Visiting Judge Alejandro Madrid will request the extradition of three Uruguayan military officers for their alleged responsibility in the murder of former DINA agent Eugenio Berríos. The resolution affects Uruguayan Army officers Tomás Casella, Eduardo Radaelli, and Wellington Sarli.

The three were indicted by Judge Madrid alongside Chilean military personnel for the crime of illicit association, which is in addition to the charges of kidnapping and homicide for which some Chilean officers are already being prosecuted.

The new indictments target Generals Hernán Ramírez Rurange and Eugenio Covarrubias, as well as officers Juan Pérez Santillán and Marcelo Sandoval and non-commissioned officer Nelson Román; the latter three are currently on active duty.

Also indicted are civilians Nelson Hernández, Raúl Lillo Gutiérrez, and the former secretary of the Special Unit, Erika Silva, as well as former majors Arturo Silva and Jaime Torres, who are also being prosecuted as perpetrators.

The Chilean defendants also face charges of embezzlement of public funds and falsification of public documents. Eugenio Berríos, a chemist by profession, worked for the DINA in the manufacture of sarin gas, and it is presumed that he was involved in the death of former President Eduardo Frei Montalva in 1982.

Likewise, his name has been linked to the kidnapping and murder of the Spanish United Nations diplomat Carmelo Soria in 1976. In 1991, when he was due to testify in the trial for the murder of former Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier, Berríos was surreptitiously taken out of Chile and brought to Uruguay, where he was last seen in November 1992, when he appeared at a police station to report that he had been kidnapped.

The agent was handed over by the police to military personnel who arrived after him, and nothing more was known until April 1995, when his corpse, bound and with gunshot wounds to the skull, was found on a beach near Montevideo.

In the trial in Chile, former majors Arturo Silva and Jaime Torres are being prosecuted as perpetrators, and several other officers are being prosecuted for obstruction of justice, including retired generals Hernán Ramírez Rurange and Eugenio Covarrubias, both former heads of the Army's Intelligence Directorate (DINE).

Last July, the Santiago Court of Appeals recommended a series of proceedings to Judge Madrid, including the potential stripping of immunity from former Army Commander-in-Chief Augusto Pinochet and the investigation of 18 other military personnel, including retired general Fernando Torres, former Army auditor general.

Lawyer Fabiola Letelier, a plaintiff in the case, stated that the resolution is based on the judge's certainty regarding the existence of an illicit association formed within the DINE with the objective of kidnapping and murdering Eugenio Berríos.

Letelier, sister of Orlando Letelier, the former foreign minister who was murdered in Washington in 1976, added that once she studies the resolution, she will decide whether to request the reopening of the investigation into her brother's murder.

For that death, former DINA chief Manuel Contreras and Brigadier Pedro Espinoza, his second-in-command of that organization, served prison sentences of seven and six years, respectively. Meanwhile, another of the plaintiff lawyers in the case, Tomás Ehrenfeld, noted that the ruling is "praiseworthy" and "an action of complete justice." The jurist indicated that with this resolution, the court is entering into the "core work of what this operation to kill Berríos and obstruct justice meant."

Source: lanacion.cl, December 29, 2003

Freedom Denied for Former Military Personnel in Berríos Case

The Santiago Court of Appeals has again refused to grant freedom to retired generals Hernán Ramírez Rurange and Eugenio Covarrubias, both of whom are being prosecuted for various crimes in the so-called Berríos case.

Eugenio Berríos, a chemist who produced the deadly sarin gas, was taken out of the country by personnel from the Army's DINE in late October 1991, after Judge Adolfo Bañados requested him for his alleged involvement in the murder of former Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier and ECLAC official Carmelo Soria.

The last time he was seen alive in Uruguay was on November 15, 1992, and his remains were found with gunshot wounds to the skull in April 1995, half-buried on a beach near Montevideo.

Source: latercera.cl, January 12, 2004

Imprisonment of Retired Generals Confirmed in Berríos Case

For the second time, the Eighth Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals refused to grant provisional release to two retired generals, former heads of the Army Intelligence Directorate (DINE), and two other retired officers, who are being prosecuted as part of a criminal illicit association and as perpetrators and accessories to the crime of kidnapping in the trial for the murder of former DINA chemist Eugenio Berríos.

Attempting a common maneuver in the courts, the defense attorneys for the defendants, who remain under arrest by order of visiting Judge Alejandro Madrid, the instructor of the case, insisted on the request that had already been denied a few days ago by the same chamber, taking advantage of a change in its members.

However, this time, although Judge Raimundo Díaz, who presided over the chamber, voted to grant the request, Judge Mauricio Silva and member lawyer Emilio Pfeiffer voted against it. Thus, retired generals Eugenio Covarrubias and Hernán Ramírez Rurange, and retired lieutenant colonels Pablo Rodríguez Márquez and Manuel Pérez Santillán, remain in preventive detention at the Military Police Battalion in Peñalolén.

In the trial for the kidnapping and murder of Berríos, 17 people are being prosecuted, most of them retired Army officers and non-commissioned officers who were and still are members of the DINE. Berríos was clandestinely taken out of Chile on October 26, 1991, first to Argentina and then to Uruguay, in a complex operation ordered by the DINE to prevent him from testifying in the trials for the murders of former Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier and international official Carmelo Soria.

Source: lanacion.cl, January 13, 2004

Secret CIA Document Reveals Striking Background on the Murder of Former President Frei

The shocking revelations in the attached document are part of the archive maintained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at the United States Embassy in Santiago. The reasons and circumstances under which this documentation is in our possession will be made known first to the respective courts investigating the matters and cases concerned, as a matter of elementary civic duty.

For the moment, we can say that it is a set of approximately forty documents, totaling more than two hundred pages, which illuminate with disturbing flashes and contribute to understanding the particular configuration of the Chilean transition, the performance of the political class within it, and the primitive accumulation of certain business groups in the country, in a way that the attached document is merely a preview.

Without prejudice to the above, and since the knowledge of this background constitutes not only a citizen's right but also a dark area of our history that deserves to be unveiled, we are in a position to announce that the entirety of the information will be published in the form of a book that will appear as soon as we finish our own investigation, cross-referencing, and verification of the same.

Meanwhile, the originals of the documents, and a legalized copy of each of them, will remain in custody in two different notaries, from where a mechanism to make them public immediately will be activated in case of any eventuality.

Nomenclature The report with which we inaugurate the publication of the Secret CIA Documents in Chile corresponds to the translation of a compilation of information regarding Operation Coihueco, the code name for the murder of Tucapel Jiménez; Operation Valkyrie, the code name for the murder of former President Eduardo Frei Montalva; and Operation Condor 2, the code name for the murder of chemist Eugenio Berríos, which records entries for the years 1984, 1986, and 1999.

The original in English was sent to Washington D.C. under the classification Secret-3290, while the notation "Eyes Only" implies that it is a read-only document, indicative of its high confidentiality.

