El Ciudadano
Original article: La red de vínculos en torno a la causa de licencias de conducir y el requerimiento contra el alcalde de Collipulli
The investigation into alleged irregularities in the issuance of driving licenses in Collipulli has become one of the most significant institutional cases recorded in the municipality in recent years.
The formal charges filed in September 2023 included allegations of bribery, forgery of public documents, corruption, and organized crime, along with requests for and later decrees of preventive detention for some key figures involved, as documented in RUC: 2300060840-8, RIT 52-2023 from the Collipulli Court of Guarantees.
However, two years later, the case concluded through abbreviated procedures without reaching an oral trial. A review of judicial files, municipal records, corporate documents, electoral paperwork, and court rulings reveals the repeated presence of the same group of actors across various aspects linked to the institutional life of the municipality.
THE DRIVING LICENSE CASE AND DEFENSE STRATEGIES OF THE ACCUSED
In the case RIT 52-2023, RUC: 2300060840-8, Luis Toledo Rosales was initially represented by lawyers Alexis Gómez Valdivia and Manuel Contreras Lagos during the phase that concluded via abbreviated procedure.
According to reviewed documents, both lawyers have professional residences at Antonio Varas 989, 17th floor, in Temuco. Additionally, both have served as lawyers integrated within the Court of Appeals of Temuco.
Meanwhile, the defense for former municipal employee Bania Inostroza Pinilla was handled by lawyer David Araya Parraguez, father of the current municipal administrator David Araya Fuentealba and, at that time, legal advisor for the Municipality of Collipulli.
THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE COMPLAINING COUNCILORS
One of the most controversial episodes of the investigation occurred when councilors Juliana Bustos, Carolina Valenzuela, and Jacqueline Ponce attempted to join as complainants.
David Araya Parraguez requested nullification of the complaint’s admission, arguing that the councilors lacked the active legitimacy to act on behalf of the Municipal Council and that the municipal interests were already represented by a complaint from the Municipality of Collipulli.
Alexis Gómez Valdivia, representing Luis Toledo Rosales, also intervened in proceedings related to this controversy, requesting the same.
The record shows that the defenses of various accused individuals coincided in questioning the councilors’ participation within the criminal process.
THE ABREVIATED PROCEDURE
The case concluded via abbreviated procedure.
In October 2025, the respective hearing took place, where the Public Prosecutor’s Office formally requested this procedural outcome, the accused accepted it, and the court issued a guilty verdict regarding Maritza Castro Ruiz, Bania Inostroza Pinilla, Luis Toledo Rosales, and Camila Galdames Inostroza.
The convictions included charges of bribery, forgery of public documents, corruption, and organized crime.
The use of this mechanism concluded an investigation initially presented by the Prosecutor’s Office as a case of special gravity, with allegations linked to public corruption, forgery of official documents, and organized crime.
The outcome is particularly interesting in light of ongoing debates concerning other high-profile investigations. On July 15, 2026, during a hearing regarding the precautionary situation of former prosecutor Manuel Guerra, formalized for bribery, breach of secrecy, and misconduct, the defense reported the existence of an agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office aimed at concluding the case through an abbreviated procedure.
During that hearing, the Public Prosecutor confirmed the agreement’s existence and requested to modify the precautionary measure of preventive detention affecting the former prosecutor. The State Defense Council also indicated it would not oppose the possibility of an abbreviated outcome.
This proposal raised questions from some complainants who argued that an early termination of the process could hinder the complete clarification of the investigated facts and any potential responsibilities of third parties.
Although both cases appear to correspond to different investigations with no procedural connection, discussions surrounding Guerra’s case have raised questions similar to those present in the driving license case in Collipulli: What is the extent of judicial clarification achieved when investigations initiated with serious allegations, severe precautionary measures, and significant public exposure are resolved through abbreviated procedures without reaching oral trial?
In this context, a notable difference exists between the two processes. While in the case against former prosecutor Manuel Guerra, the State Defense Council intervened as a complainant and expressed its position regarding the potential abbreviated outcome, in the investigation of the driving licenses in Collipulli, that body does not appear among the process’s participants. This circumstance adds an additional element to the debate regarding the different institutional mechanisms for controlling and prosecuting acts associated with alleged public corruption.
THE ARAYAS AND THE MUNICIPAL STRUCTURE
The reviewed documentation shows that David Ignacio Araya Fuentealba is the son of David Elías Araya Parraguez.
He currently serves as the Director of Municipal Administration of Collipulli, one of the most significant positions within the administrative structure of the municipality. In 2023, he was the legal advisor for the municipality.
Moreover, both are listed as partners of David Araya & Cía. Limitada.
Thus, the lawyer who defended two of the primary accused in the case—public officials—maintains familial and corporate ties with one of the main directors of the municipal administration.
CONTRERAS, MUNICIPAL CONTRACTS, AND THE DEFENSE OF TOLEDO
In the abbreviated procedure hearing, Manuel Antonio Contreras Lagos appeared as the defender of Luis Alberto Toledo Rosales.
Simultaneously, transparency records show that Contreras served as legal support lawyer for the Municipality of Collipulli, receiving fees in 2025 and maintaining those functions into 2026 to the present day.
