Date of Birth : 22-07-52, 21 years of age at the time of his detention. Address : Alcalde Pedro Alarcón 340, San Miguel, Santiago Marital Status : Single Occupation : Worker Repressive Status : Militant of the Communist Youth Date of Detention : October 6, 1973

REPRESSIVE SITUATION

Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda, 21 years of age, a worker and militant of the Communist Youth (JJCC), was detained by officers of the Investigations Police (Policía de Investigaciones) on October 6, 1973, in an interior courtyard of the San Borja Hospital, while attempting, along with 4 other young men, to seek asylum in the Embassy of Argentina.

The other young men were his brother Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda, Raúl Buridán San Martín Barrera, Celedonio Sepúlveda Labra, and Samuel Segundo Riquelme Cruz. The first four were also militants of the Communist Youth and are classified as forcibly disappeared; with the exception of Abelardo de Jesús's brother, Eduardo Quinteros Miranda, whose lifeless body was found in the San Carlos Canal and taken to the Legal Medical Institute.

His death was caused by a gunshot wound. The last person named, Samuel Riquelme Cruz, was the only survivor of the group of young men; he remained detained at the Santiago Penitentiary, was prosecuted by the Military Justice system, and was later expelled from the country.

The spouse of Raúl San Martín Barrera, one of the disappeared young men, states in her testimony that her husband was very alarmed by the course of events in those days and had decided to seek asylum in the Embassy of Argentina.

On October 6, 1973, he met with a group of 4 other people—Eduardo Quinteros Miranda, Abelardo Quinteros Miranda, Celedonio Sepúlveda Labra, and Samuel Riquelme Cruz—and they all entered the San Borja Hospital, intending to jump the wall separating that hospital from the Embassy.

At the moment they were carrying out their plan, individuals dressed in civilian clothes appeared and proceeded to fire upon the group. These circumstances were relayed to the witness by a hospital nurse who witnessed the events.

For his part, Mr. Samuel Segundo Riquelme Cruz, former Deputy Director of Investigations as of September 11, 1973, states in his testimony that at the hospital he tried to escape from the civilians who fired at him, but was captured by two of the agents: a photographer from the Investigations Service and a civilian from the Carabineros Intelligence apparatus.

Subsequently, along with two other detained youths, he was loaded into a Carabineros van and taken to a police station that the institution maintained on Calle San Isidro. There, he noticed that one of the young men was wounded.

This was also observed by a police officer, who reported that there was a wounded man among the detainees, receiving the response not to worry because the prisoners were going to be killed immediately.

Meanwhile, the witness was taken to an office where they applied electric shocks to different parts of his body while he was interrogated about "Plan Z," the alleged infiltration of the Armed Forces, and weapons caches; he was also accused of being a Cuban and Soviet agent and of trafficking cocaine.

All of this occurred while he remained with his hands tied behind his back, and he had the impression that the Carabinero Ramón Esquivel was present, as he was the one who gave the order for him to be subjected to torture.

Part of the interrogation focused on his connection to the other two young men who had been detained at the hospital. At the end of the interrogation, he was taken to the courtyard where there was a bonfire, and they burned his feet.

He remained at the police facility for 3 days, at the end of which he was transferred to the FACH War Academy (AGA), then to the Penitentiary, and was subsequently expelled from the country.

The family of the Quinteros Miranda brothers made multiple efforts to determine their whereabouts. In their search, they learned from the Investigations Police about the fate of Eduardo Quinteros, being informed that he was buried in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery. However, it was impossible for them to learn the fate of his brother, Abelardo de Jesús.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On February 4, 1975, a complaint for homicide was filed regarding Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda and Abelardo Quinteros Miranda before the 3rd Criminal Court of San Miguel (case file 23093), in which it was stated that both disappeared on October 6, 1973, and that the only information possessed was news that both had been detained along with the former Deputy Director of Investigations, Samuel Riquelme, while attempting to seek asylum in the Embassy of Argentina.