As far as we know, WSA is the agency in charge of monitoring and intervening in the main media outlets. AMCO, American Communications, is the embassy's communications department. APO is a section dependent on the CIA in any country, which establishes that documentation with the "APO" designation can only be handled and compiled by "authorized personnel," who, only after checking it, send it to the other agencies.

Once APO compiles it, ARA enters the documentation into a registry archive at the local CIA station, based on information provided by operational teams. Specifically, in the case of the attached document, it was provided by groups G12 and G14, in charge of infiltrating political and union areas, which, moreover, remain fully active.

The veracity of the information contained in the document "Action Copy 9091 to 9097" is for the competent courts to determine, as they have the powers, authority, and means to do so. For our part, the decision to publish said document is due both to the background information that can be provided to the visiting judge, Alejandro Madrid, who not coincidentally is handling the investigation of both the Frei and Berríos cases, and to the results of our own cross-referencing of the information, which, sufficiently for journalistic standards, ethics, and methods, points to the authenticity of the data. Judicial Merit The breakdown of information in section 9091, regarding the Operational Designation "Coihueco," that is, the murder of Tucapel Jiménez Alfaro, which occurred on February 25, 1982, does not offer substantive differences regarding the investigation of visiting judge Sergio Muñoz, but it provides some previously unknown background. For starters, the participation, in varying degrees, of generals Arturo Alvarez Sgolia, Hernán Ramírez Rurange, Humberto Gordon, and Fernando Torres Silva, of Major Carlos Herrera Jiménez, of Colonel Arturo Silva Valdés, and of non-commissioned officers Miguel Letelier Verdugo and Manuel Contreras Donaire, appears to be proven to the point of the conviction of most of them. In contrast, the ruling does not establish the intervention of the UAT, the Special Military Intelligence Unit according to the CIA document, a little-known direct intervention unit that reported directly to Pinochet, above the hierarchical command of formal intelligence services, and which appears directly implicated in the homicides of Tucapel Jiménez, Eduardo Frei, Eugenio Berríos, and Gerardo Huber Olivares, with the motive of "neutralizing" potential threats to the dictatorship in the first two cases, and of preventing possible leaks of those operations to the courts in the latter two. Nor is there any novelty regarding the participation of the CNI's Union Brigade and the General Secretariat of Guilds in prior intelligence work and subsequent cover-up. The names of Misael Galleguillos, Raúl Lillo Gutiérrez, Miguel Hernández, Francisco Ferrer Lima, Valericio Orrego, and Eduardo Arriagada Rehren appear profusely mentioned in the trial, as does Jovino Novoa Vásquez, current President of the Senate. But the CIA report implicates the Minister of the Interior at the time, Sergio Fernández Larraín, and adds two names that do not appear in the investigation: Nelson Hernández Franco, whom the same document later identifies as a liaison with Agustín Edwards, and Luis Becerra, who for nearly twenty years served as Eduardo Frei Montalva's driver. A disturbing sequel emerges from comparing the dates recorded in the document—1984, 1986, and 1999—in circumstances where, while Judge Sergio Valenzuela Patiño knew of it, the process was virtually paralyzed, and only in the last two years prior to the ruling, registered on August 5, 2005, did Judge Sergio Muñoz manage to unravel the plot. This means, neither more nor less, that since 1984, and in any case by 1999, the CIA, and therefore the North American government, had complete knowledge of the conspiracy to murder Tucapel Jiménez, attributed to Pinochet in person, and of those involved in it. It is easy to deduce the bargaining power that the possession of information of such caliber confers. Operation Valkyrie The second chapter begins with information unknown until today. In operational code, the murder of former President Eduardo Frei Montalva was called Operation Valkyrie, the same name used by the conspirators who tried to finish off Adolf Hitler through an explosive attack on July 20, 1944. Many of the names of those involved are repeated because, according to the CIA report, "two parallel fronts of action were created for the development of these two objectives, Valkyrie and Coihueco." Furthermore, it specifies that "through the Special Military Intelligence Unit, UAT, which depends directly on the Commander-in-Chief General Augusto Pinochet, the operational unit Valkyrie, DC, is developed. Its main objective was to neutralize and eliminate Eduardo Frei Montalva." Still according to the document, the economic and logistical aspects were handled by the company Elissalde y Poblete, one of the fronts used by the DINA to finance its operations. Names such as Luis González Sepúlveda, Juan Jara Quintana, Alicia Uribe, Alejandro Campos, Fernando Arancibia Reyes, and Fernando Suau Baquedano appear frequently mentioned both in judicial proceedings and in investigative journalism pages. In the operational aspects, according to the document, the Army Intelligence Directorate (DINE), the Counter-Espionage Unit (CIE), the Tactical Support Command (CAT), the Exterior Department of the National Information Center (CNI), and the Army Chemical Complex (IST) intervened. Among the names are agents who also appear mentioned in the murders of Eugenio Berríos and/or Tucapel Jiménez, cases of Fernando Torres Silva, Hernán Ramírez Rurange, Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Arturo Silva Valdés, and Raúl Lillo Gutiérrez, all of whom are under prosecution by Judge Alejandro Madrid in the Berríos case. In the words of the CIA report, the murder of former President Frei was produced by the inoculation, in each of the four surgical operations, of substances such as mustard gas and the Clostridium botulinum bacillus, brought in by DINE agents infiltrated into the Chilean Foreign Ministry. The document reports direct or indirect actions by doctors Patricio Silva Garín, Augusto Larraín Orrego, Eduardo Wainstein, Rodrigo Vélez Fuenzalida, Sergio Virgilio Bocaz, Pedro Samuel Soto, Helmar Rosenberg, Eduardo Arriagada Rehren, Sergio Rosende Oyarzún, Alejandro Goic, and Enzo Fujide. In the task of embalming the body and blocking the traces of the toxins, doctors Patricio Rojas Saavedra, Patricio Silva Garín, Hernán Barahona, Helmar Rosenberg, and Sergio González Bombardiere are mentioned, as well as the assistant Humberto Gallardo. For the undersigned, none of this information constitutes a novelty, since it fits with millimetric precision the lines of investigation being carried out by Judge Alejandro Madrid, as we recorded in editions 1447 and 1437. But it is possible that the judge may be interested in interrogating Juan Renán Quintana, María Eugenia Valenzuela, and Julio Lobos Romero. It is presumed that Judge Alejandro Madrid will issue his first resolutions in the course of this year. Therefore, it is highly striking that the CIA has handled this information since at least 1999. Berríos Package Many of the names, such as Ramírez Rurange, Covarrubias Valenzuela, Silva Valdés, Lillo Gutiérrez, and Herrera Jiménez, reappear in the