Latin America is perhaps the most "revolutionary" continent. In any case, in the ordinary consciousness, it is the Latin American countries that are associated with revolutionary romance - endless revolutions and military coups, guerrilla wars, peasant uprisings. In most Latin American countries, a significant part of the population still lives in rural areas, and the crime situation, due to colossal social stratification and economic problems, remains very tense. Therefore, it is here, like nowhere else, that the role played by paramilitary units carrying out police service is relevant. Structures similar to the Russian Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs exist in many Latin American countries. One of the most famous such structures outside Latin America is the Chilean Carabinieri Corps. In Chile, as in Italy, the gendarme units are called "carabinieri". Once this was the name of cavalrymen armed with carbines, but in the modern world, a carabinieri is a fighter who carries out public order and other police functions. The Italian carabinieri are best known, but the paramilitary police of Chile bear the same name.
From the "night watch" to the Carabinieri Corps
The history of Chile's paramilitary units, designed to maintain public order, dates back to the colonial era, when the territory of modern Chile was part of the Spanish colony - the Captaincy General of Chile. As early as 1758, the divisions of the night watch were created - "Queen's Dragoons", which in 1812 were renamed "Chilean Dragoons". Dragoons performed the functions of law enforcement in rural areas. In 1818, as a result of a long war against the metropolis, Chile proclaimed its independence. The young country also needed an effective law enforcement system. In 1881, the Rural Police was established to maintain public order and combat crime and insurgency in the countryside. In 1896, the Financial Police was created to carry out law enforcement activities in the cities of Chile. However, the main problem of these structures remained their high dependence on local authorities, which created fertile ground for corruption, abuse of power and the possibility of using police units by local authorities in their own interests. In addition, the rural and financial police were distinguished by low combat effectiveness, and at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. in Chile, there was a growing need for a militarized unit capable of suppressing the actions of the Indians in the troubled province of Araucania. Therefore, it was decided to create the Carabinieri Corps under the command of Captain Pedro Hernan Trisano. In 1903, the Carabinieri Corps, which performed the functions of the gendarmerie in the countryside, was merged with the created police regiment. In 1908, the Carabinieri School was established to train the rank and file and non-commissioned officers of the police units.
The decision to create the Chilean Carabinieri Corps in its present form was made on April 27, 1927 by the Vice-President of Chile, Colonel Carlos Ibanez del Campo. Colonel del Campo, who was Chile's interior minister before the coup, was well aware of the need to create a paramilitary police force. Having made the decision to create the Carabinieri Corps, he united the rural police, financial police and gendarmerie units in one structure. Management of the Chilean Carabinieri Corps was centralized, and military discipline was established in all units. Operationally, the Carabinieri Corps was subordinate to the Chilean Ministry of the Interior. The decision to create the Carabinieri Corps also had political motives - Colonel del Campo feared a possible military coup, so he wanted to have "at hand" militarized formations independent of the army, capable, if necessary, to protect the president from the rebels. Throughout Chile's modern history, the Carabinieri Corps has performed numerous tasks to uphold the rule of law and preserve the existing political order in the country. In July 1931, the Carabinieri participated in the suppression of popular uprisings against the policies of Ibanez del Campo. The economic crisis in the country caused by the Great Depression led to sharp discontent with the policies of the Chilean government. As a result of the dispersal of one of the demonstrations, the Carabinieri killed the therapist Jaime Pinto Riesco, and after attending Pinto's funeral, Professor Alberto Campino was killed. Political killings only exacerbated discontent with Ibáñez del Campo's policies and contributed to a loss of confidence in the Carabinieri, who were perceived only as "servants of the regime." After the Ibáñez government fell on July 26, 1931, and the president himself fled to Spain, the revolutionary authorities temporarily suspended the activities of the Carabinieri Corps. Responsibilities for maintaining public order and maintaining the rule of law were entrusted to the country's armed forces and the Civil Guard, a volunteer formation that included volunteers from among citizens who are not associated with the military and police service.
