Two-tier justice in Chile<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.elciudadano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Julia-Chunil-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The enforced disappearance of Julia Chu\u00f1il Catricura, a 72-year-old Mapuche leader and environmental defender, has become a stark symbol of structural discrimination in Chile. Eleven months after she vanished in M\u00e1fil, the investigation is moving at a glacial pace, in jarring contrast to the speed seen in other cases of comparable gravity that warranted the same urgency and national attention.<\/p>\n
\nRelated \/ \u201cThe State Is Complicit\u201d: Mapuche Women\u2019s Network denounces institutional violence and demands truth, justice and reparation in the case of Julia Chu\u00f1il<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe most compelling evidence\u2014a wiretapped call in which the prime suspect, Juan Carlos Morstadt, says \u201cthey burned her<\/strong>\u201d\u2014has been treated with startling indifference by prosecutors, who have relegated this crucial lead to the background, according to the family\u2019s attorney, Karina Riquelme.<\/p>\n\nYou may be interested \/ Julia Chu\u00f1il case: lawmakers summon Prosecutor Valencia, the PDI and Carabineros after reports of audios alluding to the burning of the body<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nWhile evidence against Morstadt is downplayed, the prosecutorial apparatus has veered the other way: criminalizing the victim\u2019s own family. As outlined at a press briefing, the use of \u201cwitnesses with protected identities against them<\/strong>\u201d underscores a pattern of re-victimization and alleged staging that had already been denounced. This is not a mere institutional error but the expression of a justice system that, as Hassan Akram de La Voz de los Que Sobran<\/a><\/strong> argued regarding state racism in the investigation into Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s disappearance: \u201cThe judiciary hands down longer sentences to Mapuche people, and they also face discrimination in the workplace. The problem of two justice systems becomes evident in cases like this (Julia Chu\u00f1il).\u201d<\/p>\n\nRelated \/ \u201cThey burned her\u201d: Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s family confirmed that suspect Juan Carlos Morstadt revealed in a phone call what happened to his mother<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe disparity in treatment becomes glaring when compared with the case of former Venezuelan serviceman Ronald Ojeda. In that case, National Prosecutor \u00c1ngel Valencia held multiple press conferences, announcing milestones such as \u201con Monday we will be able to attribute direct participation to a group of 16 individuals<\/strong>.\u201d The investigation, publicly backed by Interior Minister Carolina Toh\u00e1\u2014who said the \u201cpolitically motivated thesis<\/strong>\u201d had support, as highlighted by Diario UChile on January 22, 2025<\/a>\u2014was the basis for formally submitting background to the International Criminal Court to create a \u201cjoint investigation team<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\nThe contrast could not be clearer. While the Ojeda case prompted the Foreign Ministry and the Prosecutor\u2019s Office to engage international forums\u2014including the global press\u2014the response from Prosecutor Valencia to the leaked audio in the Chu\u00f1il case was to open an \u201cinvestigation into the leak<\/strong>\u201d on October 2, reported Tele 13<\/a>.<\/p>\nHis statement that \u201cI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of that evidence<\/strong>\u201d and that what was published is a \u201cpartial and skewed account<\/strong>\u201d signals a clear priority: preserving the secrecy of the case rather than aggressively pursuing a lead that could clarify the victim\u2019s fate.<\/p>\nThe media blackout\u2014denounced by Ale Valle on La Voz de los que Sobran<\/a>: \u201cThe case of Julia Chu\u00f1il is silenced by corporate media, even though the Inter-American Court has already condemned the Chilean State for a racist and unjust justice system.\u201d<\/p>\nIn Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s case, corporate outlets appear to reinforce this hierarchy of victims. Coverage of the Ojeda investigation was massive and sustained, with police operations touted as \u201can important blow to a criminal organization<\/strong>.\u201d Meanwhile, Julia\u2019s disappearance\u2014despite prior threats from a landowner and repeated complaints by her family\u2014was treated as a local matter, without comparable urgency or resources, and its omission from the National Prosecutor\u2019s public report was categorical<\/a>. Not a single word about Julia Chu\u00f1il.<\/p>\nEven President Gabriel Boric\u2019s remarks on October 2, 2025\u2014calling for \u201cthe whole truth to be known, because in Chile there can be no room for impunity<\/strong>\u201d\u2014ring hollow against months of concrete inaction.<\/p>\nThe public statement from Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s family, dated September 30, 2025, is a cry of pain that encapsulates this injustice. With \u201cdeep sorrow in our hearts<\/strong>,\u201d they demand that the suspect be investigated and that \u201cthis person return Julia Chu\u00f1il Catricura to us<\/strong>.\u201d Their fight is not only to find their loved one, but to ensure her case is \u201cetched in history as a symbol of Mapuche struggle and resistance<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\nThe State\u2019s differential response in these two cases is not an anomaly; it is empirical evidence of institutionalized state racism. A system that mobilizes every national and international resource for a victim who fits a geopolitical narrative, while neglecting the case of a Mapuche woman whose environmental advocacy challenges local economic interests, cannot claim impartiality.<\/p>\n