ALEXIS GÓMEZ: DEFENDER, ACADEMIC, AND MEMBER OF THE ELECTORAL COURT
Another name frequently appearing is Alexis Salvador Gómez Valdivia.
Judicial documents indicate that he appeared as a private defender, alongside colleague Manuel Contreras Lagos, of Luis Toledo Rosales in the driving license case RIT 52-2023.
Subsequently, he represented mayor Manuel Jesús Macaya Ramírez in a contempt case processed before the Court of Letters and Guarantees of Collipulli.
According to institutional information from Universidad Mayor, Gómez is also listed as the director of the Law career at the Temuco campus. Moreover, the official list of the Regional Electoral Court of La Araucanía for the 2023-2027 period identifies him as First Alternate Member of that body.
The overlap of these roles has raised questions regarding the various roles lawyers can play in cases linked to the same institutional realm. In particular, the debate arises over the extent of ineligibility, incompatibility, or conflict of interest norms when a professional intervenes in proceedings related to the same municipal administration during temporally coinciding periods.
The reviewed materials do not allow for conclusions regarding the existence of legal or ethical violations. However, they illustrate how a single professional appears to be linked, at different times, both to actions related to defendants in the driving license case and to the private defense of the mayor of Collipulli, all while also holding academic positions and connections to an electoral justice body.
Moreover, the evidence examined shows that Gómez intervened in actions related to the defense of Luis Toledo Rosales in the driving license case and simultaneously took on the judicial representation of mayor Manuel Macaya Ramírez. This situation raises a public interest question about the limits and scopes of professional representation when different actors in the same institutional controversy are linked to the same legal environment, an issue whose evaluation ultimately falls to the competent authorities and the rules regulating the exercise of the profession.
ONE OFFICE, TWO INTEGRATING LAWYERS
The reviewed records also show that Alexis Gómez Valdivia and Manuel Contreras Lagos maintain professional residences at Antonio Varas No. 989, 17th floor, in Temuco.
This coincidence becomes significant considering that both participated in actions linked to the driving license case and both served as integrating lawyers of the Court of Appeals of Temuco.
FROM THE LICENSE CASE TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
While the criminal case advanced towards an abbreviated outcome, the demand against mayor Manuel Macaya Ramírez continued its path through electoral justice and subsequently reached the Constitutional Court.
On March 5, 2026, the Constitutional Court declared admissible the demand for inapplicability presented by the communal chief and resolved to maintain the suspension previously decreed in the judicial management to which the constitutional action was relevant. Since then, the primary procedure remained suspended while the constitutional magistracy analyzed the case.
Later, the case was included on the agenda of the Plenary of the Constitutional Court for July 21, 2026 under Role No. 17.256-26-INA.
However, the day before the hearing, lawyer Fernando René Cartes Sepúlveda, representing the mayor, requested to suspend the view, citing difficulties arising from the weather conditions affecting La Araucanía, including power outages, route interruptions, flooding, and operational problems at the regional airport.
Conversely, the opposing party requested alternatives to enable the completion of the pleadings and continue processing the procedure, such as pleading via Zoom to allow regular institutional functioning.
Another point that arises from the document review is that the official integration of the Court of Appeals of Temuco for that same week identifies the integrating lawyer referred to as «Mr. Cartes» in the First Chamber of the appellate court on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, the date set for the hearing of the constitutional demand.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE REGIONAL AUDITOR GENERAL’S OFFICE OF ARAUCANÍA refrained from commenting on allegations linked to these matters, arguing that they were subjects submitted to the jurisdiction of judicial bodies.
A STORY THAT LEAVES OPEN QUESTIONS
The available evidence does not allow us to assert that mayor Manuel Macaya Ramírez was favored or protected by irregular actions. Nor does it allow us to conclude responsibilities beyond those established by the courts.
However, it does demonstrate that an investigation that began with preventive detention and allegations of bribery, forgery of public documents, corruption, and organized crime concluded through abbreviated procedures without an oral trial.
It also reveals that the councilors who tried to intervene as complainants faced intense procedural controversy; that lawyers linked to the defense of the accused simultaneously maintained professional relationships with the municipal administration; that some of these same actors later reappeared representing the mayor; that others hold positions in universities, electoral courts, and courts of justice; and that the constitutional demand initiated by the communal chief kept the judicial management it affected suspended while it was being considered by the Constitutional Court.
More than a definitive conclusion, the evidence reflects the repeated presence of particular actors in legal, academic, municipal, judicial, and electoral spaces connected to the municipality, raising questions about transparency, accountability, and citizen trust in institutions tasked with resolving matters of evident public interest.
The substantive discussion transcends personal names. It relates to the institutions’ capacity to guarantee independence, transparency, and control in cases involving alleged public corruption. When the same actors reappear at different levels of the institutional structure and locally significant processes conclude far from an oral trial, the demand for explanations and public scrutiny becomes inevitable.
Rather than providing definitive answers, the gathered evidence allows us to identify a network of professional, institutional, and familial relationships converging at various moments in the public life of Collipulli, leaving open questions that remain a matter of public interest.
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