Just days after taking office, it was revealed that the next Minister of Agriculture of the government of Gabriel Boric, Esteban Valenzuela (FRVS) will have to face justice after being accused of the crime of rape.
As reported by the newspaper ThirdValenzuela must go on March 22 to appear before the First Court of First Instance and Guarantee of Peumo, due to a complaint filed by businessman Nicolás del Río Silva in July 2020.
In the legal action, it is explained that on June 19 of that year, Valenzuela illegally entered a field belonging to the Agrícola Tralcán SpA company, generating an altercation with the caretaker of the property.
There, the local official asked for explanations for his presence. Valenzuela responded with threats: “I am the former mayor of Rancagua… I’m going to put you in jail, huh… And your whole family is going to go to hell…”.
According to the narration, the complainant indicates that the defendant acted with intimidation, since “he was wasting a strong alcoholic breath” that would have been corroborated by the police officer who arrived at the place.
In this case, the Public Ministry has already closed the investigation and filed a request for a simplified trial against him, due to the low sentence that the accused risks.
Party gives support
The FRVS, through a public statement, expressed its support for Valenzuela in the face of what, in its opinion, is a campaign to prevent the arrival in the Ministry of Agriculture of a person who “fights against monoculture and the agroecological damage of great businessmen”.
“The Tralcán company, and those who support it, do not cease in their attempt to hinder the arrival of an environmental defender at the Ministry of Agriculture, who managed to stop the illegal logging of native forests in the center of the country. A setback that torpedoed the effort of this extractivist company, which does not stop when it comes to pursuing profit,” they indicate.
Regarding the video, the Federation stated that Valenzuela, “in his role as president of the environmental NGO Bosques Para Cachapoal, was alerted by the president of the Las Cabras Rural Drinking Water Committee about the serious situation that occurred on the El Chivato hill in Quilicura; there, the Tralcán company had cut down 40 hectares of centuries-old native forest, making use of a permit given by CONAF, without the slightest adherence to the law.
“The former parliamentarian entered the neighborhood road of the sector, which was not fenced, and his vehicle was blocked by personnel from the Tralcán company who prevented him from circulating for 45 minutes. In this context, there was a verbal altercation with an employee of the owners of the land,” the store said.
In the statement, the FRVS also charged that, “since the appointment of Esteban Valenzuela as Minister of Agriculture by President-elect Gabriel Boric, publications have appeared on social networks and the media that seek to tarnish his career, appealing to the accusations that became a great owner of land in the Quilicura sector in Las Cabras”.
“Shortly after Esteban Valenzuela takes office as minister, we believe that Chile has a great opportunity to defend the countryside, forests, water and natural resources from abuse. Chile deserves and demands that we think about growth without mortgaging nature or our future,” sentenced the regional store.
