Vicente Vera, 48, was insulted and stabbed on Saturday in front of his house. There were already records of homophobic attacks against the couple by one of the assailants. This is the ninth hate crime in Chile since 2012. On Saturday, December 17, at 4:00 p.m., Vicente Vera, 48, was in the entrance of his home in La Cisterna, south of Santiago, Chile, tending to the garden with his partner, Henry Vázquez, with whom he had lived for 23 years. At that moment, five men began harassing them, shouting homophobic slurs. Henry Vázquez told police that he tried to defend himself with a stick, but as he approached, one of the men pulled out a knife and stabbed Vicente Vera at least four times in the head and other parts of his body. Seeing that Vera was wounded, Vásquez grabbed a shovel to defend him , but one of the attackers snatched the object from him and struck him on the head. Vicente was rushed to Barros Lucos Hospital, where he died from the severity of his injuries. The Homicide Brigade of the PDI (Chilean Investigative Police) indicated that the couple had already reported homophobic verbal abuse by one of the attackers. Rolando Jiménez, leader of the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh), met with Vásquez to support him with the necessary procedures at Barros Lucos Hospital and the Forensic Medical Service. "Henry was in a deplorable state. Very sad, very shocked, hurt, and powerless... An innocent person has been murdered, and another, his partner of 23 years, has been deeply traumatized and left alone," he said.

"We want it to be recognized as a hate crime."

Jiménez told Presents Thanks to witnesses, police arrested two of the five assailants: Iván Astorga, 29, and Jefferson Sembler, 21. One of them is the perpetrator of the stabbings. The other three are still at large. “One of them was visiting the neighborhood and was someone who used to harass the couple whenever he came. This afternoon, the body will be released from the morgue for the funeral. On Wednesday, there will be a hearing where the prosecution will present the charges.” The case is being handled by the South Central Prosecutor's Office of Santiago, and the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh) filed a complaint with the Ministry of the Interior to initiate joint legal action. “We want it recognized as a hate crime. We will demand that the aggravating circumstance of the Zamudio Law be applied,” said Jiménez. Movilh has registered nine hate crimes (two this year) since the brutal murder of young Daniel Zamudio in 2012 by a neo-Nazi group in San Borja Park, Santiago, Chile. Zamudio became a symbol for the Chilean LGBTI community and sparked debate about homophobia in the country and the lack of an anti-discrimination law related to these types of crimes. The law was finally enacted in July 2012 and is known as the “Zamudio Law.”