operation of "extraction" from the country and subsequent murder of the chemist Eugenio Berríos, because, according to the CIA document, it was also an operation carried out by the UAT. To make a long story short, all the names that appear in sections 4, "Berríos Package"; 5, "Extraction from Chile"; and 6, "Execution Berríos Package," are under prosecution by Judge Alejandro Madrid for their participation in varying degrees in the murder of the chemist, which occurred between January and March 1993 in Uruguay. The greatest novelty provided by the document relates to the fact that it was a tip-off from the CIA station in Buenos Aires that allowed for the arrest of Herrera Jiménez; a not insignificant piece of data, since upon his return to Chile, he was one of the first to break the chain of loyalty, as he began to provide classified information that would lead to the clarification of the murder of Tucapel Jiménez. Edwards and Co. In the parts where the document reaches its climax in terms of impact and novelty is in titles 7, "Special Intelligence and Counterintelligence Operations"; 8, "Intelligence Objectives and Criminal Operations"; and 9, "Asset Laundering and Operational Financing." For starters, in the planning, development of logistical means, and companies used for the cover-up of actions of the Army Intelligence School (EIE), the National Army Intelligence Directorate (DINE), the Special Military Intelligence Unit (UAT), and the National Information Center (CNI), the document implicates Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, Agustín Edwards Eastman, owner of the company El Mercurio S.A.P., and his firstborn, Agustín Edwards del Río. The report adds that Pinochet personally entrusted the planning, development, and execution of operations Valkyrie and Coihueco to the then-major Arturo Silva Valdés. Furthermore, it maintains that in both operations, active and retired Army personnel were used, who were transferred, in the words of the document, to the private security service of Agustín Edwards Eastman and Agustín Edwards del Río, "collaborators and informants of this agency since 1968." It adds that Arturo Silva Valdés, Nelson Hernández Franco, Marcelo Sandoval, Nelson Román, Erika Silva, and Eduardo Martínez Wogner were used as liaisons. This background corroborates the chronicle published by the defunct newspaper Siete + 7 on August 1, 2003, titled "I Loved a Murderer," signed by journalists Verónica Foxley and Mónica González, which, regarding the retirement of Arturo Silva Valdés from the Army, recounted: "He materialized his plans in 1994. Vanward was born. And in September 1994, they sent him on a service commission to work for the personal security of Agustín Edwards, the owner of El Mercurio. In that mission, Nelson Hernández Franco, also a member of the secret DINE unit and who served in the CNI under the alias 'Marcos de la Fuente,' prosecuted for the murder of Tucapel Jiménez; Marcelo Sandoval; and Nelson Román joined Valdés. There was also a woman: Erika Silva. The entire team would later be headed by Major Eduardo Martínez Wogner, who was an aide to CNI director Humberto Gordon." Therefore, it is possible that said information is already established in the process being handled by Judge Alejandro Madrid. But it also falls within the probabilities that he is unaware of the information regarding asset laundering for the financing of operational actions, for which a network of front companies was created, such as Serprotec S.A.; Consultsistem Chile S.A.; Inversiones Canelo Seis; Compañía de Inversiones Nacionales; Inmobiliaria Santa Raquel; Ecogas; Focus Investment; and a company that is not identified, which would be linked to Jovino Novoa Vásquez, then editor of news for the newspaper El Mercurio. Our own investigation yielded surprising results, and in many cases consistent with the information in the CIA document. Serprotec S.A. is a company incorporated by a deed published in the Official Gazette on August 18, 1992, and whose partners are Inversiones Canelo Seis y Cía, with a contribution of 4,900,000 pesos, and Juan Luis Armando Herrera Villena, who contributed the sum of 10,000 pesos. Consultsistem Chile S.A. is a company incorporated by a deed published in the Official Gazette on October 15, 1996, which records a subscribed and paid-in capital of 6,000,000 pesos, contributed in equal parts by partners Arturo Rodrigo Silva Valdés and Eugenio Augusto Covarrubias Benavides. Canelo Seis is an investment company incorporated on September 3, 1986, by Agustín Edwards Eastman and the Compañía de Inversiones Samotracia, composed of Javier Duarte García de la Huerta and Jorge Eyzaguirre Correa, formed with the purpose of triangulating and liquidating the substantial debt that the company El Mercurio S.A.P. was accumulating at the time, amounting to 5.2 million Unidades de Fomento, equivalent today to 109.111 billion pesos, or just over 190 million dollars. The El Mercurio rescue operation concluded on March 8, 1990—that is, the business day immediately prior to the dictatorship formally leaving power—with substantial loans granted by the Banco del Estado, among many other maneuvers, while it was presided over by Alvaro Bardón Muñoz. The lawsuit filed by Andrés Sanfuentes, President of the Banco del Estado in 1990, established that the direct patrimonial loss of the Bank with the aforementioned operations amounted to at least 25 million dollars, equivalent to 70% of the Bank's profit in the 1989 balance sheet, and 8% of its total capital and reserves. The first reference to Inversiones Nacionales S.A. in the National Registry of Partners and Companies of the National Chamber of Commerce dates back to June 6, 1989, when Mauricio Andrés Parot Medina and Mikel Ugarte Larrazábal appear as partners. The next entry of interest appears in the Official Gazette of February 28, 1992, with Inversiones Nacionales S.A. already converted into the parent company of Francisco Javier Errázuriz's business holding, with its subsidiaries Comercial e Industrial Unimarc, Hipermarc Internacional, Inversiones Salmones Unimarc, Compañía Minera Nacional, and Ingeniería e Informática Nacional, among others that appear in the deed. No less surprising is the corporate link that the tracking of the deeds allows to establish between Comercial Canelo S.A. and Inversiones Nacionales S.A., of Francisco Javier Errázuriz. In the extract from notary Iván Torrealba, published on June 10, 1994, in the Official Gazette, it reads: "On May 18, 1994, the minutes of the Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting of Comercial Canelo S.A. were reduced to a public deed before me, in which the shareholders Agustín Edwards Eastman, Inversiones Nacionales S.A., and Agustín Edwards del Río agreed to the division of Canelo S.A. into two companies, distributing the equity, assets, and liabilities between them in the form and terms agreed upon at the Meeting," establishing a capital amounting to $4,835,928,564, divided into 1,450,000,000 nominative shares without nominal value. The links between Inversiones Canelo Seis and Inversiones Nacionales are reproduced in the Sociedad de Inversiones Rahue S.A., incorporated on December 20, 2008, and in the Sociedad de Inversiones Pozo Almonte, published in the Official Gazette on October 4, 2008. New revelations from the Secret CIA Documents will be made known as the verification and cross-referencing of background information yields convincing and verifiable results.

