Den chilenske hær / Chilean Army
The Chilean Army has long enjoyed a reputation as a creditable military force. Although it had not fought a war against a foreign enemy since the War of the Pacific, the army is still well regarded by armed forces throughout Latin America. The army divides the country into seven military areas (AMs) headquartered in Antofagasta, Santiago, Concepción, Valdivia, Punta Arenas, Iquique, and Coihaique.
A 1992 political espionage case involved a cellular telephone conversation recorded and subsequently played on a national television program, destroying two candidates' presidential campaigns. The army acknowledged that an army captain had "misused" its espionage equipment to record a private conversation and leak it to the media. The Supreme Court ruled that the law on telephone intercepts only covered conversations carried on wire, not on cellular telephones, and ordered the defendants freed of all charges. The military courts punished the army captain only for neglect of duty, but he was discharged from the army in November 1993.
Sources and Resources
- Ejercito de Chile Official Homepage
- >Ejercito de Chile Official Homepage - English Edition
