Chilean Artist «Papas Fritas» Creates Provocative Urban Art on Impunity of Former Officer Claudio Crespo

Original article: Carabineros la retiró: Artista nacional «Papas Fritas» impactó con intervención urbana sobre impunidad de exoficial Claudio Crespo

Chilean artist Francisco Tapia Salinas, popularly known as «Papas Fritas,» unveiled a «grotesque piece» on Saturday, January 31, depicting former officer Claudio Crespo Gálvez cleaning up blood. This artwork symbolizes the «image cleansing» of Carabineros in the wake of the social uprising, a process facilitated by the Naín-Retamal Law enacted by Gabriel Boric.

The installation was positioned outside the University of Chile Theater in downtown Santiago, immediately attracting the attention of passersby and foreign tourists.

The artwork portrays Crespo wearing a Carabineros shirt and cap, along with a jumpsuit displaying the Fullclean S.A. logo, as he mops up blood in a public space.

“Fullclean S.A., a company linked to the Crespo-Cúneo family (including his wife, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law), won a 2021 contract worth 6.5 billion pesos over 36 months with the Carabineros Hospital, all while Crespo was imprisoned for causing the blindness of Gustavo Gatica Villarroel,” the artist pointed out.

“For a decade,” he added, “this company has received tenders exceeding 10 billion pesos from institutions like the School of Officers and right-leaning municipalities such as Providencia and Lo Barnechea, which have been questioned for potential irregularities that finance legal defenses for offenders.”

Naín-Retamal Law

Through this urban intervention, «Papas Fritas» also denounced how the Naín-Retamal Law marks a shift in Boric’s government, moving from promises of reforming institutions to supporting them, thereby «perpetuating the legacies of dictatorship and dismantling popular resistance to authoritarianism.»

“The piece critiques the fallacy of an ‘intrinsic probity’ within Carabineros, shattered by corruption scandals, drug and weapon trafficking, embezzlement like Pacogate, and links to organized crime,” emphasized the artist.

In this context, Tapia accused the legal framework of “validating power asymmetries, denying the right to dissent and violent resistance against state abuses, amid a scenario where the Republican Party and economic elites shift the debate further right, prioritizing repression over social justice.”

“Acquitted in January 2026, Crespo symbolizes the post-uprising impunity, where ‘progressive’ governments promote collective amnesia regarding systematic embezzlements and illegal acts within Carabineros. The sculpture urges Chilean society to confront these links between power, repressive institutions, and business, demanding scrutiny of Pinochet-era legacies that the establishment has legitimized, betraying popular demands,” he added.

Carabineros Removed the Art

After being displayed for a while, Carabineros personnel arrived on site and proceeded to take down the artwork, as shown in the following photographic sequence.

Artist Francisco Tapia has an intriguing background in «operational art,» famously staging the burning of student debt documents in 2014.

Now, he has utilized public space to question how questionable contracts «clean the image» of a «criminal institution during the uprising, while critical leftist sectors reject Boric’s hesitant management that strengthens the repressive apparatus at the expense of collective dignity,» concluded «Papas Fritas.»

El Ciudadano