Family members of young man killed in La Barranquita ask Police to stop “smear campaign”

Santiago.– Family and community members of José Vladimir Valerio Estévez, a 25-year-old barber who is among the five men who died in an alleged exchange of gunfire with the National Police in the La Barranquita sector, demanded this Thursday that the authorities stop what they call a “discrediting campaign” against him.

Relatives maintain that Valerio did not belong to any criminal or drug trafficking network, as the official version claims. They recalled that since the age of 17 he dedicated himself to barbering, a business that he had recently remodeled with a financial loan.

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During a gathering in front of the place where he worked, relatives and neighbors displayed banners with messages of justice, while questioning the statements of the police spokesperson, whom they accuse of pointing to the young man as part of a criminal organization without evidence. Family members also reported that, after the operation, the agents took the security cameras from the business, work equipment, and Valerio’s vehicle, elements that —they assure— could provide clarity on what happened. In response, they announced that they will hold peaceful demonstrations at different points in Santiago, including Del Sol street and the vicinity of the provincial Government, with the purpose of demanding respect for Valerio’s memory and greater transparency in the investigations.