The punitive system applied to the native people, legally declared as apostates by the idolatry extirpators, had several characteristics that implied the reformulation of the criminal classification and objectives, which were different from the ones considered in the order of the Old Regime. As a matter of fact, a fissure was created in the punitive system, susceptible to be qualified as modernising or post-modern. The aforementioned occurred because, based on the indigenous protector statute and the legal praxis, some punishments were created, objectives of which had to be adjusted to the cultural reality of the Andean populations. For example, jail in the modern sense was established and other punishments were ruled out because it was impossible to apply them.El sistema punitivo aplicado a los indígenas, judicialmente declarados como apóstatas por las visitas de idolatrías, tuvo una serie de peculiaridades que implicaron la reformulación de la tipología penal y sus finalidades, que fueron diferentes de las consideradas en el orden del Antiguo Régimen. Se produjo, en efecto, una fisura en el sistema punitivo susceptible de ser calificado como modernizante o protomoderno. Ello, porque con base en el estatuto protector indígena y la praxis judicial, se idearon castigos cuyos objetivos debieron adecuarse a la realidad cultural de las poblaciones andinas. Se estatuyó, por ejemplo, la cárcel en el sentido moderno y se descartaron otras por la imposibilidad de ser aplicadas.

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso