Óscar Bonilla

Óscar Bonilla Bradanovic (Iquique, 24 December 1918 – Curicó, 3 March 1975) was a Chilean military officer and politician of Croatian descent. He served as Minister of the Interior and later as Minister of National Defense during the military dictatorship headed by Augusto Pinochet.

Personal life He was the son of a family from Iquique. His brother, Tomás Bonilla Bradanovic, was a lawyer and police judge, and also an author, publishing works such as La Gran Guerra Mapuche: 1541–1883. In Iquique, a monument was inaugurated in his memory in 1989.

He married Mary Teresa Menchaca Salgado in 1946, and had three children: Jorge Enrique; Óscar Guillermo (farmer, later candidate for senator of the Union of the Centrist Center and councillor of Yerbas Buenas for the Independent Democratic Union); and Jorge Eduardo (diplomat and later ambassador in Jamaica, also a council candidate for Lo Barnechea). He studied at Fort Benning, United States, later serving as staff officer and instructor.

He was aide-de-camp to President Eduardo Frei Montalva between 1966 and 1968, and then military attaché in Spain. By 1973, as divisional general and director of Army logistics, he was one of the few generals who refused to resign under Pinochet’s orders. He became one of the key conspirators in the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, directing operations from the Telecommunications Regiment in Peñalolén.

After the coup, he was appointed Minister of the Interior (1973–1974) and later Minister of Defense (1974–1975). International press such as The New York Times described him as "the leader of the liberals within the Junta," with popular charisma and a growing profile that worried Pinochet.

Death On 3 March 1975, Bonilla died in a helicopter crash near Curicó while en route to Santiago. Reports suggest he had previously confronted Manuel Contreras, head of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), over torture practices. Shortly afterwards, Bonilla’s death was regarded by some as suspicious. Even French technicians sent to investigate the crash later died under unclear circumstances.

In 2019, his youngest son filed a judicial complaint to investigate whether his father’s death had been an accident or an assassination orchestrated by the regime.

Legacy Several streets, avenues, and neighborhoods across Chile—such as in Santiago, Iquique, Concepción, Chillán, Linares, Antofagasta, and others—bear his name.