Alejandro Castro (activist)

Alejandro Alberto Castro Castro (20 September 1988 – 4 October 2018)[1] was a Chilean environmental activist. His death, officially reported as a suicide, has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories.

Alejandro Castro
Born
Alejandro Alberto Castro Castro

(1988-09-20)September 20, 1988
San Bernardo, Chile
DiedOctober 4, 2018(2018-10-04) (aged 30)
Valparaíso, Chile
Cause of deathSuicide (disputed)
Other names'El Mecha'

Biography

Alejandro Castro was born and raised in San Bernardo by his mother, Alejandra Castro Romo, and his grandmother, Beatriz Romo. In his youth, he studied at the Ñuñoa N°7 School and at the Santa María School in Las Condes. He got involved in politics at a young age, organizing his first school rally in 2006.[1] He met his first partner, Maryam "Mandy" Jara, in 2007. On the first of April of that year, he was integrated into the military service in Punta Arenas. Castro and his partner had their only son, Benjamín León Castro Jara, on July 7, 2009.

In 2014, he became a fisherman and moved to Quintero, distancing him from his son and partner. There, he became deeply involved in political activism and had another partner, Polet Urrutia, with whom he had his only daughter, Giuliana Castro Urrutia, who was born in 2016 and died a few months later.[1] During his period as an activist, he organized various public protests for the environmental cause.[2]

Death

Several months before his death, he had allegedly suffered from an "undiagnosed condition" that was never treated medically, which caused him to suffer from depression and alcoholism. According to several witnesses, he had previously tried to commit suicide twice.[3]

During the morning of October 3, 2018, Castro, along with several Quintero leaders, went to a national protest called by the teachers' union. When he returned, he drank "several liters" of beer and got into a fight with his partner, who boarded a bus to Concón. Now alone, Castro walked towards a subway line. He arrived just before 00:30 in the morning, the time where he supposedly hanged himself. He had a backpack on at the time of his death.[4]

Investigation

Although the Chilean Carabineros and the Investigations Police of Chile dismissed the idea that he was murdered, Castro's family insisted that they had received death threats in the previous days, which led to an investigation by the director general of the PDI, Héctor Espinosa.[5] There were no external marks present on his body.[6] A friend of Castro, Carolina Orellana, said that an unidentified policeman had screamed to him during a protest "Alejandro Castro, we have you identified!"[6] and that "They wanted to put him in jail for no reason".[6]

He suffered direct threats from officials of the Valparaíso Seventh Commissioner which came all the way to Quintero. All that happened after the second protest, which took place on September 23. We are doubtful for the same reasons. Those close to him hope to know what were the real causes of his death from official sources.

— Carolina Orellana, [6]

Legacy

His funeral was organized on October 7 in the Municipal Cemetery of Quintero.[7] During the commemoration, his mother commented:

I don't know if a [separate] person killed him. I don't know what really happened.

— Alejandra Castro, [8]

After his death, his figure became a symbol of the environmental struggle in Chile. Over the next following days, various protests were organized in his honor.[9] His death has also been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories, which suggest that the state of Chile killed him or was involved in his death.[10] He has also been compared to Macarena Valdés, another environmental activist who died under mysterious circumstances.[11]

References
  1. Miranda, Benjamín (2019-03-21). "El suicidio de Alejandro Castro" [The suicide of Alejandro Castro]. The Clinic (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  2. Batarce, Catalina (2018-10-05). "Encuentran muerto a líder de manifestaciones de Quintero y Puchuncaví" [Leader of manifestations in Quintero y Puchuncaví found dead]. La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  3. "Alejandro Castro se suicidó: Reportaje de The Clinic desmiente tesis de homicidio del dirigente de Quintero". CNN Chile (in Spanish). 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  4. "Líder de protestas por contaminación en Quintero y Puchuncaví fue encontrado muerto" [Leader of protests against contamination in Quintero and Punchuncaví was found dead]. CNN Chile (in Spanish). 2018-10-05. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  5. Batarce, Catalina (2018-10-05). "Director de la PDI confirma que activista de Quintero encontrado muerto había sido amenazado" [Director of the PDI confirms that activist from Quintero found dead had been threatened]. La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  6. Batarce, Catalina (2018-10-05). ""Alejandro Castro, te tenemos fichado": La presunta amenaza que habrían hecho funcionarios de Carabineros según cercanos al activista" ["Alejandro Castro, we have you identified": The supposed threat done by Carabinero officials according to people close to the activist]. La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  7. "VIDEO | Funeral de Alejandro Castro, dirigente social y sindical, asesinado por su lucha en Quintero" [VIDEO | Funeral of Alejandro Castro, social dirigent and syndicalist, killed for his fight in Quintero]. Convergencia Medios (in Spanish). 2018-10-07. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  8. "INDH presenta denuncia a la fiscalía por muerte de pescador" [INDH presents complaint for the death of a fisher]. La Tercera (in Spanish). 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  9. van der Spek, Boris (2018-10-08). "Protests in Quintero over death of environmental activist". Chile Today. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  10. "A dos años de la muerte ¿Qué pasó con Alejandro Castro?" [Two years after his death, What happened with Alejandro Castro?]. Diario Clever (in Spanish). 2020-10-05. Archived from the original on 2021-03-06. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  11. Segovia, Macarena (2018-10-12). "La sospechosa muerte de Alejandro Castro y la vulnerabilidad de los activistas ambientales" [The suspicious death of Alejandro Castro and the vulnerability of environmental activists]. El Mostrador (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-04-05.
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