|  ElCiudadano.cl |  Noticias

El Ciudadano

Original article: Crisis de credibilidad en Fiscalía de La Araucanía: Casos Huracán, Hermosilla, Convenios y criminalización mapuche salpican la institución

Conflicts Eroding the Credibility of the La Araucanía Prosecutor’s Office

The Regional Prosecutor’s Office of La Araucanía is currently facing one of its most severe credibility crises due to a series of scandals involving its top prosecutors in connection with Operation Huracán, the largest anti-mapuche plot documented in the country’s history, along with the Hermosilla Case and the Convenios Case.

In a region where the Public Prosecutor’s Office is supposed to ensure impartiality and transparency, numerous accusations against prosecutors remain uninvestigated formally or adequately.

Prosecutor Garrido and the Conflict with Universidad Autónoma

In April 2026, Governor René Saffirio formally requested the national prosecutor Ángel Valencia to remove regional prosecutor Roberto Garrido from the investigation into Universidad Autónoma, citing a «potential conflict of interest,» as reported by Radio Biobío.

According to the report, Garrido and his spouse, judge Tania Zurita, teach at the university, which received $21.8 billion from the GORE La Araucanía between 2021 and 2023 during the term of GORE Luciano Rivas (Chile Vamos), as part of a web of substantial transfers where two agreements were approved in only six hours of processing, according to a preliminary 69-page report from the Comptroller’s Office accessed by the radio outlet.

Governor Saffirio’s letter to the national prosecutor, also accessed by Araucanía Diario, states that Garrido is affected by disqualification under Article 55 No. 15 of the Organic Law of the Public Ministry, due to «maintaining a work relationship with an intervener.»

However, on June 27, 2026, Valencia appointed Garrido as the new regional prosecutor of Biobío, replacing Marcela Cartagena. Garrido, who is set to take office on August 3, remarked to El Mostrador that the position presents a «very interesting challenge professionally and personally, as I am from the Biobío Region.»

Operation Huracán and the Impunity of Prosecutors

Prosecutor Luis Arroyo, head of the High Complexity Unit in Temuco, was investigated for his role in Operation Huracán, where evidence was fabricated to implicate seven mapuche community members and a journalist. According to the statement from former Carabinero captain Leonardo Osses to CIPER Chile, Arroyo allegedly saw a draft of Report No. 130 two weeks before its official release and «excluded key targets» to adjust the investigation.

Prosecutor Arroyo denied these claims and filed a lawsuit for forgery of a public document and slander.

In a new twist, former carabinero Marcos Sanhueza testified in court that prosecutor Carlos Cornejo was the «intellectual author» of the preliminary report containing false evidence, as reported by Araucanía Diario.

Sanhueza recounted that Cornejo personally supervised the inclusion of false messages and demanded screenshots to make them credible. He added that «Prosecutor Carlos Cornejo should be sitting here with me as a defendant.» Despite this, Cornejo remains with the Regional Prosecutor’s Office and is also in charge of the Fundaciones case.

The Second Chamber of the Supreme Court decided not to reopen the investigation against Arroyo, as reported by El Diario de la Araucanía, leaving the accusations without legal sanction. The prosecutor’s office announced its decision not to pursue the procedure, stating that sufficient evidence had not been gathered to even formalize a case.

Prosecutor Carlos Palma, who initially led the investigation into the «Operation Huracán» case, found nothing, and the investigation was later transferred to the regional prosecutor’s office in Maule, which also made no progress. It is important to note that Palma is under investigation regarding the case «Audios – Hermosilla» and is also being examined for an alleged bribery incident involving Senator Miguel Ángel Calisto, as highlighted by El Divisadero.

Network of Questionable Prosecutors

Prosecutor Enrique Vásquez, who led the first trial against the lonko Guillermo Ñirripil and other similar cases, is mentioned in the report by the Special Investigative Commission of the Chamber of Deputies on the Operation Huracán of 2018, which states that «Prosecutors Vásquez and Cornejo directed what went into the preliminary report that led to the arrests.»

Additionally, on November 7, 2024, Radio Biobío reported that Juan Pablo Hermosilla disclosed a list of prosecutors contacted via WhatsApp by his brother Luis, which includes Vásquez. Despite this, in January 2026, Vásquez took over as prosecutor in the Super Territorial Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime without any statement from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutor Miguel Ángel Velásquez, who replaced Vásquez in the second trial against lonko Ñirripil, also has a lengthy history, as reported by El Itihue: he was arrested in 2016 for assaulting a 13-year-old, had to return the Covid Bonus in 2021 for non-compliance, and was reported for negligence in the Erica Hagan case, where the Supreme Court ordered the state to compensate a defendant who was acquitted of all responsibility with 200 million pesos, due to lack of service in the investigation , as noted by the Judiciary. Furthermore, the Appeals Court of Temuco excluded him from a trial in 2011 for acting «tendentiously» in a case against mapuche community members. Despite this, the same prosecutor continued to pursue cases against mapuche individuals and communicators, like in the case of Cristián Levinao and photographer Felipe Durán, who spent a year in pretrial detention and were ultimately acquitted in October 2016.

The accumulation of scandals reveals that, in La Araucanía, the principles of objectivity, impartiality, and integrity governing prosecutors have been systematically violated, including an active criminalization against mapuche individuals, often installing stereotypes and fostering racism and hatred in Araucanía, using public resources for such purposes.

While the prosecutors involved remain in their positions, confidence in the Public Prosecutor’s Office in La Araucanía continues to deteriorate.

La entrada Crisis of Credibility in La Araucanía Prosecutor’s Office Amid Scandals Involving Operation Huracán, Hermosilla, and Indigenous Criminalization se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.