In early June 1932, a group of revolutionary-minded soldiers led by Colonel Marmaduke Grove seized power in Chile and proclaimed the country the Socialist Republic of Chile. Marmaduke Grove, one of the fathers of the Chilean military aviation, adhered to radical left political convictions and fell into disgrace more than once for them. However, in 1931, Carlos Ibanez del Campo, who, incidentally, was Grove's classmate at the military school, reinstated the disgraced officer in the Chilean Air Force and appointed him commander of the air force base in El Bosque. Taking advantage of his position and enlisting the support of Air Force officers and part of the capital's garrison, Marmaduke Grove carried out a military coup, which was, in fact, revolutionary in nature. Colonel Grove set the task of freeing the Chilean economy from the dominance of foreign, primarily American and British companies, intended to introduce, in addition to private, also state and collective property, to amnesty political prisoners, to confiscate vacant land and distribute it among landless peasants. Soviets of workers' and peasants' deputies began to be formed in the localities, and the seizure of landowners' lands and enterprises began. At the National University of Chile, students formed the Council of Student Deputies. In these conditions, the United States and Great Britain, frightened of a socialist coup, refused to recognize the government of Marmaduke Grove and provided financial and organizational opportunities for his opponents to carry out a new coup. With American and British money, Carlos Davila staged a new military coup and overthrew Marmaduca Grove, who was exiled to Easter Island. In the suppression of the socialist republic, the police units, which remained a reliable support of the right-wing conservative military-political elite of Chile, also played an active role.
At the end of December 1932President Arturo Alessandri decided to separate the functions of the carabinieri and the criminal police. From that time on, the carabinieri ceased to carry out investigative and operational actions, and the police began to exist separately from the Corps. In June-July 1934, the police suppressed a communist-led peasant uprising, and in 1938 the police killed 59 prisoners, after which the general director of the police, Umberto Valdivieso Arriagada, was forced to resign. In the meantime, the effectiveness of the internal organization of the Chilean police was increasing. In 1939, the Higher Police Institute was established, and in 1945, the Police Hospital. In 1960, an air police brigade was created, now called the Prefecture of Air Carabinieri and performing the functions of protecting aviation communications. In 1962, women were allowed to join the Carabinieri Corps. In 1966, the station of the Carabinieri Corps was opened on the famous Easter Island belonging to the Chilean Republic.
General Cesar Mendoza. Carabinieri and the Pinochet regime
The Carabinieri Corps took an active part in the 1973 military coup and the overthrow of the country's legitimate President Augusto Pinochet. At this time, the Corps was commanded by General Cesar Mendoza Duran, who sided with the junta and joined the Military Government as a representative of the Carabinieri Corps. Cesar Mendoza (1918-1996) is an outstanding figure in the history of the Chilean carabinieri. The son of a teacher and pianist, in 1938 he was drafted into the army, and in 1940 he entered the Carabinieri School and after graduation in 1942 began serving in the Carabinieri Corps as an officer.
At the same time, Cesar Mendoza was actively involved in equestrian sports and represented Chile at the Pan American Games in 1951. Then the 33-year-old officer won a gold medal, and in the next 1952 he received a silver medal at the Olympic Games in a team competition. Despite his age for sports, Mendoza, and in 1959, at the age of 41, received a bronze medal in dressage and a gold medal in team dressage at the next Pan American Games. In 1970, 52-year-old Cesar Mendoza was promoted to General of the Carabinieri Corps, and in 1972 he became Inspector General of the Carabinieri Corps. Before preparing a military coup aimed at overthrowing the government of Salvador Allende, Inspector General Mendoza held the second most important post in the Carabinieri Corps. The corps commander, Director General José Maria Sepúlveda, was on the side of Allende, so Pinochet begged Mendoza to represent the Carabinieri Corps and ensure his participation in the coup. Indeed, without the support of the carabinieri, whose numbers and combat readiness were comparable to the "combat" component of the country's ground forces, a military coup risked failure. Cesar Mendoza, who adhered to the right convictions, agreed with Pinochet's proposal, especially since it opened up obvious career prospects for him - to become the first person in the Carabinieri Corps. Mendoza was named Acting Director General of the Carabinieri Corps, removing General Sepúlveda from his post. By the way, Salvador Allende, in his last radio speech before his death, personally mentioned General Cesar Mendoza, accusing him of high treason and complicity in the rebellion. In 1985, after a scandal over the kidnapping and murder of three activists from the Chilean Communist Party, General Mendoza was forced to resign. He took up social activities, founded a private university and a charitable organization to help children. For his crimes during the reign of Pinochet, the leader of the Carabinieri was never brought to justice. He lived safely to old age and died at the age of 78 in the hospital of the Carabinieri Corps. In 1974, the Carabinieri Corps was reassigned to the Chilean Ministry of National Defense. So Pinochet sought to strengthen his influence on the carabinieri, and at the same time to raise their social and financial status, since the funding of the Ministry of National Defense was carried out at a high level. The Chilean Carabinieri Corps remained subordinate to the Ministry of Defense until 2011.
