Valparaíso Court Decision and Excluded Prosecutors
Among those cut from the selection process was the current Regional Prosecutor of Arica and Parinacota, Mario Carrera Guerrero, alongside Pablo Bravo, Greta Fuchslocher, Samuel Nuñez, and Fred Silva.
While ministers María Fierro and substitute minister Ingrid Alvial dissented in favor of granting a three-day correction period, the plenary declared the five applications inadmissible, though it is unclear if the decision can be reverted.
The decision was communicated on a Friday by the Tribunal Pleno of the Corte de Apelaciones de Valparaíso, generating suspicion in the judicial environment over the succession of current Regional Prosecutor Claudia Perivanchic. Pablo Bravo serves as an economic crimes and anti-corruption prosecutor in Valparaíso, Greta Fuchslocher as deputy prosecutor in Valparaíso, Samuel Nuñez as chief prosecutor of Casablanca, and Fred Silva as prosecutor in San Antonio.
According to the document, the majority of the applications contained technical errors in the required documentation for the contest because they did not accredit compliance with legal requirements in the demanded form by the opposition deadline’s close. In the case of the Arica prosecutor, the omission involved not explicitly stating that he is not a relative of President José Antonio Kast.
Recusal Refusal Amid Hermosilla Case Ties
Silvana Donoso, the President of the Valparaíso Court of Appeals, stated No tengo ninguna causal de inhabilidad
when asked if she would step down from the regional prosecutor election reported by Reportea, despite her brother, lawyer Samuel Donoso, figuring as an imputado in a Valparaíso-tramited prong of the Hermosilla case.
The CDE filed a bribery querella against Samuel Donoso over allegations that he supported the appointment of former Santiago court minister Antonio Ulloa following Ulloa’s efforts benefiting Silvana Donoso during her 2020 congressional acusación constitucional—a defense effort that also involved Andrés Chadwick, whose current defense counsel is Samuel Donoso.
Furthermore, prosecutor Carrera handles the investigation involving Manuel Guerra and Luis Hermosilla, while Samuel Donoso acts as defense counsel for Andrés Chadwick, who is also an imputado in that case.
She formed part of the court’s plenary that on November 6 initiated the process to choose the new head of the Public Ministry in Valparaíso, where several prongs of the Hermosilla case are processed. Whoever is elected as the new chief of the Valparaíso prosecutors will hold the case where Samuel Donoso appears as an imputado for facts related to his sister. During Friday’s plenary, minister Donoso concurred with her vote in declaring the five candidacies inadmissible, including that of Mario Carrera. Chadwick also participated in the defense of judge Silvana Donoso six years ago when she faced the congressional constitutional accusation, according to chats housed in Hermosilla’s cellphone.
At that time, Donoso was President Sebastián Piñera’s lawyer in numerous judicial lawsuits regarding human rights violations during the social outburst and for covid-19 pandemic management, and Donoso was a fundamental backing for Ulloa to achieve his position in early 2021 during Piñera’s administration.
If minister Silvana Donoso persists in her decision not to recuse herself, her vote will be key for electing the new chief of prosecutors in Valparaíso, who must define not only her brother’s future as an imputado but also the destiny of causes where Samuel Donoso is her counterpart, such as the corruption investigation against Senator Camila Flores (RN), who is defended by the lawyer.
In that cause, Donoso presented a complaint against prosecutor Paola Castiglione for supposed leaking of background information.
Seis Candidatos Presentan Su Candidatura En Audiencias Públicas
Con Claudia Perivancich concluyendo su periodo, reportea.cl details that six candidates remain in competition: Valparaíso staff Osvaldo Basso, María José Lecaros, Gonzalo Marks, Elizardo Tapia, and José Uribe, alongside Víctor Nuñez from the Fiscalía Metropolitana Sur.
These remaining persecutors and personnel must present themselves in a public hearing starting at noon on Monday, November 16, 2026, at the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Valparaíso.
Osvaldo Basso serves as chief prosecutor of Villa Alemana, María José Lecaros as advisory lawyer of the Valparaíso Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Gonzalo Marks as head of the victims and witnesses unit of Valparaíso, Elizardo Tapia as chief prosecutor of the local Valparaíso prosecutor’s office, and José Uribe as chief prosecutor of the Valparaíso Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
After the hearing, the ministers will vote and choose a three-candidate shortlist, which will be sent to National Prosecutor Ángel Valencia so that he chooses the new head of the Valparaíso prosecutors.