Carlos Vergara Montero

Carlos Vergara Montero (1883–1959) was a Chilean Army general who served as Minister of War under Vice President Manuel Trucco during the Chilean naval mutiny of 1931.

He was appointed in early September 1931, shortly after the mutiny began on 31 August, succeeding Pedro Charpin. As minister, Vergara coordinated government military operations against positions held by the mutineers in Talcahuano, Valparaíso, and Quintero, as well as the aerial attack on naval vessels anchored at Coquimbo.

He left office in early 1932, when the War and Navy portfolios were reorganized as part of the Ministry of National Defense.

Political career

Vergara maintained ties with organizations associated with the German community in Chile during the period of Nazi Germany.

According to historian Carlos Maldonado Prieto, he regularly participated in organizations connected with the Chilean branch of the NSDAP/AO, including the Deutscher Militär Verein and the Asociación de Amigos de Alemania (AAA). Vergara served as a director of the latter organization and continued to sign its public statements during the later years of the Second World War, by which time he had retired from active military service.

In September 1938, Vergara was detained in the aftermath of the Seguro Obrero massacre on suspicion of involvement in the attempted coup associated with the National Socialist Movement of Chile. The allegation was not substantiated.

Vergara was also associated with the Frente Nacional Chileno, an organization active in the early 1940s that advocated restrictions on communist political activity and changes to Chile's existing political system. Maldonado also cites a contemporary account describing Vergara as a frequent participant in events organized by Santiago's German community and alleging that he took part, in uniform, in National Socialist Movement street marches.