Subsequently, the Investigations Service reported that Eduardo Santos had given a statement on October 8 at the Military Prosecutor's Office and that he had later died and had already been buried, without providing further details or explanations.

Regarding Abelardo de Jesús, they said they had no information. After the respective inquiries were carried out, it was established that Eduardo Quinteros was buried in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery of Santiago, grave No. 2522.

During the processing of the case, a positive response was received from the General Cemetery and the Legal Medical Institute regarding Eduardo Quinteros Miranda, whose autopsy protocol indicates the cause of death as thoracic and abdominal gunshot wounds with projectile exit, involving long-distance shots.

The autopsy was performed on October 11, 1973, and it is estimated that he had remained submerged in water—he was found in the San Carlos Canal—for about three or four days. Both the General Cemetery and the Legal Medical Institute indicated they had no information regarding Abelardo Quinteros.

On July 31, 1975, after receiving a negative report from the Ministry of the Interior, the summary investigation was closed, and on August 7, Judge Berta Rodríguez Monardes temporarily dismissed the case, on the grounds that, while the reported crime was proven, there was insufficient evidence to accuse a specific person as author, accomplice, or accessory.

On October 3, 1975, the Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed the dismissal, despite the fact that there is no record in the case file that any efforts were ordered to locate Samuel Riquelme, who was identified in the case as one of the people detained along with the Quinteros brothers.

The anthropometric data of Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda were attached to case 4449-AF of the 22nd Criminal Court of Santiago, concerning the crime of illegal burial in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery of unidentified persons who died between September and December 1973.

The investigating judge of the case ordered the excavation of 108 graves in September 1991. From there, 125 bodies were exhumed and sent to the Legal Medical Institute. Currently (late 1992), the forensic identification reports are pending.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

On October 6, 1973, Comrade Abelardo, along with his brother Eduardo Quinteros, Celedonio Sepúlveda, and Raúl San Martín, carried out the party task of transporting Comrade Samuel Riquelme, Deputy Director of Investigations during the Popular Unity government, to seek asylum in the Embassy of Argentina, with the group being gunned down and detained by civilian agents of the military dictatorship.

Source: 07/21/2019 cambio 21

Date: 07-21-2019

After 46 years, the body of a 21-year-old young man murdered during the dictatorship while attempting to seek asylum in the embassy is found and returned to his relatives

Yesterday, after 46 years of searching, the remains of Abelardo "Jecho" Quinteros Miranda, a young militant of the Communist Youth in 1973, were handed over to his relatives. This Saturday, his remains returned to the La Legua neighborhood in the San Joaquín commune, where his wake was held.

He was detained and disappeared in 1973, when he was only 21 years old, and he had no weapons nor was he a terrorist when he was murdered by officials of the dictatorship defended by José Antonio Kast, formerly of the UDI, today the Republican Party.

The young Quinteros was only trying to seek asylum in the Argentine Embassy on Vicuña Mackenna, near the Alameda, which at that time bordered the San Borja Hospital, which was later demolished. That hospital was located where the Crowne Plaza hotel is now, near Plaza Italia or Plaza Baquedano.

Jecho thought his life was in danger under the civil-military dictatorship. At his young age, he was right.

His detention Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda, 21 years of age, a militant of the Communist Youth, was detained by agents of the Investigations Police on October 6, 1973, in an interior courtyard of the San Borja Hospital, while attempting, along with 4 other young men, to seek asylum in the Embassy of Argentina.

The other young men were his brother Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda, Raúl Buridán San Martín Barrera, Celedonio Sepúlveda Labra, and Samuel Segundo Riquelme Cruz. The latter was the Deputy Director of Investigations.

The first four were also militants of the Communist Youth and are classified as forcibly disappeared; with the exception of Abelardo de Jesús's brother, Eduardo Quinteros Miranda, whose lifeless body was found in the San Carlos Canal and taken to the Legal Medical Institute.

