Enrique Montero Marx

Enrique José de la Cruz Montero Marx was a Chilean lawyer and military officer who reached the rank of air brigadier general in the Chilean Air Force.
He served as undersecretary of the interior and minister of the interior during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Biography

Montero was born in Ovalle on 28 February 1928, the son of Julio Montero Alarcón and Berta Marx Bravo. He studied law at the University of Chile. In the early 1960s he married María Isabel Contardo Germaín, with whom he had three children: Enrique, Genaro and Alejandra.

Military career and government service

He entered the Chilean Air Force in 1958, became a Group Commander, and moved to the reserve list in 1965, alternating legal and military activities until 1973.
Following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, Montero was appointed undersecretary of the interior of the Military Government that overthrew President Salvador Allende. In that role, he oversaw the final drafting of the 1980 Constitution and negotiated the surrender to the United States of Michael Townley, implicated in the assassination of former foreign minister Orlando Letelier. On 22 April 1982 he became minister of the interior, serving until 10 August 1983, when he was succeeded by Sergio Onofre Jarpa.
After leaving the cabinet, he served as auditor general of the Air Force until 1990. He later worked as legal adviser and director at the fruit exporter David del Curto and was a counselor to the Fundación Paz Ciudadana.

Later years

During Chile’s transition he maintained ties with figures of the Independent Democratic Union. In 1991 he formed part of the advisory team to Agustín Edwards Eastman during the kidnapping of his son, Cristián.
He was prosecuted on several occasions in human-rights cases, including the “Operación Colombo” case.
Montero died in Santiago on 20 July 2022, aged 94.