Apoquindo massacre
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The Apoquindo massacre, also known as the Apoquindo shootings, was an incident in Santiago, Chile, on October 21, 1993, in which eight people died after members of the Chilean left-wing guerrilla movement Movimiento Juvenil Lautaro robbed a Banco O'Higgins branch on
Avenida Apoquindo Apoquindo Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Santiago, Chile. It extends through the commune of Las Condes. Description Apoquindo Avenue originates immediately east of Tobalaba Avenue. The main stretch of this street runs eastward from the east ...
, Las Condes,
Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
, where the bank guard was shot dead. The assailants boarded a minibus that was intercepted by police officers of the
Carabineros de Chile ( en, Carabiniers of Chile) are the Chilean national law enforcement police, who have jurisdiction over the entire national territory of the Republic of Chile. Created in 1927, their mission is to maintain order and enforce the laws of Chile. T ...
, sparking an assault that resulted in the death of a further seven persons: 3 attackers, 3 passengers on the bus and a police officer. A further 12 people were wounded.


Background

Although by 1993 Chile had officially become a democracy, the Chilean military remained highly powerful and the Constitution of Chile ensured the continued influence of General
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
and his military commanders. This prevented President
Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the first president of Chile after dictator Augusto Pinochet, a ...
's government from achieving many of the goals it had set out to achieve, such as the restructuring of the
Constitutional Court of Chile The Constitutional Court of Chile (''Tribunal Constitucional de Chile'' in Spanish) is Chile's constitutional tribunal. It is not part of the judicial branch and is functionally independent of the Congress and the President. The court is housed i ...
and the reduction of Pinochet's political power. In spite of the severe limits imposed on Aylwin's government by the Constitution, over four years, it "altered power relations in its favor in the state, in civil society, and in political society." However, organizations including the Movimiento Juvenil Lautaro, the
Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front The Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front (in es, link=no, Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez, ''FPMR'') was a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla organisation officially founded on 14 December 1983 as the paramilitary arm of the Communist Party of Chil ...
and the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria continued to resist the Chilean government, either through nonviolent underground resistance or through armed resistance.


The Incident

On October 21, 1993, a group of five members of the Lautaro guerrilla movement robbed a branch of Banco O'HIggins, located at Avenida Apoquindo 6417. According to the survivors, the purpose of the robbery was to seize funds for the rescue of political prisoners. The robbers managed to escape on a minibus running on Santiago bus route 24-C, which was stopped by the police near Avenida Manquehue. Shooting broke out,Alt URL
/ref> in the course of which seven people, three robbers, three bus passengers and one policeman, were killed and 12 people were injured. Two police officers were arrested and prosecuted for making reckless use of their service weapons. According to ballistic tests, the minibus, in which there were more than 20 passengers, received between 162 and 300 bullet holes, according to differing sources.


Impact of events

The government of the time, led by President
Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the first president of Chile after dictator Augusto Pinochet, a ...
, endorsed the actions of the police. The senator Sergio Onofre Jarpa said, "this is like a war. They declared it and you have to face them at whatever cost."


Trial

Eight years later, the military court handed down verdicts, sentencing the two survivors, Alvaro Gonzalez and Oriana Alcayaga, to a total of 81 years and 61 years imprisonment respectively. Two Carabineros arrested in connection with the shootings later received suspended sentences of 541 and 240 days.


References

{{coord, 33.4378, S, 70.6503, W, source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Mass murder in 1993 Massacres in 1993 October 1993 events in South America October 1993 crimes Massacres in Chile 1993 in Chile Political violence in Chile Presidency of Patricio Aylwin