Judge Denounces Manuel Guerra: «His Decisions Were Influenced by UDI’s Position» in Penta Case

Original article: Juez hunde a Guerra: “condicionaba sus decisiones a la postura de la UDI” en el caso Penta

The 4th Criminal Court of Santiago has ordered preventive detention for former regional prosecutor Manuel Guerra as part of the investigation linked to the so-called Hermosilla case, where he faces charges of aggravated bribery, administrative misconduct, and breach of confidentiality.

During the hearing, Judge Guillermo Rodríguez criticized the former prosecutor, stating that he «conditioned his decisions on the stance of the UDI party.»

The court’s decision came after nine lengthy days of formalization, where the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Council for the Defense of the State, and claimants requested the maximum precautionary measure. During these sessions, Arica regional prosecutor Mario Carrera accused Guerra of 13 incidents allegedly occurring between 2016 and 2021, during which he maintained numerous conversations, mostly via WhatsApp, with lawyer Luis Hermosilla, who is implicated in tax-related offenses, bribery, and money laundering.

Carrera indicated that the former prosecutor subordinated «the interests of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to a specific political group» and that his relationship with Hermosilla influenced at least five cases under investigation at the Metropolitan East Prosecutor’s Office while Guerra managed that office from 2015 to 2021. These cases, including those related to Penta, Dominga, and Exalmar, are politically connected to the right-wing, especially to figures within the UDI.

According to the accusations, Guerra “allegedly repeatedly requested personal and ‘extra positional’ benefits from lawyer Luis Hermosilla Osorio, as well as benefits for third parties connected to him, taking advantage of his position.”

When reading the ruling, Judge Guillermo Rodríguez noted that while some offenses related to administrative misconduct and breach of confidentiality may be time-barred, others related to bribery «are not time-barred as the defense claimed.»

«Guerra Conditioned His Decisions on UDI’s Position»

The court supported the legality of acquiring the conversations between Guerra and Hermosilla, highlighting the existence of a «relationship of interest.»

“The accused, as regional prosecutor, took charge of the Penta case in November 2015. And since 2016, he held communications with Luis Hermosilla to understand the UDI’s position and make substantive decisions,” stated the magistrate.

Addressing Fact 1, related to the Penta case, Judge Rodríguez referred to a WhatsApp conversation from September 21, 2016, in which it «is established that Guerra conditioned his decisions on the UDI’s position, violating the principle of objectivity in Article 3 of the Organic Law of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.»

In that dialogue, references were made to Andrés, presumably referring to former minister Andrés Chadwick, a close associate of Hermosilla, and Santiago Valdés, former manager of the late President Piñera’s campaign.

Guerra: Lucho, I wrote to Andrés because I am concerned about the limited progress in resolving the situations regarding UDI individuals in Penta and concerning Stgo Valdés.

Guerra: Essentially, to know their position so that I can make substantive decisions.

Hermosilla: Thank you, Manuel.

Hermosilla: I will take care of it immediately.

Later, the magistrate discussed the evidence related to Fact 3, concerning the investigation of Exalmar and Dominga.

In 2017, Guerra requested the closure of the investigation, where the only defendant was former President Sebastián Piñera, due to a complaint filed against him by then-deputy Hugo Gutiérrez (PC) for incompatible negotiations and misuse of privileged information regarding the purchase of shares in the Peruvian fishing company by Bancard while the case regarding maritime boundaries between Chile and Peru was ongoing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

“Guerra deliberately disregarded available evidence in the case file to request the dismissal of a politically sensitive case for the sector that could potentially hire him,” the judge read.

Furthermore, he noted that the ex-prosecutor disclosed the Public Prosecutor’s strategy to Hermosilla, who represented the government in cases related to the social uprising of 2019.

Triangulation Among Guerra, Hermosilla, and Chadwick.

According to the court, Guerra acted as a sort of “advisor” to Andrés Chadwick after he resigned from the Minister of the Interior and came under the Prosecutor’s scrutiny due to events stemming from the uprising.

The judge noted that communications among the defendants illustrated the emergence of a triangular structure formed by Guerra, Hermosilla, and Chadwick.

“There exists a structure that we could call triangular: Guerra, Hermosilla, Chadwick. The conversations confirm that information was relayed to Hermosilla with the explicit expectation that it would be transmitted to Chadwick Piñera. This structure demonstrates that the aim of the infraction was the positioning of the accused before a political sector that could favor him,” he asserted.

In his ruling, the magistrate pointed out that Guerra, who was formalized for 13 offenses, including bribery, corruption, misconduct, and breach of secrets, showed a “pattern known as corrupt credit structure,” which involved doing favors for someone powerful and creating “a debt that the official or accused collects or attempts to collect later.”

“One must consider the gravity of the crimes… The Public Prosecutor’s Office is not an ordinary state agency. The accused Guerra was not a subordinate; he was the regional prosecutor metropolitan East with jurisdiction over a significant portion of the judicial activity in the Metropolitan Region. The seriousness of the official crimes is intensified directly due to the hierarchy of the position the accused holds,” he said, according to La Tercera.

According to Judge Rodríguez, “there is a systematic and irreversible damage to the institutional trust of the Public Prosecutor’s Office,” and made it clear that “cooperation is not sufficient to reduce a sentence,” referring to the more than 8 hours of testimony Guerra provided.

“Unlike ordinary crimes, the offenses charged cause systematic damage to institutional trust that is irreversible. The message that the conduct sends to the citizenry is that the prosecution is not equal for everyone,” he added.

The court considered Manuel Guerra a danger to public safety, which is why it ordered the precautionary measure of preventive detention.

Following the notification of preventive detention, the former regional prosecutor of the Metropolitan East Prosecutor’s Office was handcuffed and taken by Gendarmería to the Capitán Yáber prison, where he will remain under precautionary measures for the 45 days set by the court for the investigation development.