Juan Emilio Cheyre

Juan Emilio Cheyre Espinosa (born October 10, 1947) is a retired Chilean Army General. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army from 2002 to 2006. As Commander-in-Chief he attempted to distance the Army from former General Augusto Pinochet, and condemned the human rights abuses of Pinochet's dictatorship.

In 1973 he handed over a two-year-old child, whose parents had been murdered by the army, to a nunnery.[1]

In 2003, Cheyre as Commander-in-Chief of the Army issued an historically relevant document titled "Chilean Army: End of a Vision," in which he stated that "never again" could the circumstances that led Chile to the collapse of its democracy be met.

Cheyre was succeeded as Commander-in-Chief by Army General Oscar Izurieta on March 10, 2006. He worked later as an academic at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. In 2013 he was appointed as president of the "Servicio de Registro Electoral", but a few months later he withdrew from his office as a consequence of the controversy surrounding his acts in 1973 when he handed over a child.[2]

On July 8, 2016, it was reported that Cheyre was jailed earlier in the week for alleged involvement in the killing of 15 people during the first days of Pinochet's rule in 1973.[3] On November 9, 2018, Cheyre was convicted for complicity in the deaths of 15 left wing activists in September 1973 and was sentenced to three years and a day of house arrest.[4] Ariosto Lapostol, who was Cheyre's commanding officer at this time, was also convicted for the killings and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.[4]

Qualifications

Some of Cheyre's academic qualifications include:

  • Licenciate in Military Sciences (Army War Academy)
  • Master of Science in Political Science (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile)
  • Master of Military Sciences (Army War Academy — it corresponds to the regular course every officer should accomplish, see Licenciate above)
  • Ph.D. in Political Science and Sociology (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

References

  1. ↑ Carlos Peña, (Rector de la Universidad Diego Portales), in Cheyre y el pasado in El Mercurio on 18 August 2013, retrieved on 18 August 2013 in Spanish language
  2. ↑ Chilean newspaper La Tercera Cheyre deja su cargo como presidente del directorio del Servel tras controversia por su participación en caso Lejderman Archived 2013-08-22 at the Wayback Machine, on 22 August 2013, retrieved on 22 August 2013
  3. ↑ "Chile jails a retired general for 15 Pinochet-era murders". 8 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Chile's Caravan of Death: Ex-army chief Cheyre convicted for Pinochet-era crimes". BBC News. 10 November 2018.
  • Curriculum Vitae J.E.Cheyre in the Chilean Army website
  • Curriculum Vitae J.E.Cheyre in the "Servicio de Registro Electoral"
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