Héctor Hernán Bustamante Gómez
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Héctor Hernán Bustamante Gómez was a corporal in the Chilean Army who participated in the failed coup attempt to overthrow the government of Salvador Allende called Tanquetazo. He is known for having murdered the Argentine journalist Leonardo Henrichsen, who recorded his own death from his camera.
Leonardo Henrichsen killing edit
On June 29, 1973, the military officer Roberto Souper led, together with other soldiers, an armed rebellion supported by the Fatherland and Liberty Nationalist Front against the socialist government of Salvador Allende. In this context, Bustamante was one of the rebel soldiers who were in the streets of the capital, Santiago, intimidating and shooting at civilians who were nearby.
In this context, Leonardo was an Argentine journalist who was covering the events with his camera in hand. At one point, Leonardo recorded Bustamante and other soldiers shooting in the streets. At that moment, Bustamante realizes Leonardo's precensy, so he pulls the gun from him and shoots him, ending Leonardo's life. Everything that happened had been recorded by Leonardo's camera.
Later, Bustamante destroyed the original tape, but the film had a backup copy that would later come out in public. A few years later, the footage would be used in Patricio Guzmán's documentary "The Battle of Chile".
There is no further data on what happened to Bustamante after the failed insurrection, it is only known that he died on December 18, 2007. In 1989, the Argentine Congress established June 29 as the 'National day of the cameraman' in Henrichsen's memory.
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