His death was caused by a gunshot wound. The last person named, Samuel Riquelme Cruz, was the only survivor of the group of young men; he remained detained at the Santiago Penitentiary, was prosecuted by the Military Justice system, and was later expelled from the country.

The spouse of Raúl San Martín Barrera, one of the disappeared young men, states in her testimony that her husband was very alarmed by the course of events in those days and had decided to seek asylum in the Embassy of Argentina.

On October 6, 1973, he met with a group of 4 other people—Eduardo Quinteros Miranda, Abelardo Quinteros Miranda, Celedonio Sepúlveda Labra, and Samuel Riquelme Cruz—and they all entered the San Borja Hospital, intending to jump the wall separating that hospital from the Embassy.

At the moment they were carrying out their plan, individuals dressed in civilian clothes appeared and proceeded to fire upon the group. These circumstances were relayed to the witness by a hospital nurse who witnessed the events.

For his part, Samuel Segundo Riquelme Cruz, former Deputy Director of Investigations as of September 11, 1973, states in his testimony that at the hospital he tried to escape from the civilians who fired at him, but was captured by two of the agents: a photographer from the Investigations Service and a civilian from the Carabineros Intelligence apparatus.

Subsequently, along with two other detained youths, he was loaded into a Carabineros van and taken to a police station that the institution maintained on Calle San Isidro. There, he noticed that one of the young men was wounded.

This was also observed by a police officer, who reported that there was a wounded man among the detainees, receiving the response not to worry because the prisoners were going to be killed immediately.

Meanwhile, the witness was taken to an office where they applied electric shocks to different parts of his body while he was interrogated about "Plan Z," the alleged infiltration of the Armed Forces, and weapons caches; he was also accused of being a Cuban and Soviet agent and of trafficking cocaine.

All of this occurred while he remained with his hands tied behind his back, and he had the impression that the Carabinero Ramón Esquivel was present, as he was the one who gave the order for him to be subjected to torture.

Part of the interrogation focused on his connection to the other two young men who had been detained at the hospital. At the end of the interrogation, he was taken to the courtyard where there was a bonfire, and they burned his feet.

He remained at the police facility for 3 days, at the end of which he was transferred to the FACH War Academy (AGA), then to the Penitentiary, and was subsequently expelled from the country.

The family of the Quinteros Miranda brothers made multiple efforts to determine their whereabouts. In their search, they learned from the Investigations Police about the fate of Eduardo Quinteros, being informed that he was buried in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery. However, it was impossible for them to learn the fate of his brother, Abelardo de Jesús. Until yesterday.

During the processing of the case, a positive response was received from the General Cemetery and the Legal Medical Institute regarding Eduardo Quinteros Miranda, whose autopsy protocol indicates the cause of death as thoracic and abdominal gunshot wounds with projectile exit, involving long-distance shots.

The autopsy was performed on October 11, 1973, and it is estimated that he had remained submerged in water—he was found in the San Carlos Canal—for about three or four days. Both the General Cemetery and the Legal Medical Institute indicated they had no information regarding Abelardo Quinteros.

The anthropometric data of Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda were attached to case 4449-AF of the 22nd Criminal Court of Santiago, concerning the crime of illegal burial in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery of unidentified persons who died between September and December 1973.

The investigating judge of the case ordered the excavation of 108 graves in September 1991. From there, 125 bodies were exhumed and sent to the Legal Medical Institute. And this week he was identified, as seen in the sad video we show you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8A0hnkNjbY ABELARDO "JECHO" QUINTEROS MIRANDA FORCIBLY DISAPPEARED 1973-2019

Source: cambio21.cl 07/21/2019

Date: 07-21-2019

FORCIBLY DISAPPEARED PERSON FROM THE LA LEGUA NEIGHBORHOOD IDENTIFIED

46 years after his disappearance, the remains of the young communist Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda have been identified. The Communist Youth (JJCC), the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh), the Association of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared (AFDD), and his family are calling for a heartfelt Popular Wake in the La Legua neighborhood.