Set against other cases of similar gravity, Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s disappearance exposes that Chile effectively operates two systems of justice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\nRelated \/ \u201cThe State Is Complicit\u201d: Mapuche Women\u2019s Network denounces institutional violence and demands truth, justice and reparation in the case of Julia Chu\u00f1il<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The most compelling evidence\u2014a wiretapped call in which the prime suspect, Juan Carlos Morstadt, says \u201cthey burned her<\/strong>\u201d\u2014has been treated with startling indifference by prosecutors, who have relegated this crucial lead to the background, according to the family\u2019s attorney, Karina Riquelme.<\/p>\n You may be interested \/ Julia Chu\u00f1il case: lawmakers summon Prosecutor Valencia, the PDI and Carabineros after reports of audios alluding to the burning of the body<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n While evidence against Morstadt is downplayed, the prosecutorial apparatus has veered the other way: criminalizing the victim\u2019s own family. As outlined at a press briefing, the use of \u201cwitnesses with protected identities against them<\/strong>\u201d underscores a pattern of re-victimization and alleged staging that had already been denounced. This is not a mere institutional error but the expression of a justice system that, as Hassan Akram de La Voz de los Que Sobran<\/a><\/strong> argued regarding state racism in the investigation into Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s disappearance: \u201cThe judiciary hands down longer sentences to Mapuche people, and they also face discrimination in the workplace. The problem of two justice systems becomes evident in cases like this (Julia Chu\u00f1il).\u201d<\/p>\n Related \/ \u201cThey burned her\u201d: Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s family confirmed that suspect Juan Carlos Morstadt revealed in a phone call what happened to his mother<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The disparity in treatment becomes glaring when compared with the case of former Venezuelan serviceman Ronald Ojeda. In that case, National Prosecutor \u00c1ngel Valencia held multiple press conferences, announcing milestones such as \u201con Monday we will be able to attribute direct participation to a group of 16 individuals<\/strong>.\u201d The investigation, publicly backed by Interior Minister Carolina Toh\u00e1\u2014who said the \u201cpolitically motivated thesis<\/strong>\u201d had support, as highlighted by Diario UChile on January 22, 2025<\/a>\u2014was the basis for formally submitting background to the International Criminal Court to create a \u201cjoint investigation team<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n The contrast could not be clearer. While the Ojeda case prompted the Foreign Ministry and the Prosecutor\u2019s Office to engage international forums\u2014including the global press\u2014the response from Prosecutor Valencia to the leaked audio in the Chu\u00f1il case was to open an \u201cinvestigation into the leak<\/strong>\u201d on October 2, reported Tele 13<\/a>.<\/p>\n His statement that \u201cI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of that evidence<\/strong>\u201d and that what was published is a \u201cpartial and skewed account<\/strong>\u201d signals a clear priority: preserving the secrecy of the case rather than aggressively pursuing a lead that could clarify the victim\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n The media blackout\u2014denounced by Ale Valle on La Voz de los que Sobran<\/a>: \u201cThe case of Julia Chu\u00f1il is silenced by corporate media, even though the Inter-American Court has already condemned the Chilean State for a racist and unjust justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n In Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s case, corporate outlets appear to reinforce this hierarchy of victims. Coverage of the Ojeda investigation was massive and sustained, with police operations touted as \u201can important blow to a criminal organization<\/strong>.\u201d Meanwhile, Julia\u2019s disappearance\u2014despite prior threats from a landowner and repeated complaints by her family\u2014was treated as a local matter, without comparable urgency or resources, and its omission from the National Prosecutor\u2019s public report was categorical<\/a>. Not a single word about Julia Chu\u00f1il.<\/p>\n Even President Gabriel Boric\u2019s remarks on October 2, 2025\u2014calling for \u201cthe whole truth to be known, because in Chile there can be no room for impunity<\/strong>\u201d\u2014ring hollow against months of concrete inaction.<\/p>\n The public statement from Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s family, dated September 30, 2025, is a cry of pain that encapsulates this injustice. With \u201cdeep sorrow in our hearts<\/strong>,\u201d they demand that the suspect be investigated and that \u201cthis person return Julia Chu\u00f1il Catricura to us<\/strong>.\u201d Their fight is not only to find their loved one, but to ensure her case is \u201cetched in history as a symbol of Mapuche struggle and resistance<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The State\u2019s differential response in these two cases is not an anomaly; it is empirical evidence of institutionalized state racism. A system that mobilizes every national and international resource for a victim who fits a geopolitical narrative, while neglecting the case of a Mapuche woman whose environmental advocacy challenges local economic interests, cannot claim impartiality.<\/p>\n Set against other cases of similar gravity, Julia Chu\u00f1il\u2019s disappearance exposes that Chile effectively operates two systems of justice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n