Case Roll 113.969: Qualified homicide of Hernán Henríquez Aravena and Alejandro Flores Rivera and unlawful coercion of Jorge Silhi Zarzar and others

José Daniel Cifuentes López

In a police statement from pages 1.713 to 1.715 (Volume V) dated June 29, 2012, he states that in 1971 he was assigned to the No. 3 Helicopter Group at the Maquehue Air Base, where he remained until 1974, when he was detained and discharged for treason, and subsequently sentenced by a court-martial for dereliction of military duty.

He adds that two years before September 11, 1973, the conspiracy against the government of President Salvador Allende began to take shape.

On the day of the coup, Andrés Pacheco informed them that the Chilean Armed Forces had decided to overthrow the incumbent government and that anyone who opposed it should step forward; however, despite his disagreement, he did not do so due to the potential consequences.

At that moment, the occupation of the city was ordered, and he was issued an automatic rifle and 600 rounds of ammunition with instructions to go to his home and guard the population. About 20 days later, it became very frequent for shots to be fired at them from a vehicle.

Because of this, he and his companion managed to identify who was shooting at them and established that the driver of said vehicle was Captain Volante, who confronted them violently.

He explains that at the base, he observed many detainees, who were at times lying in the guardhouse cells and others in the hallways with their hands up and blindfolded. He also saw people who were brought into the back of the administrative building, at the water tower, where they were tortured.

This was evident from the screams that could be heard and how they were left in the same hallways and cells after the torture.

Regarding his own detention, he notes that on one occasion he observed 15 people in the guardhouse cell showing signs of torture. Due to his condition, he decided to feed them, taking them outside for two hours, but asking them not to speak about it for their own safety.

The fact is that the following day, he was summoned by the second-in-command, Benjamín Fernández, who made him wait for six hours. Upon entering his office, Fernández confronted him about what had happened with the detainees, stating that they should contribute to the fatherland, labeling him a leftist militant, pointing his weapon at him at all times, and informing him that the command had withdrawn its trust in him.

The truth is that on January 4, while he was vacationing in the town of Quintero, a lieutenant and a conscript arrived at his home with the mission of taking him to see a radio sent by the command. Upon arriving at the base, he was notified by a lieutenant that he was under arrest by order of the command.

They handcuffed him, blindfolded him, placed a hood over his head, and he was transported by plane to the Second Carabineros Precinct of Temuco. He remained blindfolded for 11 days, with his torture beginning at that location.

During the day, he was transferred to the Tucapel Regiment, where he was tortured by his peers in a room by Lieutenant Jorge Freygan, Corporal 2nd Class Enrique Rebolledo, Corporal Pereira, Corporal 2nd Class Valdebenito, Corporal 2nd Class Marín, Corporal 2nd Class Ubilla, Corporal 2nd Class Charnay, Corporal 2nd Class Solís, Corporal 2nd Class Soto Pinto, Corporal 2nd Class Soto Herrera, Corporal 2nd Class Yañez (Pato), and Sergeant 2nd Class Orlando Garrido, with Pereira being the most savage.

After several transfers, he was tried for dereliction of military duty in a court-martial, serving a 300-day sentence and being released in January 1975. He adds that the personnel participating in the detentions were those mentioned above, under the command of Captain Leonardo Reyes and reserve officers Cantarutti and Carotti.

However, he indicates that, according to comments from his subordinates, Cantarutti had detained, tortured, and murdered people during raids. Regarding the other detainees at the air base, based on information obtained, the bodies of those murdered were thrown into the Cautín River in the sector known as La Isla.

Regarding the victims of these events, Hernán Henríquez Aravena and Alejandro Flores Rivera, he does not recall having known them, nor does he remember them as detainees at the base, but he does know that at the time, three doctors were being held, whom he did not know.

Source: Judiciary, January 2, 2020