COLUMN | General Baquedano, the Unknown Soldier, and the Army of Chile

If we want them to be under the custody of the Army of Chile, Plaza Baquedano would necessarily have to be assigned to the General Command of the Metropolitan Military Garrison, just as the Altar of the Fatherland is where the remains of O’Higgins rest.

The issue of the statue of General Baquedano and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier is not easy to address in Chile, as it reminds us of the disorder and public destruction that occurred from October 2019 until the end of Sebastián Piñera’s second term, a government that some commend for defending democracy, while others accuse it of not acting firmly in defense of the rule of law.

The topic has been in the news and has become more complicated than necessary due to the unclear actions of the National Monuments Council (CMN) in this matter, as well as due to statements and interviews from the former Commander in Chief of the Army from March 2018 to March 2022. 

General (r) Martínez recommends that Baquedano and his horse Diamante be placed alongside Carrera and O’Higgins, without indicating what would happen to the Unknown Soldier, but I assume he would end up resting at the Altar of the Fatherland. Currently, the former is in the military museum and the latter in the Buin regiment.

Legally, the way the Government removed them from Plaza Baquedano was for restoration, due to the damage they had suffered during the attacks, especially the one that occurred in March 2021. This issue complicates governments; it is a hot potato that no one wants to resolve because it generates passions on both sides, even denial that these events occurred during that time.

From a legal perspective, some insist that their relocation to another site is a matter of law and not an authority of the CMN, as it was by Law 4328 that the tomb and monument were financed and located in Plaza Bustamante.

Some are awaiting statements from the current Commander in Chief of the Army, General Iturriaga, not understanding that in this matter the Army can be consulted, but it is not a matter on which they can decide. It is a matter that the CMN must resolve, and they know it, and it is a matter in which I do not see the military command sacrificing itself after witnessing the reactions of the political world in 2021, when the Army expressed its opinion on the matter. 

Obviously, a good portion of Chileans, nearly four years after the events, want them to return to their original place, a location where the general, soldier, and horse rested for almost 100 years. Not doing so would be to accept or grant victory to the vandals who attacked them before and after the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

If we want them to be under the custody of the Army of Chile, Plaza Baquedano would necessarily have to be assigned to the General Command of the Metropolitan Military Garrison, just as the Altar of the Fatherland is where the remains of O’Higgins rest, or as is the case in Valparaíso with the Naval Heroes Monument, which is under the custody of the Chilean Navy, allowing it to defend the monument when it was under threat.

Some would find it audacious to transfer the custody of Plaza Baquedano to the Army, but in my case, I see it as a good idea and something that would surely prevent that location from continuing to be the epicenter of public disorder in Santiago. Moreover, it would transfer the custody of all military monuments, as Chilean military heroes are more than just O’Higgins, Carrera, and Baquedano. It is no coincidence that we have a bicentennial Army that is always victorious and never defeated.

Let us see what the CMN decides, and I hope they do not find or invent an urbanistic reason to remove them from there, or that the political system does not yield to the temptation of seeking an easy way out, such as keeping them where they currently are.

The memory of those who granted us military victories in the War of the Pacific deserves dignity and gratitude. They are represented by the general who led us to the main victories and by a Chilean soldier who gave his life for Chile in the northern deserts.

Baquedano and the Unknown Soldier are not responsible for what occurred in the recent past, nor are they responsible for the current atmosphere of political tension. They deserve fair treatment commensurate with their merits and sacrifices.