The minister for extraordinary cases of human rights violations at the Temuco Court of Appeals, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued separate indictments against retired members of the Army and Carabineros for their responsibility in the crimes of illegal coercion and homicide, perpetrated in the coastal town of Puerto Saavedra in October 1973.

In the first case, Minister Mesa indicted the following former uniformed personnel for their responsibility in the crime of illegal coercion applied against the victims Ruperto Bañares Bañares and Marta Sonia Ibáñez Ibáñez:

• As perpetrators, the magistrate indicted Jorge Nibaldo del Río del Río, Roberto Sigisfredo San Martín Pérez, and Héctor Hernán Mondaca Sepúlveda;
• As accomplices, he indicted Hernán Molina Vera, Rafael Laureano Recabal Bascuñán, José Guillermo Garrido Bustos, Sebastián Enrique Muñoz Gangas, Carlos Alejandro Brunevald Huaiquilao, and Miguel Fernando Rubio Diocaretz; and
• As accessories after the fact, Aldo Castro Tapia, Luis Humberto Casanova Águila, Ernesto Darío Ortega Saavedra, Enrique Segundo Merino Sagardía, Olegario Segundo Alba Martínez, and Waldamiro Antonio Rebolledo Burgos.

According to the information gathered during the investigation, the magistrate was able to determine the following facts: “That during the month of October 1973, a military patrol from the No. 4 “La Concepción” Reinforced Mountain Regiment of Lautaro patrolled the coastal area of Puerto Saavedra under the orders of a Captain, Lieutenant Juan Enrique Silva Rebeco, and at least one other officer of the rank of Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant, a period during which that contingent was stationed at the Carabineros station of that commune, which was under the command of Lieutenant César Edgardo Anziani Riquelme.”

The ruling adds: “that Ruperto Bañares Bañares, a worker at the “San Pablo” settlement in Puerto Saavedra, was detained along with other people during October 1973 by a military patrol and taken to the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros station.

In that place, he was subjected to torture, being tied by his hands and feet, in addition to having his mouth and eyes covered. Immediately thereafter, a very strong liquid was administered through his nostrils, and they proceeded to beat him on different parts of his body.

Subsequently, he was taken to a dungeon, where he was able to see Bernardo Nahuelcoy Chihuaicura, a person he knew, who also showed clear signs of severe physical abuse. Shortly after, Bañares Bañares was released without any charges being filed against him.”

The resolution adds that, in the case of Marta Sonia Ibáñez Ibáñez, “(…) she was detained on September 13, 1973, by the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros Lieutenant César Edgardo Anziani Riquelme and the Corporal of that unit Daniel del Carmen Riquelme Reyes, who transferred her to the police facility, accused of keeping hidden weapons in her home.

Marta Ibáñez was interrogated and referred to the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco, regaining her freedom at the beginning of October 1973, the date on which she returned to Puerto Saavedra. In that place, she was again taken from her home as a detainee by Lieutenant Anziani and Corporal Riquelme, who had previously participated in the same procedure, taking her to the station to be interrogated once more.

On this occasion, in addition to the Carabineros Lieutenant, the Army Captain participated in the interrogation, with other military personnel present. In that interrogation session, Ms. Marta Ibáñez was forced to undress.”

The investigation adds “(…) that the detained persons, identified above, were subjected to interrogations and illegal coercion inside the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros station or in the stables area, actions that were directed by the Captain who commanded the military patrol from Lautaro and in which Lieutenant Juan Enrique Silva Rebeco and the other army officer, as well as some non-commissioned officers and conscripts trusted by the Captain, also participated.

Likewise, Lieutenant César Anziani Riquelme, Carabineros Corporal Daniel Riquelme Reyes, and some Carabineros from the station had active or present participation in these actions, with the nature of the actions that this group carried out being common knowledge among the rest of the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros staff.”

Socialist Leaders

Meanwhile, for their responsibility in the crimes of illegal coercion and the qualified homicides of Bernardo Nahuelcoy Chihuaicura, Francisco Curamil Castillo, Mauricio Huenucoy Antil, and Francisco Porma Cheuquecoy, perpetrated in the commune of Puerto Saavedra in October 1973, the visiting minister indicted:

• As perpetrators: Roberto Sigisfredo San Martín Pérez, Carlos Alejandro Brunevald Huaiquilao, and Miguel Fernando Rubio Diocaretz;
• As perpetrator and accomplice: Héctor Hernán Mondaca Sepúlveda;
• As accomplices: Hernán Molina Vera, Rafael Laureano Recabal Bascuñán, José Guillermo Garrido Bustos, and Sebastián Enrique Muñoz Gangas;
• As accessories after the fact: Aldo Castro Tapia, Luis Humberto Casanova Águila, Ernesto Darío Ortega Saavedra, Enrique Segundo Merino Sagardía, Olegario Segundo Alba Martínez, and Waldamiro Antonio Rebolledo Burgos.

