Fernando Rabat, the Ministro de Justicia y Derechos Humanos (Minister of Justice and Human Rights), said the government has not yet ruled on Juan Aliste Vega's request for a pardon. The former member of the Movimiento Lautaro (a Chilean armed leftist group) is serving a 42-year prison sentence for the 2007 killing of Carabineros (Chile's national police) Corporal Luis Moyano.
According to CNN Chile, Rabat told 24 Horas that he learned of the request from the press. "No decisions have been made at this time", he said. He explained that the letter is dated October 5 and will go through the usual process.
"Every citizen has the right of petition established in the Constitution and, therefore, has the right to request pardons," the minister added. He said his ministry reviews each request case by case.
Aliste Vega, 53, has terminal cancer and is serving his sentence in the prison hospital. In his letter to President José Antonio Kast, first reported by radio Biobío, he wrote: "It is not possible to know with certainty how much time I have left." He sent it after the Corte Suprema (Supreme Court) upheld the rejection of an appeal by his defense seeking to change how he serves his sentence.
The crime took place on October 18, 2007, after the robbery of a Banco Security branch in downtown Santiago. According to the Fiscalía Metropolitana Centro Norte (the regional prosecutor's office), Aliste Vega and another robber went to get a motorcycle parked nearby. There they ran into Moyano, who had been alerted to the robbery, and Aliste shot him with a revolver.
Sources differ on who was with Aliste at that moment. CNN Chile names Marcelo Villarroel, while Ex-Ante, citing the prosecution's indictment, identifies Freddy Fuentevilla Saa.
In July 2014, the Cuarto Tribunal Oral de Santiago (Fourth Oral Criminal Court of Santiago) convicted him. The sentence comprised 18 years for the killing of Moyano, 10 years for the attempted murder of Corporal Fernán Abarca and 14 years for the robberies of Banco Santander in Valparaíso and of Banco Security. In the latter robbery, the gang stole more than $22 million and US$3,400.
The case gained political weight through unexpected support. The secretary general of the Partido Republicano (Republican Party), Vicente Bruna, backed the humanitarian pardon on X. "We believe that the terrorist and former Lautaro member Aliste Vega, who today suffers from terminal cancer, should be pardoned so he can serve his sentence at home," he wrote.
Bruna attached a condition to that support. He argued that members of the Armed Forces and Forces of Order with serious health conditions should also be pardoned, including those convicted of crimes under the dictatorship. According to Ex-Ante, the party's leadership and political committee discussed the position.
Earlier, Republican deputy Cristián Araya, chair of the Security committee of the Cámara (Chamber of Deputies), had written that Aliste has the "right to die with his family." His colleague Juan Irarrázaval also supported the request.
The stance opened an internal rift. Deputy Macarena Santelices rejected using the case as a "bargaining chip." She then announced her resignation from Republicanos and her move as an independent to the caucus of the UDI, a party she had previously belonged to.
Rabat did not clarify whether the government will pardon military personnel convicted of human rights violations. Kast has not given any signals either. In September he told Radio Agricultura that a pardon is "a power held by the President" and that the background of each case must be analyzed. Aliste's request remains under review at the Ministerio de Justicia, with no known deadline for a response.