The Human Rights Program belonging to the Ministry of Justice informed the Quinteros Miranda family a few weeks ago of the identification of part of the remains of Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda, known as 'Jecho,' a militant of the Communist Youth in the La Legua neighborhood, who was detained by agents of the Investigations Police on October 6, 1973, while he and a group of young residents were seeking asylum in the Embassy of Argentina.

Since that date, he had been classified as a forcibly disappeared person.

Abelardo ‘Jecho’ Quinteros Miranda was born on July 22, 1952, the son of Hirma and Antonio, in a family consisting of the couple and 8 children. He completed his studies at the Escuela Suecia in the Santiago commune, then at School No. 83 in the La Legua neighborhood, and subsequently attended secondary school at the Liceo Valentín Letelier in the Recoleta commune.

In 1970, he performed his military service at the Carampangue regiment in Iquique, which would be a determining factor in his later resistance and combat in La Legua. At the time of the military coup, he was studying tailoring.

After finishing his military service, he joined the ranks of the 'Jota' (Communist Youth) at the Galvarino Base of the Galo González Local Committee, belonging to the then-San Miguel Regional Committee; there, he enthusiastically took on community work, as well as the main political tasks of the time: the electoral campaigns of the era, volunteer work, and the connection with popular organizations. 'Jecho' was also a prominent athlete in the neighborhood, participating in the Juventud Atlanta and Estrella Junior sports clubs.

Likewise, within the framework of the popular seaside resorts organized by the Popular Unity government, young volunteers took on the task of supply, transporting goods in vehicles to families in working-class sectors.

On several occasions, the supply convoys were attacked by far-right groups in order to sabotage the policies of the popular government, which led to the formation of security and defense teams for the convoys, with Abelardo, due to his skills, being one of the young men responsible for this task.

Once the Military Coup began, workers in the sector, along with residents and militants from La Legua, proceeded to defend the Popular Unity government and President Salvador Allende, organizing the deployment for resistance; there, Abelardo instructed his comrades and participated in the combat in La Legua against the coup forces, keeping the sector controlled by leftist forces until September 14.

Finally, the neighborhood was brutally raided on September 16 by the Army, the Air Force, and civilians.

On October 6, 1973, Comrade Abelardo, along with his brother Eduardo, Celedonio Sepúlveda, and Raúl San Martín, took on the task of accompanying Samuel Riquelme, Deputy Director of Investigations during the Popular Unity government, to seek asylum in the Embassy of Argentina, with the group being gunned down and detained by agents of the Investigations Police.

His brother Eduardo Quinteros is on the list of political executions, while Celedonio Sepúlveda, Raúl San Martín, and Abelardo Quinteros are on the list of the forcibly disappeared.

Abelardo ‘Jecho’ Quinteros was 21 years old at the time of his detention and subsequent disappearance. After 46 years of his forced disappearance, the news moves his relatives, comrades, and neighbors; it reinforces the struggle for full truth and justice and highlights the responsibility of the Chilean State and the governments that have succeeded one another since the return to democracy in perpetuating impunity regarding the crimes against humanity that occurred during the civil-military dictatorship, a situation that has given way to the recent reappearance of denialist discourses by the political right.

For the above reasons, the family and the aforementioned organizations call for a great Popular Wake to hold a heartfelt political and cultural tribute. This will take place on Saturday, July 20, from 4:00 PM to 12:00 AM at the Neighborhood Council No. 20 of La Legua, located at Toro y Zambrano #3760, San Joaquín commune.

For their part, the funeral will take place on Sunday, July 21, at 12:00 PM at the Monument in the General Cemetery. Press Release: JJ.CC San Joaquín

Source: radiosanjoaquin.cl 07/17/2019

Date: 07-17-2019

Minister Paola Plaza sentences retired Carabineros for the homicide and kidnapping of young men who attempted to seek asylum in an embassy in 1973

The minister on extraordinary assignment sentenced, with costs, a retired Carabineros officer and non-commissioned officer for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Raúl Buridán San Martín Barrera, Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda, and Celedonio de las Rosas Sepúlveda Labra, and the aggravated homicide of Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda.

