MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean far right push for extradition of Senator murder protected by Argentina

Galvarino Apablaza, was granted political asylum in Argentina; his wife works close to President Cristina Fernandez

The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) began proceedings this week concerning Argentina’s refusal to extradite Galvarino Apablaza for the 1991 murder of emblematic conservative Senator Jaime Guzmán.

A controversial figure, Guzmán was the co-author of the Chilean constitution under the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and the founder of the far-right Independent Democratic Union Party (UDI).

“This is an opportunity to show that international institutions can properly guarantee legal proceedings for those who violate human rights,” UDI Sen. Juan Antonio Coloma told La Tercera.

Coloma, along with fellow UDI politician Sen. Jovino Novoa, travelled to Washington D.C. to appear before the commission and seek the extradition of Apablaza, who has political asylum in Argentina.

The Argentine Supreme Court approved Apablaza’s extradition in 2010, but President Cristina Fernández administration granted him asylum soon after. Apablaza is married to Paula Chain, a member of President Fernández’ press relations office.

“The Republic of Argentina should comply with the decision of their Supreme Court which awarded the extradition to Chile,” UDI Dep. Cristian Letelier told The Santiago Times.

“A judge on the Court of Appeals is already looking at the case of the assassination of Senator Guzmán. There is a full guarantee here that everyone who is being investigated in this process will have their rights respected”.

The hearings result from a formal complaint submitted by Guzmán’s family and Sen. Coloma to the IACHR against Argentina in January. UDI members claim that Argentina’s refusal to extradite Apablaza is a violation of the American Convention of Human Rights.

The Chilean representatives aim to nullify Apablaza’s political asylum given by the Argentine government in 2010 and obtain monetary compensation toward preserving the memory of Jaime Guzmán.

“We trust that the Inter-American Court will find justice that the Argentine government has not given to Chile,” Dep. Patricio Melero, president of the UDI, told La Tercera.

Guzmán was assassinated in 1991 by the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front, a radical left-wing group created to resist the Pinochet regime. Apablaza was implicated for the assassination.

The case has stirred up controversy between the political left and right in Chile. The left sees the right’s investment in this case as disproportional to their concern with the plethora of human rights violations committed by the Pinochet regime.

The right accuses the left of ignoring Guzmán’s human rights by failing to adequately pursue the case against Apablaza.

By Aaron Walck - The Santiago Times