Like other units, the carabinieri took part in massacres of activists of the Chilean left organizations and sympathizers. For example, Jose Muñoz Herman Salazar, who served with the rank of sub-officer, was involved in the disappearance of five people, apparently killed during extrajudicial killings. The surviving participants and eyewitnesses of the events of 1973 tell about the active participation of the carabinieri in mass repressions against the left opposition and, in general, all Chileans who could be suspected of supporting the Allende regime. 1970s - 1980s The Carabinieri Corps was the main force involved in the fight against the guerrilla movements operating in the mountainous terrain. From the territory of Argentina, groups of militants of the Left Revolutionary Movement (MIR) penetrated into Chile, making regular attacks on police stations, army barracks, carabinieri posts, prisons, and administrative institutions. In 1983, the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (PFMR) was created, in which the Communists played a leading role. Since 1987, attacks on carabinieri patrols have become systematic. The leading role in the partisan war against the Pinochet regime was played by three left-wing radical movements - the Patriotic Front. Manuel Rodriguez (PFMR), the Left Revolutionary Movement (MIR) and the Lautaro Youth Movement. Despite the measures taken and the constant tightening of the police regime, the carabinieri were unable to suppress the armed resistance of the partisans, who enjoyed the support of the local population. In 1988, guerrilla groups began to attack the facilities of American companies in Chile, as a result of which the latter suffered heavy financial losses. In response, Pinochet demanded more and more active assistance from the United States to fight the partisans. Ultimately, since the practical need for a military dictatorship was gradually disappearing (by 1989, the Soviet Union finally got on the "rails of perestroika", respectively, and the influence of communist ideology in Latin America significantly decreased, especially in relation to the practical sphere), the American leadership recommended Augusto Pinochet to hold a plebiscite on the further expediency of maintaining the military regime. Pinochet lost this plebiscite.
After the resignation of General Mendoza in 1985, the Carabinieri Corps was headed by General Rodolfo Stanje Olkers (born 1925), one of the oldest living Chilean statesmen and military leaders. Descendant of German émigrés, Rodolfo Stanche 1945-1947 served in one of the elite units of the Chilean army, and then, in 1947-1949. studied at the School of Carabinieri and was released from there with the rank of lieutenant. During his long service Stanhe visited many cities of the country and even trained in Germany. In 1972-1978. he headed the Chilean Academy of Police Sciences, and in 1978, having received the rank of general, was appointed curator of the police education system in the country. In 1983, General Stanhe was appointed deputy commander of the Carabinieri Corps for operational work. Stanje fully supported the dictatorial regime of Pinochet and advocated the maintenance of a tough police order in the country. In 1985-1995. he led the Chilean Carabinieri Corps, pursuing active measures to modernize the service and increase the efficiency of the Carabinieri. Despite his active participation in the Pinochet junta, even after the establishment of a democratic regime, Stanje did not bear responsibility and did not stop his political career. In 1997 he was elected to the Chilean Senate. In 2007They tried to prosecute the elderly general in the case of the murder of two leftist activists, but the case did not come to court. In 2012 Stanhe was awarded the Big Star "Honor and Tradition". The ninety-year-old general still has great influence in the Carabinieri Corps and acts as an expert and consultant, his opinion is listened to by the current serving generals and senior officers of the Carabinieri Corps.