These crimes were committed in October 1973, when they thwarted the victims' entry into the Embassy of Argentina. The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Paola Plaza González, sentenced, with costs, a retired Carabineros officer and non-commissioned officer for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Raúl Buridán San Martín Barrera, Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda, and Celedonio de las Rosas Sepúlveda Labra, and the aggravated homicide of Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda.

These crimes were committed in October 1973, when they thwarted the victims' entry into the Embassy of Argentina.

In the ruling (case file 177-2010), the minister on assignment sentenced the then-Carabineros second sergeant Nolberto Fermín Ceballos Moraga to an effective prison sentence of 10 years and one day as the author of the three crimes of aggravated kidnapping, plus another 10 years and one day of imprisonment as the author of the aggravated homicide.

Meanwhile, the Carabineros major at the time of the events, José Alfredo Aros Velásquez, must serve 10 years and one day in prison for his responsibility as the author of the aggravated kidnappings. In the resolution, Minister Plaza González established the following facts: “On October 6, 1973, around 10:00 AM, Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda, 19 years of age, a secondary student and militant of the Communist Youth; Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda, 21 years of age, single, a tailoring student and militant of the Communist Party; Raúl Buridán San Martín Barrera, 19 years of age, a worker and militant of the Communist Youth; Celedonio de las Rosas Sepúlveda Labra, 25 years of age, a welder and militant of the Communist Party; and Samuel Segundo Riquelme Cruz, Deputy Director General of the Investigations Police of Chile at the date of the investigated events, attempted to seek asylum in the Argentine Embassy, located on Avenida Vicuña Mackenna, using the San Borja Arriarán Hospital, whose facilities bordered it, as an access route. At the moment the aforementioned individuals prepared to jump the dividing wall, they were intercepted by Carabineros officials belonging to the 6th Precinct, who were already at the same location, wearing clothing that simulated being health personnel, who thwarted the attempt, making use of their firearms against those seeking refuge, resulting in the death of Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda at the scene. The other detainees were taken to the indicated precinct along with the Investigations official who accompanied them, Samuel Segundo Riquelme Cruz, who finally managed to survive.

Subsequently, the remains of Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda and Celedonio de las Rosas Sepúlveda Labra were found after being identified among those victims whose bodies were recovered from Patio 29 of the General Cemetery in 1991, without identification and outside of any public record.

The identification and forensic proceedings established the cause of death for Abelardo Quinteros as ‘firearm wounds, with the immediate cause of death being hemorrhagic shock in the context of a death of forensic medical etiology, violent homicide,’ and for Sepúlveda Labra as ‘a direct and proportionate consequence of firearm wounds, with the immediate cause of death being hemorrhagic shock in the context of a death of forensic medical etiology, violent homicide.’

In the investigation, it has been established that the police officials who made use of their firearms were the Carabineros Gonzalo Andrés Valdivia Zúñiga (currently deceased) and Nolberto Fermín Ceballos Moraga, and those who ordered, supervised, and were in charge of the detention of the victims were the then-major Jorge David Retamal Berríos (now deceased), commissioner and head of the police unit that intervened in the procedure—the 6th Precinct—and José Alfredo Aros Velásquez, head of the First Shift Service, in charge of operations outside the police facility on October 6, 1973.”

