A new episode occurred in the crisis that affects the Huamachuco Motorized Brigade of Putre, when it was confirmed that 2 conscript soldiers who were under sanitary isolation measures, after the death of soldier Franco Vargas Vargas in a march between Pacollo and Putre at 4 thousand meters of geographical height, they self-inflicted wounds and had to be referred to the Psychiatry Unit of the Juan Noé Hospital in Arica.
The Undersecretary for the Armed Forces, Galo Eidelstein Silber, confirmed this situation after visiting this afternoon the 18 soldiers who remain under observation due to a respiratory condition that has affected them since last weekend, a condition that forced the Army to transfer them from Putre to the Fontecilla Barracks in Arica.
“I would say that there were two soldiers who tried to harm themselves, perhaps in a state of anguish. There is no definitive opinion that they have attempted to take their own life, but there have been attempts at self-harm.”said the authority.
The undersecretary confirmed that he met with the mother of the only conscript who still remains in the Intensive Care Unit of the Juan Noé Hospital and who will be transferred in the next few hours to the Military Hospital of Santiago. The same thing, he said, was done with 2 successive groups of conscripts who were isolated in the Fontecilla Barracks in Arica.
From that meeting, Eidelstein said that he was able to verify that there are 4 young people who now want to abandon Compulsory Military Service, due to the events that have occurred since the beginning of the instruction process on April 11 in Putre.
“I met with Byron’s mother, a very emotional meeting and she is quite happy with what is being done. Afterwards I met with the conscripts to talk with them. I was talking to 2 groups. “In general, there are conscripts who do not want to continue doing military service, there are others who do, there are others who were shocked by the death of their comrade,” he explained.
Regarding the accusations of mistreatment of soldiers, which have been spread by the parents of the recruits, the undersecretary stated that “there has been a lot of speculation regarding that, even that they have eaten raw meat or things like that. That is very complex. But I believe that there have been problems, but if one begins to spread problems that are easily dismissed, eventually that erodes the real causes and the entire argument to solve the real problems is discredited. Regarding abuse in particular, that must be resolved by the summaries.”
Regarding whether the emergence of this new contingency with 2 soldiers hospitalized in Psychiatry, raises a question to the crisis management carried out by the Army, the Commander in Chief of the VI Division, Brigadier General, Rubén Castillo Herrera, ruled out this situation, explaining that “the two internal soldiers associated with psychiatric causes, one of them was waiting to be transferred to Santiago because he was not going to perform military service; and the other adopted an attitude in the hospital that as a precaution it was necessary to keep him in the hospital. As a precaution, he will not continue with his military service either. Obviously there is such a turbulent environment that it is difficult to control social networks, they have their cell phones and talk to their families. There has also been a lot of misinformation generated about what has happened.”
Today the undersecretary made a visit to the Fontecilla Barracks together with the Regional Presidential Delegate, Ricardo Sanzana Oteíza; and the Commander in Chief of the VI Division, Brigadier General, Rubén Castillo Herrera. There they visited the 18 conscripts who are still under observation due to the respiratory and intestinal viral illness they presented in Putre and which warranted their transfer to Arica the same Saturday, after the death of soldier Vargas during a morning march in the highlands.
Brigade waiting
The reopening of the “Huamachuco” Motorized Brigade as an instruction center will still be pending, because the Regional Ministerial Secretariat of Health is currently carrying out analyzes on food and water sources to investigate the origin of the viral infection that It affected 45 soldiers and the Escherichia coli and Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria were investigated in 2 soldiers who were at risk of life since Saturday in the Arica hospital.
“In a few more days given the health measures in place, The unit is going to be reorganized to continue training. It is not yet determined when training will resume. Health prevails, evaluate in a good way how the instruction is going to continue and as I confirmed yesterday, this will continue in Arica,” stated the officer.
Regarding the decisions to abandon military service communicated by some conscripts, after the episode of Pacollo’s march to Putre, the general said that “There are many of them who are already separated due to their decision not to perform military service and are waiting for operational transports to return home. The others are those who, as a result of what happened in terms of health, are not going to continue. There is no number, nor anything exhaustive for those who are not going to continue military service,” said Castillo.
The general recognized that the death of the conscript “is serious, the death of a conscript soldier is not normal and we are going to adopt the pertinent, prudent and judicious measures regarding those who cannot continue or do not wish to do so, everything will be resolved.” evaluate, but there is no restrictive measure to continue with military service.”
Military Prosecutor’s Office
El Mostrador tried to get a version from the Arica Military Prosecutor’s Office about the investigative process that began that same Saturday., after the death of the conscript. The military prosecutor, Captain Daniela Guzmán Latorre, indicated that she would not provide information on the proceedings ordered because the process is “under reserve.”
Likewise, he said that the spokesperson for the judicial efforts was located in the Army Command in Chief. Notwithstanding this, what has emerged is that the PDI Homicide Brigade carried out expert reports at the place where the recruit died.
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