After 17 years fugitive, the former Cartdote Juan José Santana Trinidad (51) He was arrested this Friday at his home in the city of Salto, Uruguay, thanks to an operation coordinated by Interpol and the Bolivian Prosecutor’s Office. The religious is accused of having sexually abused at least 30 Quechuas children from the boarding school “Monsignor Ángel Gelmí” of Tapacarí, Cochabamba, between 2005 and 2007.
The State Attorney General (FGE) confirmed the capture and announced that the procedures have already begun to request extradition. “The prosecutor assigned to the investigation requested the red notification to Interpol (…) Likewise, all the corresponding procedures were already initiated to execute the extradition of the union to respond in the country for the complaints against him,” said the head of International Affairs of the FGE, María Luisa Herrera.
The facts came to light in 2007, when A religious discovered the abuses in the boarding school and the minors themselves denounced Santana. That year, the then Archbishop of Cochabamba, Tito Solari, publicly recognized that “one of our priests has committed abuses in one of our boarding schools,” he apologized and promised psychological support to the victims. However, by then the defendant had already fled to Uruguay, where he remained hidden until his capture.
In his history, Santana came to partially admit the facts. In 2010, the newspaper La República de Chile found him at his home in Salto and asked about the accusations; The formerSacerte replied: “They are true. It is what I can tell you; you know one thing, I am dead.” However, in later interviews, as in 2023 with The duty, opted for silence: “I am shattered. The only thing I can tell you is that. ”
The case involves 72 internal minors, between 6 and 17 years old, of which at least 30 were identified as direct victims of abuse. Surviving organizations recalled that this modus operandi was repeated in other internships such as Pojo, Charagua and Tacata, which shows a pattern of impunity and cover -up.
The formerSacerte faces positions for rape, rape in a state of unconsciousness and sexual abuse with aggravating. In 2011 the Catholic Church formally withdrew the clerical state, although it never underwent a criminal process in Bolivia.
The Bolivian community of clerical abuse survivors said will support the efforts for immediate extradition. “This is a key step for victims, today adults, to access truth and justice after almost two decades,” they said in a statement.
With Santana’s apprehension, Justice BolivianTo face now the challenge of taking him before the courts and guarantee comprehensive repair processes for survivors.