CIA DOCUMENT

Embassy/ CIA-Chile/ Action Copy/9091/ARA/APO Sent/CIA/chileto/was/DC/SECRET-3290/EYESONLY Sensitive Secret/January 84/86/99/report AMCO/CHILE/intelligence/Agency-Chile/ Compilation of Background/ Internal Translation//Ordered/Wsa/WAS/ARA Department of State 1.- Operational Designation/PR/Coihueco /Intelligence Structure/Linear organization/Essential principles/Functional Objective Organization/Design/Planning/Operational Execution/State Cover-ups/according to GI2 report/Agency/Chile/CIA Dept./ Action Objective Tucapel Jiménez Alfaro/Chilean Radical Party/ex-Director/ ANEF Chile/creator of the Group of Ten/ Democratic Union of Workers/ Action Copy/9092/ARA/APO Action Development/Operation Coihueco Counterintelligence / through the Special Military Intelligence Unit/UAT/which depends directly on the Commander-in-Chief, General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte/ operational designation/Coihueco/PR/ its objective to neutralize and eliminate / Tucapel Jiménez Alfaro/ Arturo Álvarez Sgolia/Hernán Ramírez Rurange/Army Intelligence Directorate/DINE/Carlos Herrera Jiménez/ Miguel Letelier Verdugo/ Manuel Contreras Donaire/Arturo Silva Valdés/ Nelson Hernández Franco/Fernando Torres Silva/CIE/ Counter-Espionage Unit/Tactical Support Command/CAT/ CNI/ Humberto Gordon/ Luis Becerra//Driver/ /end translation Cover-up and Participation of State Agents Civil servants /Political leaders /Directorate of Civil Organizations/ Misael Galleguillos/Ministry of Public Works/ Valericio Orrego Salas/ Undersecretary of Government/Jovino Novoa Vásquez/ General Secretariat of Guilds/ Minister of the Interior /Sergio Fernández/ 2.- Operational Designation/Valkyrie DC/Support Unit/Intelligence/Political Strategic/ Raúl Lillo Gutiérrez/Miguel Hernández/Francisco Ferrer Lima/Eduardo Arriagada Rehren/ Political Union Brigade/Special Unit of the Army Intelligence Directorate/UAT/DINE/C1-2/ Action Copy/9093/ARA/APO Intelligence Structure/Linear organization/Essential principles/Functional Objective Organization/Design/Planning/Operational Execution/State Cover-ups/according to report/ GI4/Agency/Chile/CIA Dept./ Economic Unit/Logistics/Planning/Objective DC/PC Elissalde y Poblete company/Pedro Diet Lobos/ Luis González Sepúlveda/Juan Jara Quintana/Alicia Uribe /Gómez/Alejandro Campos/Fernando Arancibia Reyes/Juan Jara/Sergio Herrera Silva/Fernando Suau Baquedano/ Action Objectives Eduardo Frei Montalva/ Former President of Chile/Linked to our agency through Collaborators and informants of the Chilean DC/Support in presidential campaign/his party has been linked to this agency since 065/088/ end translation. Through the Special Military Intelligence Unit/UAT/which depends directly on the Commander-in-Chief General Augusto Pinochet/ operational unit/Valkyrie DC/ is developed/its main objective was to neutralize and eliminate / Eduardo Frei Montalva Action Copy/9094/ARA/APO /Army Intelligence Directorate/DINE/Fernando Torres Silva/CIE/ Counter-Espionage Unit/Tactical Support Command/CAT/ CNI/ Humberto Gordon/EIE/ Eugenio Berríos Sagredo/Army Chemical Complex/ ISP/Jaime Fuenzalida Bravo/Joaquín Larraín Gana /OPS/Virgilio Scutia/ Arturo Silva Valdés/ Exterior Department of the CNI/DINE Political Unit/ LBGE/Action Development/ Eduardo Frei Montalva/ Clostridium botulinum bacillus/ LBGE/ is entered through DINE Agents, in the Chilean Foreign Ministry/USA/ Germany/Belgium/ United Kingdom/ Brazil/end translation 3.- Operational Area and Objective Observation/Informants/ C1-2 Brigade/CNI/DINE In the compilation of background information, through the usual sources, it was determined that the substance/ Clostridium botulinum bacillus/Mustard Gas/was introduced in each of the interventions/through the sterilized surgical arsenal/ dose in dressings/it is developed in four operative phases/ At the same time, it was established that the operational groups employed by state agencies/were aware/ without knowing the means or external agent to be used/ ordered by /UAT/DINE/ Phase 1/04 /Surgical Interventions/Direct and Indirect Actions of Objective Patricio Silva Garín/ Augusto Larraín Orrego/ Eduardo Wainstein/ Rodrigo Vélez Fuenzalida/ Sergio Virgilio Bocaz/ Pedro Samuel Soto/ Helmar Rosenberg/ Eduardo Arriagada Rehren /Sergio Rosende Oyarzún/ Alejandro Goic/Enzo Fujide/Army Intelligence Directorate (DINE) Action Copy/9095/ARA/APO Phase 2/ Necropsy /embalm the body/block toxin traces/ Doctors Patricio Rojas Saavedra /Patricio Silva Garín/ordered Doctor Hernán Barahona/ H.U.C.CH/ to send to Pathologists /Helmar Rosenberg Gómez /Sergio González Bombardiere /assistant Humberto Gallardo/injecting formalin/necropsy/ Phase 3 Army of Chile/coordination / liaisons/Action execution Juan Renán Quintana/ Osvaldo Cordero Cuevas//Sergio González Wauters Raúl Lillo/ Juan Evaristo Gallegos/ Luis Becerra/ Joaquín Larraín Gana/Jaime Fuenzalida Bravo/María Eugenia Valenzuela/Julio Lobos Romero/Eugenio Berríos Sagredo// Hernán Ramírez Rurange/ Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela/ Arturo Silva Valdés/Maximiliano Ferrer Lima /Víctor Pinto Pérez /Ramsés Álvarez Sgolia/end translation Phase 4/Transfer Uruguay/planning/Logistics/Collaborators/Execution /Eugenio Berríos/ 4.-Action Objective/ Berríos Package/DINE/UAT/CNI Hernán Ramírez Rurange/ Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela/ Luis Arturo Sanhueza Ross/ Link Operation Albania / Carlos Herrera Jiménez / Link / Operation Coihueco/'Murder of Tucapel Jiménez/ Torres Silva/Augusto Pinochet/Intellectual Operators/ Pablo Rodríguez Márquez/ assigned by Pinochet/secret DINE team/UAT/Arturo Silva Valdés/ Raúl Lillo Gutiérrez/ CNI civilian/ Action Copy/9096/APO 5.-Action Development/Extraction from Chile/Operation of 8ajas/Condor2/ City of Punta Arenas/Rio Gallegos/Buenos Aires/Colonia/Montevideo /Carlos Herrera/ Tomás Casella/Uruguayan Army/ Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer/Coordinates the first safe house for Eugenio Berríos and Carlos Herrera/Through our Agency in Buenos Aires, it was possible to give notice through normal channels of the presence of Carlos Herrera, who was arrested by the authorities/end of translation 6.-Execution/ Berríos Package Mario Enrique Cisternas/ Pablo Marcelo Rodríguez/Jaime Torres Gacitúa/ Arturo Silva Valdés/Uruguayan Intelligence/Tomás Casella/Eduardo Radaelli /Wellington Sarli Pose/ 7.- Special Intelligence/ Counterintelligence Operations/ Planning/ Development of Logistical Means/ Companies used/Covert Actions/EIE/ DINE/UAT/CNI / Tactical and Operational Development/Augusto Pinochet Ugarte/ Agustín Edwards Eastman/ Agustín Edwards del Rio/Owners of the newspaper El Mercurio/Companies Used for the development of both Intelligence Operations/end translation Action Copy/9097/ARA/APO Arturo Rodrigo Silva Valdés/DINE/UAT/Chilean Army Officer/direct order from General Augusto Pinochet/Planning/Development/Execution/Operation/Valkyrie DC/Operation Coihueco/end translation 8.-Intelligence Objectives/ criminal operations In background information developed by our embassy, two parallel fronts of action were created for the development of these two objectives/Valkyrie DC/Coihueco/active and retired personnel of the Chilean Army were used, who were transferred to the private security service of Agustín Edwards Eastman/ Agustín Edwards del Rio/Collaborators and informants of this agency/'068'/used as liaisons/ Arturo Rodrigo Silva Valdés/ Nelson Hernández Franco/ Marcelo Sandoval/ Nelson Román/ Erika Silva/ Eduardo Martínez Wogner /end of translation 9.-Investments and Asset Laundering / Operational Financing/ Serprotec S.A./General Manager /Eugenio Covarrubias Jr./ Juan Luis Herrera Villena/Inversiones Canelo Seis/Compañía de Inversiones Nacionales/ partners Agustín Edwards Eastman/ Agustín Edwards del Rio/ Ecogas Limitada/ /Ceqsachile S.A./Consultsistem Chile S.A/Inmobiliaria Santa Raquel/company linked to Drug trafficker/Asset Laundering/Arms trafficking/Jesús Ochoa Galvis/Focus Investment Corp Company/Linked to asset laundering of the Pinochet family/Hongkong and Shanghai Bank/Banco Chile N.Y./ Banco O'Higgins/ Barrick Gold Corporation/Linked to Chilean businessman/Andrónico Luksic Abaroa/Banco Edwards/Guerrero Olivos Law Firm/Company linked to the former general news editor of the newspaper El Mercurio/Héctor Novoa Vásquez/ Jovino Novoa Vásquez/ end translation Embassy/ CIA/ CHILETO Ambassador/Minister Counselor El Mercurio November 2, 2011 Judge sentences six former military personnel for obstructing justice in the Soria case Visiting Judge Alejandro Madrid issued a first-instance sentence this Wednesday in the process opened for various crimes discovered during the investigation into the homicide of the Spanish citizen and diplomat Carmelo Soria Espinoza, which was processed in the nineties. Thus, the member of the Santiago Court of Appeals sentenced retired General Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela in this aspect to 3 years in prison for his responsibility as the perpetrator of the crime of illicit association. Meanwhile, retired Brigadier Jaime Lepe Orellana was sentenced to 3 years in prison as the perpetrator of the crime of illicit association; 61 days for his responsibility in the falsification of a public document; and 60 days in prison and a fine of 20 UTM for his responsibility as the perpetrator of the crime of presenting false witnesses in court. Likewise, retired Justice Colonel Sergio Cea Cienfuegos was sentenced to 3 years in prison for his responsibility as the perpetrator of the crime of falsification of a public document, and retired Lieutenant Colonel René Quilhot Palma was sentenced to 541 days in prison for his responsibility as the perpetrator of the crime of illicit association. Along with this, retired non-commissioned officer Leonardo Quilodrán Burgos was sentenced to 60 days in prison for his responsibility as the perpetrator of the crime of illicit association, and Leonardo García Pérez to 60 days in jail as an accomplice to the crime of falsification of a public document. Finally, Judge Madrid determined to acquit retired Colonel Fernán González Fernández due to a lack of participation in the investigated crimes. "As during the year 1993, the criminal case followed in the Third Criminal Court of this city, in which the homicide of the international official Mr. Carmelo Soria Espinoza was being investigated, was reactivated (...) it contains the statement of the Army Sergeant Major Mr. Remigio Ríos San Martín, who confesses his participation in the referred crime and mentions as co-participants Army officers belonging to the DINA," says part of the ruling.