For the minister on assignment: “(…) the facts described in the preceding motive constitute crimes of aggravated kidnapping committed against the person of Raúl Buridán San Martin Barrera, Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda, and Celedonio de las Rosas Sepúlveda Labra, provided for and sanctioned in Article 141, first and third paragraphs of the Penal Code, and the crime of aggravated homicide perpetrated against Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda, classified in Article 391 No. 1, first circumstance, of the same legal body, all of this in its wording in force at the time of occurrence, thus reclassifying the terms of the fiscal accusation regarding the victims Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda and Celedonio de las Rosas Sepúlveda Labra, in view of the elements gathered in the criminal trial, the content and scope of the private accusations, and the powers of the court, expressed when issuing the sentence, to frame the facts demonstrated through the legal evidence presented to the typical figure that best fits the factual circumstances established in the preceding foundation, without prejudice to what will be said later when addressing the entirety of the arguments of the plaintiffs.”

The resolution adds that: “Regarding the crime of homicide, it has been demonstrated that Nolberto Ceballos Moraga acted with certainty, simulating being an official of the hospital facility, which meant that he did not venture into any risk in the perpetration of the illicit act, thus creating a state of defenselessness in the victim Eduardo Quinteros Miranda, who could not warn of the presence of the state agents who were guarding the place, and in that context, he fired against the group of young men, causing his death at the scene.”

“At the same time, the crimes indicated above assume the typology of crimes against International Law, as crimes against humanity, it being established in the case file that the illicit act is executed in a historical context of massive, repeated, and systematic attacks against the civilian population, committed by state agents who, taking advantage of their status and encouraged by political and ideological motives, implemented a plan conceived by the State as a policy to be followed against people whose thinking was contrary to the government of the time, proceeding to perpetrate the legally reprehensible acts exposed in the preceding motive,” it adds.

In the civil sphere, Minister Plaza González ordered the state treasury to pay a total compensation of $435,000,000 for moral damages to the victims' relatives.

Source: pdju.cl, November 26, 2024

Carabineros sentenced for the crime of young men who were attempting to seek asylum in 1973

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Paola Plaza González, sentenced a former officer and a former non-commissioned officer of the Carabineros for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated homicide of Eduardo Quinteros Miranda and aggravated kidnapping of Raúl San Martín Barrera, Abelardo Quinteros Miranda, and Celedonio Sepúlveda Labra, committed in October 1973, when they thwarted the victims' entry into the Embassy of Argentina.

In the ruling (case file 177-2010), the minister on assignment sentenced the then-Carabineros second sergeant Nolberto Fermín Ceballos Moraga to an effective prison sentence of 10 years and one day as the author of the three crimes of aggravated kidnapping, plus another 10 years and one day of imprisonment as the author of the aggravated homicide.

Meanwhile, the Carabineros major at the time of the events, José Alfredo Aros Velásquez, must serve 10 years and one day in prison for his responsibility as the author of the aggravated kidnappings. In the resolution, Minister Plaza González established that on October 6, 1973, around 10:00 AM, Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda, 19 years of age, a secondary student and militant of the Communist Youth; Abelardo de Jesús Quinteros Miranda, 21 years of age, a tailoring student and militant of the Communist Party; Raúl Buridán San Martín Barrera, 19 years of age, a footwear worker and militant of the Communist Youth; Celedonio de las Rosas Sepúlveda Labra, 25 years of age, a welder and militant of the Communist Party; and Samuel Segundo Riquelme Cruz, Deputy Director General of the Investigations Police at the date of the events, attempted to seek asylum in the Argentine Embassy, located on Avenida Vicuña Mackenna.

In the asylum attempt, they used the San Borja Arriarán Hospital, whose facilities bordered the aforementioned embassy, as an access route. At the moment the five named individuals prepared to jump the dividing wall, they were intercepted by Carabineros officials belonging to the 6th Precinct, who were already stationed at the same location, wearing clothing that simulated being health personnel, who thwarted the attempt, making use of their firearms against those seeking refuge.

Thus, Eduardo Santos Quinteros Miranda was murdered at the scene. The other young communists were detained and taken to the indicated precinct along with the Investigations official, Samuel Segundo Riquelme Cruz, who finally managed to survive. Meanwhile, the communist militants were made to disappear.

Source: resumen.cl 11/28/2024