For the Carabinieri Corps, the years of the reign of Pinochet and his military junta were a heyday. Almost immediately after coming to power, Pinochet made a kind of shift in priorities in the financing of the Chilean armed forces. If before the coup, the main financial flows were directed to equipping the navy and the air force, then already in 1974, after the Carabinieri Corps joined the Chilean Ministry of National Defense, the main attention was paid to financing and organizational modernization of the Carabinieri. Pinochet was far more concerned with maintaining internal order and fighting the opposition than equipping an armed force focused on opposing an external enemy. Therefore, the carabinieri have become a privileged branch of the armed forces. As part of the Carabinieri Corps, the Information Department, the Telecommunications Department and the Intelligence Department were created to serve as special services. Also, much attention was paid to equipping the carabinieri with the latest weapons and equipment, improving the qualifications of officers and non-commissioned officers. The number of ground forces and the Carabinieri Corps during the years of Pinochet's rule almost doubled the number of the naval and air forces of Chile. The funding of the Carabinieri Corps spent the same amount of money as funding the ground forces and naval forces combined, since Pinochet, who feared revolutionary unrest and guerrilla warfare, believed that in this situation, the special services, police and paramilitaries responsible for maintaining public security. For a more effective suppression of possible popular uprisings and the fight against partisan formations that fought the Pinochet regime, the Carabinieri Corps was armed with light tanks and artillery. It is noteworthy that even after the first post-Pinochet democratic government of Chile came to power, the activities of the Carabinieri Corps were not subjected to total reform. Almost all the senior officers of the Corps remained in their places, and the number of carabinieri was not reduced - they also numbered 30 thousand people. It was even planned to increase the number of personnel of the Corps by another 4 thousand servicemen - to increase the effectiveness of the fight against terrorism, radical groups and crime. It should be noted that the carabinieri are still actively involved in punitive measures against the Chilean opposition, especially against street demonstrations organized by local left and radical left movements. During the years of Pinochet's rule, the Carabinieri actively collaborated with similar units and special services of many other Latin American states under the influence of the United States. The United States provided Chile with substantial support in organizing the professional training of the carabinieri, some of the Corps officers were sent to study and internship at the US military educational institutions.
Modern structure and function of the Carabinieri Corps
At present, since August 2015, General Bruno Villalobos Arnoldo Krumm is the General Director of the Carabinieri Corps. He was born in 1959, entered in 1979 and graduated from the Carabinieri School in 1981 with the rank of lieutenant, after which he was assigned to a special forces group, served in the Chilean Palace Guard. In 2006 g.he headed the Security Department of Chilean President Michel Bachelet, then in 2008 he headed the intelligence department of the Carabinieri Corps, in 2012 he was appointed head of the state border guard and special services. In 2014, he was promoted to the rank of Inspector General, and was also appointed responsible for the activities of the newly created Department of Intelligence and Criminal Research. On 11 August 2015, General Bruno Krumm was appointed General Manager of the Chilean Carabinieri Corps.
According to Chilean law, the purpose of the Carabinieri Corps is to ensure and maintain public order and public safety throughout the country. The Chilean government sets the following tasks for the Chilean Carabinieri Corps: 1) prevention of crime and provision of conditions for the peaceful development of society, 2) ensuring public order and compliance with court decisions, 3) informing the population about laws and the need for their implementation, about existing threats and risks, emergency situations, 4) rescue work, assistance to emergency services, especially in hard-to-reach places, 5) social security for victims of natural disasters and crimes, 6) protection of the state border and maintenance of functions of state power in remote areas and settlements, 7) environmental protection … The Chilean Carabinieri Corps is governed by a Directorate General, which reports to prefectures, departments and schools. Employees of the Carabinieri Corps are not allowed to belong to trade unions and political parties, as well as any associations and organizations whose activities are contrary to the Constitution of the Chilean Republic and the law on the police. Since the Carabinieri Corps is a paramilitary structure, it has established military discipline and military ranks. Currently, the system of military ranks in the Carabinieri Corps is as follows: privates, sergeants and non-commissioned officers - 1) carabinier-cadet 2) carabinier 3) second corporal 4) first corporal 5) second sergeant 6) first sergeant 7) sub-officer 8) senior sub-officer; officers - 1) graduate student-officer 2) junior lieutenant 3) lieutenant 4) captain 5) major 6) lieutenant colonel 7) colonel 8) general 9) general inspector 10) general director. According to the ranks, the insignia of the Carabinieri Corps were also installed.