Source: elsiglo.cl, June 10, 2009

Berríos Crime on the Verge of Sentencing

The resolution by Judge Alejandro Madrid, spanning some 400 pages, will affect two active-duty intelligence non-commissioned officers, three retired generals—including former prosecutor Fernando Torres—and three Uruguayan colonels, two of whom are still in the Army.

Judge Alejandro Madrid is close to issuing the first-instance sentence for the crime against DINA chemist Eugenio Berríos Sagredo, which occurred in 1995 in Uruguay. The ruling is nearly 400 pages long, the product of one of the most extensive and in-depth police and judicial investigations.

The resolution provides a detailed account of how the Army of that time operated to obstruct justice shortly after democracy was restored, from the Commander-in-Chief and high-command generals to the general auditor's office, including re-enlisted agents from the dissolved CNI, the Army Intelligence Directorate (DINE), and its operational arm, the Intelligence Battalion (BIE).

Of the 19 individuals prosecuted and formally charged, including the three Uruguayan colonels—two of whom are still on active duty—it has emerged that the vast majority will receive effective prison sentences, although a couple could benefit from sentences of five years and one day with supervised release.

Two of those who would have guaranteed effective prison sentences are still on active duty in the Army performing intelligence tasks. They are DINE non-commissioned officers and former CNI agents Marcelo Sandoval Durán and Nelson Román Vargas.

Both are charged as perpetrators of kidnapping, illicit association, and omission of justice regarding the activities of an illicit association. Both operated as guards for Berríos while he was held captive in Montevideo.

Torres Silva Among those who would also face an effective prison sentence is retired general and former military prosecutor Fernando Torres Silva, charged as a perpetrator of an illicit association that committed crimes. Therefore, his sentence of major imprisonment would range from five years and one day to 20 years.

THE LIST OF THE 19 ACCUSED

1.- Arturo Silva Valdés (retired lieutenant colonel) (perpetrator of kidnapping with homicide and perpetrator of illicit association) 2.- Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela (retired general) (accessory to kidnapping with homicide, perpetrator of kidnapping, perpetrator of illicit association, and perpetrator of obstruction of justice) 3.- Hernán Ramírez Rurange (retired general) (perpetrator of kidnapping, perpetrator of illicit association, and perpetrator of obstruction of justice) 4.- Manuel Jorge Provis Carrasco (retired brigadier) (perpetrator of kidnapping and perpetrator of illicit association) 5.- Pablo Rodríguez Márquez (retired lieutenant colonel) (perpetrator of kidnapping, perpetrator of illicit association, and perpetrator of obstruction of justice) 6.- Jaime Fernando Torres Gacitúa (retired major) (perpetrator of kidnapping and perpetrator of illicit association) 7.- Raúl Lillo Gutiérrez (retired lieutenant) (perpetrator of kidnapping, perpetrator of illicit association, and perpetrator of obstruction of justice) 8.- Manuel Antonio Pérez Santillán (retired colonel) (perpetrator of kidnapping and perpetrator of illicit association) 9.- Tomás Casella Santos (Uruguayan colonel) (perpetrator of kidnapping and perpetrator of illicit association) 10.- Eduardo Radaelli Copilla (active Uruguayan colonel) (perpetrator of kidnapping and perpetrator of illicit association) 11.- Wellington Sarli Pose (active Uruguayan colonel) (perpetrator of kidnapping and perpetrator of illicit association) 12.- Marcelo Sandoval Durán (active non-commissioned officer) (perpetrator of kidnapping, perpetrator of illicit association, and perpetrator of omission of activities of members of an illicit association) 13.- Nelson Román Vargas (active non-commissioned officer) (perpetrator of kidnapping, perpetrator of illicit association, and perpetrator of omission of activities of members of an illicit association) 14.- Enrique Gabriel Arturo Ibarra Chamorro (retired colonel) (perpetrator of illicit association) 15.- Mario Enrique Cisternas Orellana (retired lieutenant colonel) (perpetrator of omission of activities of members of an illicit association) 16.- Nelson Hernández Franco (retired non-commissioned officer) (perpetrator of omission of activities of members of an illicit association) 17.- Erika del Carmen Silva Morales (Army civilian) (perpetrator of omission of activities of members of an illicit association) 18.- Ginez Emilio Rojas Gómez (civilian) (perpetrator of obstruction of justice) 19.- Juan Fernando Alfredo Torres Silva (retired general) (perpetrator of illicit association).

