Policarpo Toro Hurtado was a Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an naval officer, . He enrolled in the Chilean Navy

Chilean Navy

-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...

 in 1871 and visited Easter Island

Easter Island

Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...

 in 1875. From 1877 to 1879 he participated in the English Navy as second lieutenant. In 1879, as the War of the Pacific

War of the Pacific

The War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...

 started, he asked to return to Chile and participated in several actions. In 1883 visited Easter Island a second time and elaborated a document where he highlighted economic advantages for Chile in acquiring the island.

With government approval, he visited the island in 1887. After a year of negotiations with the islanders, in September 9 1888 he took possession of the island on behalf of Chile. In 1891 he refused to participate in the naval actions against José Manuel Balmaceda

José Manuel Balmaceda

José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández was the 11th President of Chile from September 18, 1886 to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile...

 government (in the so-called 1891 Revolution

Chilean Civil War

The Chilean Civil War of 1891 was an armed conflict between forces supporting Congress and forces supporting the sitting President, José Manuel Balmaceda. The war saw a confrontation between the Chilean Army and the Chilean Navy, which had sided with the president and the congress, respectively...

) and was separated from the Army. In 1893, in the general amnesty enacted by the new government, he was pensioned. He died in Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

in 1921.

Sources

• http://www.armada.cl/site/tradicion_historia/historia/biografias/235ptoro.htm
• http://www.icarito.cl//medio/articulo/0,0,38035857_172985981_182488343_1,00.html
• http://www.ligamar.cl/revis5/69.htm