The training of the personnel of the Chilean Carabinieri Corps is carried out at the General Ibanez del Campo Carabinieri School. Here cadets receive the necessary skills of military training, hand-to-hand combat, the basics of legal knowledge. Non-commissioned officers of the Carabinieri Corps are trained at the School of Sub-officers of the Carabinieri Corps of Chile. This is an analogue of the Russian school of warrant officers - those who apply for the title of subofficer of the Carabinieri Corps (warrant officer) study here and must acquire the appropriate skills to serve in a position that provides for the possibility of conferring the title of subofficer. The best carabinieri are selected for the School of subofficers, who have shown themselves on the positive side when serving. After completing the training course, graduates of the school receive the qualification of "senior specialist in the field of prevention and criminal investigation", as well as acquire specializations - police intelligence, administrative practice, and the fight against drug trafficking. As for the officer corps of the Carabinieri Corps, he is undergoing training at the Academy of Police Sciences, the completion of which gives the right to exercise command of units and count in the future, in terms of length of service and official correspondence, to receive the rank of Colonel of the Carabinieri. The Chilean Police Academy is considered one of the best in Latin America. At various times, officers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Spain, Italy, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, El Salvador, France, Ecuador, South Korea were trained here. In 1987, the academy was renamed the Higher Police Institute, educational buildings were reorganized, new laboratories were created. In 1998, the Higher Police Institute was renamed the Academy of Police Sciences of the Carabinieri Corps. Upon graduation from the academy, they are awarded the qualifications of "intendant-controller" and the degrees of "bachelor of senior police leadership" and "bachelor of senior public finance management". In addition, the academy has its own educational programs to improve the qualifications of police specialists.
The Chilean Carabinieri Corps includes a number of specialized units, which we will discuss below. The special purpose prefecture is designed to disperse demonstrations and street protests, is highly mobile and prepared to perform its functions anywhere in the world. In addition to suppressing riots, the prefecture is responsible for maintaining public order during natural disasters and emergencies, ensuring public order in the area of the La Moneda presidential palace, and protecting the highest bodies of state power. The Prefecture of Peacekeeping Operations is responsible for supporting the Carabinieri Corps within the relevant United Nations structures. The central communications of the Carabinieri Corps are responsible for information support of the department's activities and for prompt response to requests from citizens and organizations for assistance in emergency situations, performing the functions of the duty service of the Carabinieri Corps. The Special Police Operations Carabinieri group is designed to operate in high-risk environments. It is faced with the tasks of detecting and neutralizing explosives, conducting raids against criminal groups, and releasing hostages. The group was created on June 7, 1979 to provide military support for police events and rapid response to emergencies, primarily to the actions of the left-wing armed organizations that intensified the struggle against the Pinochet regime in 1980. The most professional and trained carabinieri who passed a special preparation. Together with the group, special patrols operate, which are engaged in covering and protecting citizens during anti-terrorist operations by force. The group's fighters undergo training in explosives disposal, rescue in the mountains and on the water, parachuting, scuba diving, medical training, hand-to-hand combat, shooting from all types of weapons, and tactics in urban settings. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Division and the Traffic Investigation Division are designed to regulate traffic and investigate the causes of aviation and automobile accidents. The Research Department carries out orders from the judiciary to ensure their activities. The Air Police Prefecture specializes in evacuating casualties from hard-to-reach places, in adverse weather conditions, ensuring security in air transport, and air patrolling. The Crime Laboratory is a forensic unit that collects evidence and evidence, analyzes it and presents it in court.
Palace Guard - Chilean "presidential regiment"
One of the most elite, interesting and famous units that make up the Chilean Carabinieri Corps is the Chilean Palace Guard. This is a kind of "visiting card" not only of the Carabinieri, but of Chile as a state, since the unit performs the ceremonial functions of the guard of honor, and also serves to protect the La Moneda Palace - the presidential residence, as well as the building of the National Congress and the Cerro Castillo Palace (the latter the object is guarded by the Palace Guard only while the head of state is on its territory). In addition, the Palace Guard ensures the personal safety of the President of Chile, former presidents of Chile, and foreign heads of state arriving in the country on an official visit.
The history of the Palace Guard began in 1851, when the then President of Chile, Manuel Bulnes Prieto, ordered the formation of a special paramilitary unit to guard the presidential palace of La Moneda. This unit was named the "Guard of Santiago". For some time, cadets of the carabinieri school and the cavalry school, the army school of the signal troops also carried out the service to protect the palace. Until 1927, the Guard of the Government Palace was part of the Chilean army, and then was reassigned to the Carabinieri Corps. In 1932, a police machine-gun detachment was formed as part of the Chilean police, including a captain, four lieutenants and 200 police officers who were on duty to guard the presidential palace. Currently, women - carabinieri have also got the opportunity to serve in the Palace Guard, in connection with which appropriate changes were made to the uniforms of the guardsmen - "female" versions of the ceremonial and everyday uniforms of the Palace Guard of Chile have appeared. In addition to guarding the presidential palace of La Moneda, the Palace Guard also provides security for the Chilean National Congress in Valparaiso. Naturally, the most trained and worthy carabinieri, non-commissioned officers and officers are selected for the Palace Guard.