First-instance sentences

• Arturo Rodrigo Silva Valdés, former major in the Chilean Army, was sentenced to 10 years and one day of imprisonment in the medium degree "for his responsibility as a perpetrator of the crime of kidnapping with homicide of Eugenio Berríos Sagredo, described in the final paragraph of Article 141 of the Penal Code, perpetrated in the town of Parque del Plata, Canelones Department, Uruguay, on an undetermined date between November 15, 1992, and the month of April 1993."

"Likewise, he is sentenced to 3 years and one day of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree and the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification for political rights and absolute disqualification for public offices and positions for the duration of the sentence for his responsibility as a co-perpetrator of the crime of illicit association described in Article 292 and sanctioned in Article 293 of the Penal Code, which was formed in this city [Santiago de Chile], starting in the month of October 1991."

• Hernán Ramírez Rurange, former Chilean general, was sentenced to 5 years and one day, absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and positions and political rights, and absolute disqualification for titular professions for the duration of the sentence, plus 3 years and one day, plus perpetual disqualification, as a co-perpetrator of illicit association.

Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela, former Chilean general, 3 years and one day and perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, and 541 days, plus perpetual disqualification, for illicit association.

Manuel Jorge Provis Carrasco, former Chilean brigadier, 5 years and one day and perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, and 3 years and one day, plus perpetual disqualification, for illicit association.

Jaime Fernando Torres Gacitúa, former Chilean major, 5 years and one day and perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, and 3 years and one day, plus perpetual disqualification, for illicit association.

Raúl Diego Lillo Gutiérrez, Chilean DINE civilian, 5 years and one day plus perpetual disqualification, and another 100 days for illicit association. Pablo Marcelo Rodríguez Márquez, Chilean lieutenant colonel, 3 years and one day and perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, plus 70 days for illicit association.

Tomas Ventura Casella Santos, former colonel of the Uruguayan Army, 5 years and one day and perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, and 3 years and one day, plus perpetual disqualification for illicit association.

Eduardo Ernesto Radaelli Copolla, former captain of the Uruguayan Army, 5 years and one day plus perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, and 70 days for illicit association. Wellington Sarli Pose, former colonel of the Uruguayan Army, 3 years and one day plus perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, and 60 days for illicit association.

Manuel Antonio Pérez Santillán, former colonel of the Chilean Army, 3 years and one day and perpetual disqualification for complicity in kidnapping. Juan Fernando Alfredo Torres Silva, former general, former auditor of the Chilean Army, 3 years and one day and perpetual disqualification for illicit association.

Nelson Williams Román Vargas, non-commissioned officer of the Chilean Army, 3 years and one day, plus perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, and 60 days for illicit association. Marcelo Ariel Sandoval Durán, non-commissioned officer of the Chilean Army, 3 years and one day and perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, plus 60 days for illicit association.

Source: lanacion.cl, August 9, 2010

In Puerto Montt, former Army, Carabineros, and Investigations officers prosecuted for kidnapping, illegal detention, and torture

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Puerto Montt Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Vera Muñoz, has prosecuted former officers of the Army, Carabineros, and the Investigative Police (PDI) for their responsibility in the crimes of kidnapping, illegal detention, and the application of torture, illicit acts perpetrated against 19 victims at the PDI barracks that, in 1973, was located at Calle Serena No. 60 in the city.

In the resolution (case file 10.872), Minister Vera Muñoz prosecuted Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Carlos Tapia Galleguillos, and Roberto Díaz Moya, who performed intelligence functions within the Interior Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) of Puerto Montt, a unit that began operating on September 11, 1973, in the provinces of Llanquihue, Chiloé, and Palena.

During the investigation stage, the visiting minister managed to verify the following facts: "That, as a consequence of the circumstances previously indicated, members of the Armed Forces—in some cases with an order issued by the Military Prosecutor's Office in time of war and in others without any order at all—detained hundreds of people who, in the days immediately following September 11, 1973, were transferred to the facilities of the Sangra Regiment, but later, as the detentions increased, they were taken directly to the dungeons of the Puerto Montt Investigative Police barracks, where, in facilities located on an upper floor, they were subjected to interrogations by subordinate personnel—non-commissioned officers—under the command and direction of superior officers, thus transforming that barracks into a place of detention and interrogation under various types of torture, logistically assisted by the officers who performed intelligence functions within the CAJSI, among others, Army Captain Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Carabineros Lieutenant Carlos Tapia Galleguillos, and Investigative Police Inspector Roberto Díaz; That, among the numerous people who suffered detention and the application of torture, during the course of this investigation it has been possible to identify: Conrado Ulloa Uribe, Jaime Luis Benítez Sepúlveda; José Alfredo Argel Marilicán; Jaime Nolberto Vera Vera; Edi Rodrigues Ribeiro (sic); Jorge Segundo Ovando Agüero; Ramón Alberto Zambrano Toledo; José Teodomiro Vargas Niello; Luis Alberto Silva Hernández; Luis Humberto Villegas Alvarado; Luis Alberto Guerrero Uribe; Marcia Noelia Oyarzo Groff; Juan Guillermo Leonhardt Catalán; Paulo Hernán Anderson Muñoz; Mario Enrique Contreras Vega; César Vladimir Leiva Garrido; Jaime Alfonso Moraga Zamorano; Marco Antonio Romero Arias, Saúl Sergio Espinoza Villalobos, among many others, men and women of diverse social conditions and educational levels."

Source: cronicalibre.cl, February 25, 2016

Former uniformed personnel and former PDI agents prosecuted for kidnapping and torture in Puerto Montt in 1973

The Puerto Montt Court of Appeals has prosecuted uniformed personnel and former PDI agents for torture in Puerto Montt in 1973. Among them is General Eugenio Covarrubias, sentenced in Punta Peuco for the Berríos and Soria cases.

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Puerto Montt Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Vera Muñoz, has prosecuted former officers of the Army, Carabineros, and the Investigative Police (PDI) for their responsibility in the crimes of kidnapping, illegal detention, and the application of torture, illicit acts perpetrated against 19 victims at the PDI barracks that, in 1973, was located at Calle Serena No. 60 in the city.