According to the information gathered in this investigation, the magistrate was able to determine the following facts: “That during the month of October 1973, a military patrol from the No. 4 “La Concepción” Reinforced Mountain Regiment of Lautaro patrolled the coastal area of Puerto Saavedra under the orders of Captain Jorge Nibaldo del Río del Río, Lieutenant Juan Enrique Silva Rebeco, and at least one other officer of the rank of Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant, a period during which that contingent was stationed at the Carabineros station of that commune, which was under the command of Lieutenant César Edgardo Anziani Riquelme.”

The ruling adds “that Bernardo Nahuelcoy Chihuaicura, a militant of the Socialist Party, in September 1973 worked at the Puerto Saavedra hospital as an assistant and lived with his family in the “Elmo Catalán” settlement located in the same commune.

During the month of October 1973, he was detained by a patrol made up of Carabineros from the Puerto Saavedra station and military personnel, being transferred from his home to the aforementioned police unit.

In the days following this event, Nahuelcoy's wife went to the aforementioned police unit to ask about her husband, where they told her that her husband had been transferred to Temuco or Carahue, denying her husband's presence in Puerto Saavedra.”

Meanwhile, in the case of “Francisco Segundo Curamil Castillo and his uncle Mauricio Huenucoy Antil, workers at the “Elmo Catalán” settlement in the commune of Puerto Saavedra, they were detained during the month of October 1973 by a military patrol traveling in trucks, which moments before had proceeded to raid the aforementioned place.

Curamil and Huenucoy were transferred to the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros station.”

Likewise, it is detailed “that Francisco Pascual Porma Cheuquecoy, a farmer from the Leufuche sector of Puerto Saavedra and a militant of the Socialist Party, was detained at the end of September or the beginning of October 1973 by a patrol composed of Carabineros and military personnel while he was with his daughter Rosa Ester Porma Millavil sowing on his property.

Porma Cheuquecoy and his daughter were transferred to the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros station, a place from which only Rosa Porma was released later. During that week, Rosa Porma Millavil went to the Puerto Saavedra station to visit her father, bringing him clothes and food. However, on the last occasion she visited him, they told her that her father had been transferred to Temuco.”

“The detained persons, identified above, were subjected to interrogations and illegal coercion inside the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros station and in the stables area, actions that were directed by Captain Jorge Nibaldo del Río del Río, who commanded the military patrol from Lautaro, and in which Lieutenant Juan Enrique Silva Rebeco and the other army officer, as well as some non-commissioned officers and conscripts trusted by the Captain, also participated.

Likewise, some Carabineros from the station had active or present participation in these actions,” the investigation maintains.

The inquiry concludes that the four detainees were loaded onto a military truck and taken to an area near the coast or the banks of the Imperial River, “(…) where they were executed by the military personnel guarding them, among whom were Captain Jorge del Río, Lieutenant Juan Enrique Silva Rebeco, some non-commissioned officers and conscripts who were part of the officer in command's inner circle, and Carabineros Lieutenant Anziani Riquelme.

The rest of the military contingent remained at the Puerto Saavedra station, having knowledge of the executions before they happened. During the following days and in succession, the bodies of the executed persons were found floating in the area of the Imperial River bar or on the beach by relatives and locals of Puerto Saavedra.

Said corpses showed clear signs of having died by the action of third parties.”

Source: elclarin.cl, October 21, 2014

Case File No. 27.530 A and B: Illegal Coercion and Qualified Homicide of Bernardo Nahuelcoy Chihuaicura and others

1. That during the month of October 1973, a military patrol from the No. 4 “La Concepción” Reinforced Mountain Regiment of Lautaro patrolled the coastal area of Puerto Saavedra under the orders of Captain Jorge Nibaldo Del Río Del Río and at least two officers of the rank of Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant, among whom were Juan Enrique Silva Rebeco and Héctor Hernán Moncada Sepúlveda; a period during which that contingent was stationed at the Carabineros station of that commune, which was under the command of Carabineros Lieutenant César Gabriel Anziani Riquelme.