Gendarmerie Chile
The story about the paramilitary police forces of Chile will not be complete without mentioning the Chilean gendarmerie. In addition to the Carabinieri Corps, Chile has another military-police structure - the Chilean Gendarmerie. However, since the Carabinieri Corps performs most of the functions that other countries have assigned to the gendarmerie units in Chile, the tasks assigned to the Chilean Gendarmerie are limited to the duties of escorting prisoners, guarding Chilean prisons and fulfilling letters rogatory. In fact, this is a cross between the system of the FSIN (Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments) in modern Russia and the Soviet convoy formations of the Interior Ministry's Internal Troops. The history of the Chilean gendarmerie began in 1843, when General Manuel Bulnes created the first modern prison in Santiago, equipped according to the principles advanced for penitentiary institutions of the time. In 1871, the gendarmerie was separated into a separate army unit, which carried out service according to the charter, but was solely responsible for the protection of prisoners. In 1892, the execution of death sentences and the escort of prisoners in the courts were also introduced as a special unit responsible for external security and internal order in the prison. In November 1921, the Corps of the Prison Gendarmerie was created and legalized. However, in April 1020, by decision of Carlos Ibanez del Campo, the prison gendarmerie was merged with the Carabinieri Corps. But a year after the merger of the two departments, the leadership realized the ineffectiveness of this step, so on June 17, 1930, the General Directorate of Prisons was created, and the gendarmerie was again separated into a separate structure. In 1933-1975. the prison guard was renamed from Gendarmerie to Prison Service.
In 1975, General Pinochet signed a decree establishing the Chilean Gendarmerie. The motto of the Chilean gendarmes is "God, country, law." In the modern world, the Chilean gendarmerie is the only gendarmerie in charge of prisons. Currently, while remaining a paramilitary structure with military discipline, the Chilean Gendarmerie is subordinate to the Chilean Ministry of Justice. At the same time, the uniqueness of the gendarmerie is that it is the only Chilean paramilitary structure, whose servicemen are allowed to strike and be members of their own trade union organizations. The following military ranks have been introduced in the Chilean Gendarmerie: private, sergeant and non-commissioned officer - 1) cadet - gendarme 2) gendarme 3) gendarme 2 class 4) gendarme 1 class 5) corporal 6) second corporal 7) first corporal 8) second sergeant 9) first sergeant 10) sub-officer 11) senior sub-officer; officer corps - 1) graduate student-officer 2) junior lieutenant 3) second lieutenant 4) first lieutenant 5) captain 6) major 7) lieutenant colonel 8) colonel 9) operational sub-director 10) national director. The personnel of the Chilean gendarmerie are being trained at the Chilean Gendarmerie School named after General Manuel Bulnes Prieto, founded in 1928 by order of Ibáñez del Campo. In 1997, the Graduate Academy of Prison Research was founded, which provides professional specialization and professional development for the staff of the Chilean prison gendarmerie.
The Chilean Gendarmerie includes a number of structural units responsible for various areas of activity. The weapons department - the oldest in the gendarmerie - is responsible for controlling weapons, ammunition, explosives and special equipment. The protection department is responsible for the cynological support of the gendarme service, the training of service dogs and employees working with them. The Tactical Operations Section was established in 1996 and is responsible for actions in emergency conditions, primarily for suppressing riots in Chilean prisons, releasing hostages, and participating in anti-terrorist activities. The unit has only 21 people under the command of an officer. This "prison special forces" can also be used to ensure the safety of the highest ranks of the gendarmerie and the Chilean Ministry of Justice. The Division of Judicial Defense, as the name suggests, is responsible for ensuring the security of the judiciary and court hearings, primarily the Supreme Court of Chile, the civil courts of the Ministry of Justice and the Electoral Court of Chile. This unit is also called the "Palace Guard of the Chilean Gendarmerie", as it bears the protection of the Chilean Palace of Justice. A special fire protection brigade, also part of the gendarmerie, performs the functions of fire protection and rescuers, but in relation to places of detention.
Thus, we see that Chile has a fairly powerful and effective system for the protection of public safety and order. The rich experience and traditions of the Chilean carabinieri and gendarmerie contribute to the fact that cadets and officers of similar units from many countries of the world come to Chile for training and training. In turn, Chilean specialists are constantly trained abroad. So, the Chilean carabinieri from the border guard units adopted the experience in Russia - in Kaliningrad.