Covarrubias was an Army general, a CNI agent, and director of the Army Intelligence Directorate (DINE). In August 2010, Covarrubias Valenzuela was sentenced to three years and one day and perpetual disqualification for kidnapping, and 541 days, plus perpetual disqualification, for illicit association.

This was for his role in the kidnapping of the former DINA agent, chemist Eugenio Berríos Sagredo, which occurred in 1995 in Uruguay. In November 2011, during the investigation into the homicide of Spanish citizen and diplomat Carmelo Soria Espinoza, the Santiago Court of Appeals sentenced Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela to 3 years in prison for his responsibility as a perpetrator of illicit association.

Covarrubias has been serving his sentence at the Punta Peuco prison since August 2015. In the resolution, Minister Vera Muñoz prosecuted Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Carlos Tapia Galleguillos, and Roberto Díaz Moya, who performed intelligence functions within the Interior Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) of Puerto Montt, a unit that began operating on September 11, 1973, in the provinces of Llanquihue, Chiloé, and Palena.

During the investigation stage, the visiting minister managed to verify that members of the Armed Forces—in some cases with an order issued by the Military Prosecutor's Office in time of war and in others without any order at all—detained hundreds of people who, in the days immediately following September 11, 1973, were transferred to the facilities of the Sangra Regiment, but later, as the detentions increased, they were taken directly to the dungeons of the Puerto Montt Investigative Police barracks, where, in facilities located on an upper floor, they were subjected to interrogations by subordinate personnel—non-commissioned officers—under the command and direction of superior officers, thus transforming that barracks into a place of detention and interrogation under various types of torture, logistically assisted by the officers who performed intelligence functions within the CAJSI, among others, Army Captain Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Carabineros Lieutenant Carlos Tapia Galleguillos, and Investigative Police Inspector Roberto Díaz; Among the numerous people who suffered detention and the application of torture, the investigation has managed to identify Conrado Ulloa Uribe, Jaime Luis Benítez Sepúlveda; José Alfredo Argel Marilicán; Jaime Nolberto Vera Vera; Edi Rodrigues Ribeiro (sic); Jorge Segundo Ovando Agüero; Ramón Alberto Zambrano Toledo; José Teodomiro Vargas Niello; Luis Alberto Silva Hernández; Luis Humberto Villegas Alvarado; Luis Alberto Guerrero Uribe; Marcia Noelia Oyarzo Groff; Juan Guillermo Leonhardt Catalán; Paulo Hernán Anderson Muñoz; Mario Enrique Contreras Vega; César Vladimir Leiva Garrido; Jaime Alfonso Moraga Zamorano; Marco Antonio Romero Arias, Saúl Sergio Espinoza Villalobos, among many others, men and women of diverse social conditions and educational levels."

Source: elciudadano.com, February 26, 2018

Investigative Police Barracks, Puerto Montt

Members of the Armed Forces, in some cases with an order issued by the Military Prosecutor's Office in times of war and in others without any order at all, detained hundreds of people in the days that followed the Coup, who were transferred to the Sangra Regiment.

But later, as the detentions increased, they were taken directly to the dungeons of the Puerto Montt Investigative Police barracks, located at the intersection of Calle Serena and Egaña, in the heart of the regional capital.

In these facilities, the detainees were subjected to violent interrogations by members of the armed forces, logistically assisted by officers who performed intelligence functions within the CAJSI, among others, Army Captain Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Carabineros Lieutenant Oscar Tapia Galleguillos, and Investigative Police Inspector Roberto Díaz.

The systematic aggressions and torture to which the men and women who passed through this place were subjected allow this barracks to be identified as one of the thousands of political imprisonment and torture centers used by the Pinochet Dictatorship, making it the most emblematic site of the exercise of State Terrorism in the Los Lagos Region.

This situation extended from September 11, 1973, and was maintained while General Sergio Leigh Guzmán remained in Puerto Montt as the Plaza Commander, beginning to decline upon the assumption of his replacement, the general of the same branch, Juan Soler Manfredini.

Multiple testimonies from victims who passed through the PDI barracks, which attest to the application of various types of mistreatment at the site, have allowed for the prosecution of Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos, and Roberto Javier Díaz Moya, as perpetrators of the crimes of kidnapping, illegal detention, and the application of torture.

Source: memoriahistorica.minjusticia.gob.cl, 2019

Retired military officer, Carabineros officer, and detective accused of kidnapping and torture in Puerto Montt

Minister Álvaro Mesa indicates that the three were members of the Interior Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) of Puerto Montt and attributes to them responsibility for the illicit acts perpetrated in 1973.

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa, issued an indictment against three members of the Interior Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) of Puerto Montt for their responsibility in the crimes of kidnapping, illegal detention, and the application of torture, illicit acts perpetrated in the regional capital in 1973.

In the resolution, the visiting minister attributes responsibility, as perpetrators of the crimes, to retired Army officer Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, who at the time of the events was in charge of the Second Intelligence Section of the No. 12 "Sangra" Infantry Regiment of the city of Puerto Montt; to retired Carabineros officer Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos, of the staff of the Second Carabineros Precinct of Puerto Montt; and to detective Roberto Javier Díaz Moya, of the Information Department of the Puerto Montt Prefecture of the Investigative Police.

Furthermore, it is indicated that "among the numerous people who suffered detention and the application of torture, during the course of the investigation it was possible to identify 19 victims, among many other men and women of diverse social conditions and educational levels." The document also records that during the investigation stage of the case, Minister Mesa Latorre established a series of facts.

Among these, that "after the overthrow of the Government was consummated by the Armed Forces, the Government Junta extrapolated from the internal structure of the former the establishment of the 'Interior Security Jurisdictional Area Commands' (CAJSI), which were located in provincial capital cities and were composed of the commanders of the different units of the Armed Forces and Order installed in the area, who were led by the most senior officer among them, that person being the highest authority who occupied the position of Zone Chief in a State of Siege." Likewise, it is noted that immediately after the Armed Forces assumed control of the Province of Llanquihue, Chiloé, and Palena, the highest military authority corresponded to Air Force General Sergio Hiram Rodolfo Leigh Guzmán (deceased), who issued Edict No. 3, dated September 11, 1973, in which he "invited" various people to present themselves at the Sangra Regiment, warning that "otherwise, proceedings will be taken against them." In the indictment, Minister Mesa emphasizes that "this was nothing but the beginning of a repressive activity, undertaken against those who in the mentioned provinces held administrative positions during the deposed government, and against those who formed or were suspected of having formed part of political groups affiliated with it or who held similar ideas." It is also added that many of the reports from the mentioned victims "have been reinforced by the expert reports issued by the Legal Medical Service, in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol."

Source: diariopalena.cl, January 5, 2021

The visiting judge also sentenced retired Army personnel Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela, Fernando Luis Concha Giordano, and Francisco Javier Alarcón Castro; and the then-members of the Carabineros René Isidro Villarroel Sobarzo, José Harnoldo Ule Guineo, Gabriel Osvaldo Mejías Leyton, and Carlos Berríos Rodríguez to two 10-year prison terms each, as perpetrators of the kidnappings and illegitimate coercion applied to the six victims.