ILLEGAL COERCION AND QUALIFIED HOMICIDE OF BERNARDO NAHUELCOY CHIHUAICURA, FRANCISCO CURAMIL CASTILLO, MAURICIO HUENUCOY ANTIL, AND FRANCISCO PORMA CHEUQUECOY. (Indictments on pages 357, 1,357, and 2,602) A.

That Bernardo Nahuelcoy Chihuaicura, a militant of the Socialist Party, in September 1973 worked at the Puerto Saavedra hospital as an assistant and lived with his family in the “Elmo Catalán” settlement located in the same commune.

During the month of October 1973, he was detained by a patrol made up of Carabineros from the Puerto Saavedra station and military personnel, being transferred from his home to the aforementioned police unit.

In the days following this event, Nahuelcoy Chihuaicura's wife went to the aforementioned police unit to ask about her husband, where the Carabineros officer on duty informed her that her husband had been transferred to Temuco or Carahue, denying her husband's presence in Puerto Saavedra.

B. That Francisco Segundo Curamil Castillo and his uncle Mauricio Huenucoy Antil, workers at the “Elmo Catalán” settlement in the commune of Puerto Saavedra, were detained during the month of October 1973 by a military patrol traveling in trucks, which moments before had proceeded to raid the aforementioned place.

Curamil and Huenucoy were transferred to the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros station. C. That Francisco Pascual Porma Cheuquecoy, a farmer from the Leufuche sector of Puerto Saavedra and a militant of the Socialist Party, was detained at the end of September or the beginning of October 1973 by a patrol composed of Carabineros and military personnel, among whom was Corporal Daniel Del Carmen Riquelme Reyes, while he was with his daughter Rosa Ester Porma Millavil sowing on his property.

Porma Cheuquecoy and his daughter were transferred to the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros station, a place from which only Rosa Porma was released later. D. That, during that week, Rosa Porma Millavil went to the Puerto Saavedra station to visit her father, bringing him clothes and food.

However, on the last occasion she visited him, they told her that her father had been transferred to Temuco. E. That the detained persons, identified above, were subjected to interrogations and illegal coercion inside the Puerto Saavedra Carabineros station and in the stables area, actions that were directed by Captain Jorge Nibaldo Del Río Del Río, who commanded the military patrol from Lautaro, and in which Lieutenant Juan Enrique Silva Rebeco and Second Lieutenant Héctor Hernán Moncada Sepúlveda, plus Sergeant Roberto Sigisfredo San Martín Pérez and the conscripts Miguel Fernando Rubio Diocaretz and Carlos Alejandro Brunevald Huaiquilao, all trusted by Captain Del Río, also participated. In addition, Carabineros Lieutenant César Anziani Riquelme and Corporal Daniel Del Carmen Riquelme Reyes intervened in these actions. The non-commissioned officers Hernán Molina Vera, Rafael Laureano Recabal Bascuñán, José Guillermo Garrido Bustos, and Sebastián Enrique Muñoz Gangas also had active or present participation in these actions. F. That later, the four detainees were loaded onto a military truck in which Lieutenant Juan Enrique Silva Rebeco was traveling and taken to an area near the coast or the banks of the Imperial River, where they were executed by the military personnel guarding them, among whom were Captain Jorge Del Río, Lieutenant Juan Enrique Silva Rebeco, plus Sergeant Roberto Sigisfredo San Martín Pérez; the conscripts Miguel Fernando Rubio Diocaretz and Carlos Alejandro Brunevald Huaiquilao, who were part of the officer in command's inner circle, with Carabineros Lieutenant Anziani Riquelme also having present participation. G. That the rest of the military contingent, among them Héctor Hernán Moncada Sepúlveda, Hernán Molina Vera, Rafael Laureano Recabal Bascuñán, José Guillermo Garrido Bustos, and Sebastián Enrique Muñoz Gangas, remained at the Puerto Saavedra station, having knowledge of the executions before they happened. The same occurred with the Carabineros staff of the Puerto Saavedra station, among whom were Aldo Castro Tapia, Luis Humberto Casanova Águila, Ernesto Darío Ortega Saavedra, Enrique Segundo Merino Sagardía, Olegario Segundo Alba Martínez, and Waldamiro Antonio Rebolledo Burgos. H. That during the following days and in succession, the bodies of the executed persons were found floating in the area of the Imperial River bar or on the beach by relatives and locals of Puerto Saavedra. Said corpses showed clear signs of having died by the action of third parties. On pages 4,591 and 4,606 (Volume XIII), there is a death certificate for the accused Aldo Castro Tapia, who passed away on February 4, 2017.

Source: Judiciary, April 17, 2023