Cases of the Gallardo and Ganga families

On November 17, 1975, an armed attack by members of the MIR against a group of Ejército soldiers took place on Calle Bío Bío in Santiago, resulting in a confrontation in which soldier Hernán Salinas Calderón and MIR militant Roberto Gallardo Moreno were killed.

The following day, Roberto Gallardo's parents, three of his siblings, his spouse, and two minor nephews were arrested by Investigaciones agents. All were taken to the Investigaciones barracks on Calle General Mackenna, where they were interrogated and beaten.

At 5:00 a.m. on the 19th, Ofelia Moreno, Isabel Gallardo, Guillermo Gallardo, and the minors Viviana Gallardo and Alberto Rodríguez—the latter only nine months old—were released. At that time, Ofelia Moreno was informed of the death of her son Roberto and that all remaining members of her family would be placed at the disposal of the DINA "because they would know what to do."

During that same early morning, Ester Torres was arrested at her home along with her sons Renato Mauricio and Francisco Javier by DINA agents who were searching for her son Luis Andrés Ganga, who was not at that address. The three detainees were taken to the Villa Grimaldi barracks.

After interrogating and torturing the detainees, the agents learned that Luis Andrés Ganga was at his grandfather's house, where they arrested him, taking his mother along for the purpose.

Back at Villa Grimaldi, Ester Torres was separated from her son Luis Andrés, and the following morning she was taken to Cuatro Alamos with her other two detained sons. At that location, she was informed that Luis Andrés Ganga had escaped and she was released. Her other two sons were released later, after a long period of confinement.

Various people who were at Villa Grimaldi on the night of November 18 to 19 report that it was the worst night of all those experienced at that location. They describe a great movement of vehicles and people, followed by an interrogation session in the garden, during which shouts and requests from the guards for water and hot oil could be heard, followed by the atrocious screams of those being tortured.

Witnesses state they saw two women in very poor condition the next morning and corpses on the ground, including that of an elderly man.

On the afternoon of the 19th, a statement from the National Directorate of Social Communication (DINACOS) was released to the country, reporting on the events on Calle Bío Bío and indicating that, as a result, the DINA, in conjunction with Investigaciones, began carrying out numerous operations that allowed them to track the group of assailants to the hills of Rinconada de Maipú, where a violent shootout lasting more than 30 minutes occurred at 12:00 p.m.

In that confrontation, the following were allegedly killed: Catalina Ester GALLARDO MORENO, sister of Roberto Gallardo, employee and MIR militant; Alberto Recaredo GALLARDO PACHECO, lathe operator, father of Roberto Gallardo and a member of the Communist Party; Mónica del Carmen PACHECO SANCHEZ, teacher, spouse of Roberto Gallardo and three months pregnant; Luis Andrés GANGA TORRES, merchant, MIR militant; Manuel Lautaro REYES GARRIDO, laborer; and Pedro BLAS CORTES JELVES, laborer, member of the Partido Comunista.

The statement also indicated that one of the extremists had escaped and that two security agents had been wounded.

Based on what has been narrated above, there is sufficient evidence to dismiss the official version of a confrontation, given that there is evidence that the victims had been arrested and taken to Villa Grimaldi.

Furthermore, one must consider the account of a witness who stated that they saw several large cars with civilians and armed uniformed personnel arrive at Rinconada de Maipú on the day in question, along with several prisoners, whom they forced out and made run before shooting them.

Part of the estate where the events took place, owned by the Universidad de Chile, was used first by the DINA and later by the CNI from 1973 until 1989. Local farmers indicated that the movement of agents throughout the estate was common.

Finally, it must be added that it is not plausible that the extremist group was composed of members of both the Partido Comunista and the MIR at that time, nor that a pregnant woman (Mónica Pacheco) and a 65-year-old person (Alberto Gallardo) would have participated in an armed action of that nature.

Due to all these elements, the Commission reached the conviction that all the persons indicated above were executed by DINA agents, in violation of their human rights.