conflicts with the Gendarmerie workers' guild, which at that time threatened an indefinite strike to demand an indefinite strike labor improvements in 2018.

On the other hand, Alveal has been linked to Álvaro Corbalán, former chief operating officer of the National Information Centre (CNI), also known as the secret police of dictator Augusto Pinochet, who during that country's dictatorship (1973-1990) was involved in several cases of human rights violations. Corbalán was charged with 12 crimes of qualified homicide, a simple homicide and unlawful association, so his sentence in the Punta Peuco prison, however ambiguous, will end on December 31, 2999. But their relationship, according to various sources, has been limited to letters, in which Corbalán has expressed his support, support and defense for Christian Alveal, suggesting to keep him in the upper echelons of power permanently.

In another event of similar characteristics, and which is related to Christian Alveal's management in the Directorate of Gendarmerie, the former head of the Office of Summaries of that institution, lawyer Francisca Noll, was disaffected by that office and began to be the victim of various administrative positions that, today, hold her suspended. It all began when Noll filed a labor guardianship against the Gendarmerie before the Second Labour Court of Santiago, accusing labor harassment of officials, and also for the torture suffered by two Ecuadorian prisoners in the Santiago 1 prison, a record that even went viral through social networks, denounces which was finally accepted by the Chilean justice system. However, Francisca Noll continues to face a scenario of persecution against her, with administrative summaries, low wages and not being able to perform her functions within the Gendarmerie four years ago.

Christian Alveal has also been accused of corruption and of allowing illegitimate business in prisons by selling cigarettes to prisoners, favoring a whole mechanism for their entry. Meanwhile, President Gabriel Boric, has not given any indication of any possible replacement for Christian Alveal, which could be inferred as absolute ratification in the position of National Director of the Gendarmerie of Chile.

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