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced the squadron commander and ad-hoc auditor of the Air Force at the time of the events, Patricio Rodríguez Encalada, to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the consummated crimes of qualified homicide, in the nature of crimes against humanity, against Mario César Torres Velásquez, José Mario Cárcamo Garay, Francisco del Carmen Avendaño Bórquez, Óscar Arismendi Medina, José Luis Felmer Klenner, and José Antonio Barría Barría.

These illicit acts were perpetrated in September 1973 at the "El Toro" estate in the commune of Fresia.

In the ruling (case file 10.819), the visiting judge also sentenced retired Army personnel Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela, Fernando Luis Concha Giordano, and Francisco Javier Alarcón Castro; and the then-members of the Carabineros René Isidro Villarroel Sobarzo, José Harnoldo Ule Guineo, Gabriel Osvaldo Mejías Leyton, and Carlos Berríos Rodríguez to two 10-year prison terms each, as perpetrators of the kidnappings and illegitimate coercion applied to the six victims.

In the civil sphere, the court granted the filed claim and ordered the State to pay a total compensation of $2,750,000,000 for moral damages to the victims' families.

War Council

In the sentence, Judge Mesa Latorre established the following facts as proven:

"A.- That on September 20, 1973, in the morning hours, a military contingent composed of members of the Army, Air Force, and Carabineros de Chile entered a property located in the commune of Fresia, known as 'Fundo El Toro,' proceeding to violently detain all the men who were there, holding them for several hours, during which time they were subjected to illegitimate coercion (torture) and interrogations, all of which is evidenced, among other proofs, in the statements of Patricio Arismendi Añazco (at pages 61 and 93 of Volume I), Miriam Arismendi Añazco (at pages 64 and 102 of Volume I), Juvenal Sánchez Guarda (at page 131, Volume I), Pablo Carrillo Aburto (at pages 134 and 2492, Volumes I and V respectively), Guido Negrón Aburto (at pages 136, 2263, and 312, Volumes I, V, and VIII respectively), Jorge Ovando Agüero (at pages 138, 775, and 1391, Volumes I, II, and III respectively), Sergio Angulo Cárdenas (at pages 142 and 581, Volumes I and II), Luis Lopetegui Santana (at pages 423 and 1975, Volumes I and IV respectively), and Graciela Vegas Soto (at page 1224 of Volume V), who were witnesses, direct and/or hearsay, of what happened there. Furthermore, these facts were already described in the indictment order on page 1293 and following (Volume III) dated February 26, 2016, issued by Judge Leopoldo Vera Muñoz and confirmed by the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Puerto Montt on page 1507 (Volume IV).

B.- That in the events described above, the following individuals participated as captors: René Villarroel Sobarzo, Osvaldo Mejías Leyton, Fernando Concha Giordano, Edinson Chávez Gallardo, Francisco Alarcón Castro, Jaime Serra García, Carlos Berríos Rodríguez, and José Ule Guinero, as indicated in the report prepared by Captain Eugenio Covarrubias, found on page 2 of military file No. 11/73, a report which also mentions José Luis Felmer Klenner, Óscar Arismendi Medina, Francisco del Carmen Avendaño Bórquez, Mario César Torres Velásquez, and José Mario Cárcamo Garay as guerrillas captured in this operation, along with a list of weapons supposedly found on that occasion.

C.- That subsequent to what is related in letter A, a group of the detainees was transferred to the Fresia Police Station, while Mario César Torres Velásquez, José Mario Cárcamo Garay, Francisco del Carmen Avendaño Bórquez, Óscar Arismendi Medina, José Luis Felmer Klenner, and José Antonio Barría Barría (persons executed by order of the War Council) were transferred to the city of Puerto Montt, where they remained detained at the Investigative Police barracks for approximately one month, as can be inferred, among other proofs, from statements provided by Gladys Arismendi Añazco (at pages 62, 99, and 563, of Volumes I and II), Miriam Arismendi Añazco (at pages 101, 1961, and 2291 of Volumes I, IV, and V respectively), Blanca Cárcamo Garay (at pages 86 and 72, of Volumes I and II), Luis Gallardo (at page 3145 of Volume VIII), and Jaime Benítez Sepúlveda (at page 3289 of Volume VIII). In such statements, the poor condition in which these men were found, as a result of the torture suffered, is also noted.

D.- That continuing with what happened, the 6 men mentioned above, along with other civilians, were placed at the disposal of the Military Prosecutor's Office in wartime in Puerto Montt, initiating case file No. 11/73 (added to this process and viewed at page 72, Volume I), on September 23, 1973.

Later, on October 11, 1973, a War Council was convened, which was composed of Colonel Rubén Rojas (Deceased. Death certificate at page 3364 of Volume VIII), Group Commander Renato Valenzuela (Deceased.

Death certificate at page 3368 of Volume VIII), Lieutenant Colonel Eduardo Partarrieu Navarrete (Deceased. Death certificate at page 3363 of Volume VIII), Frigate Captain Osvaldo Schwarzenberg, Major Patricio Lira Atkinson (Deceased.

Death certificate at page 3367 of Volume VIII), and Squadron Commander Fernando Roca Meroz (Deceased. Death certificate at page 3366 of Volume VIII) as members, and integrated as ad-hoc auditor of the Air Force, Squadron Commander Patricio Rodríguez Encalada, all of which is recorded on page 84 of the aforementioned military file.

E.- That the aforementioned War Council issued a conviction against Mario César Torres Velásquez, José Mario Cárcamo Garay, Francisco del Carmen Avendaño Bórquez, Óscar Arismendi Medina, José Luis Felmer Klenner, and José Antonio Barría Barría, sentencing them to the death penalty for the responsibility they bore as perpetrators of the crime of treason contemplated in Article 248 No. 2 of the Code of Military Justice (Pages 92 to 97 of military file 11-73).

Such sentence was executed on October 19, 1973, at 9:00 AM, at the facilities of the Chilean Air Force, located in the Chamiza sector of the city of Puerto Montt (Page 101 of military file 11-73), with the 6 aforementioned convicts dying at the scene, as recorded in the death certificates on pages 14, 17, 19, 22, 54, 187, 758, and in the statements of Carlos Humberto Ovando Méndez (page 424 of Volume I), who transported the lifeless bodies to a FACH van; Juan Carlos Poloni (page 966 of Volume II), who was responsible for verifying the death of the convicts on the day of the execution; and Luis Eduardo Garrido Quiroz (page 146 of Volume I), who examined the bodies and issued the respective death certificates.

F.- That the aforementioned sentence refers to the vague statements of the prisoners, statements which, as a result of the mistreatment received by them, make their words implausible due to the conditions in which the detainees were held, with said War Council being a predetermined act without foundation to end the lives of these detainees, since as recorded, among other proofs, in the statements of José Purralef (pages 95, 2518, and 2719, Volumes I, V, and VI, respectively), Juvenal Sánchez Guarda (pages 131, 224, all Volume I), