He is Héctor Aguilera, who was serving as Regional Ministerial Secretary for Education in the Biobío region. During an interview, he dismissed the complaint of a student in a school
By
Cristián Torresfrom Santiago, Chile
The former Seremi of Education of the Biobío region, Héctor Aguilera, resigned from his position due to his controversial statements
A Chilean educational authority resigned from his position after relativize a complaint of sexual abuse against a minor that occurred inside a school located in the city of Talcahuano, 503 kilometers south of Santiago.
The government official who abandoned his post was identified as Héctor Aguilera, who was working as Regional Ministerial Secretary (Seremi) of Education in the Biobío region.
The case It originated when a minor from La Asunción high school in Talcahuano denounced an abuse against her. These facts were made known immediately, but what was not expected was the reaction of the authorities, who relativized what happened.
“ They say sexual abuse and people kind of imagine a highly complex situation. The situation that occurred was that a student approached a minor and touched her, what they say, groping”, Aguilera said in an interview with Radio RDI when asked by this complaint.
Aguilera added that “according to the conversations with the people of the establishment, the fact could not be observed, there is only the complaint made by the student”. The words of the former secretary had a quick echo in the central authorities, who rejected his statements.
“As the Ministry of Education we condemn the statements of our education seremi from the Biobío region, because we are part of a feminist government and we believe that a situation of sexual abuse cannot be relativized in an educational establishment,” said Undersecretary of Education Nicolás Cataldo.
Aguilera’s words shocked the Chilean Ombudsman’s Office, who declared that “nobody, least of all an authority, can relativize a violation of rights as serious as sexual abuse of a boy, girl or adolescent, who is also a crime clearly typified by law.”
Aguilera’s defense and resignation
After her position was made public knowing Aguilera acknowledged her error in the case stating that “I was wrong in the way of expressing it and I admit it; what the student denounced is indeed a sexual abusel, it has not been the intention to relativize or question the victim’s story”.
The Former authority asked for “public apologies” for his words and said that those who know him know of his “commitment to all kinds of gender violence. That is why I have the firm conviction that we should not tolerate any form of violation.”
The relativization of the former regional secretary quickly reached Santiago de Chile, specifically until the offices of the Ministry of Education, who confirmed Aguilera’s departure from his post.
“In that direction, we have received the resignation of the seremi of Education and With Minister Marco Antonio Ávila, and being consistent with our principles, we have decided to accept his resignation. We believe that cultural transformation is the only path with which we are going to eradicate this type of situation in the country,” Cataldo said.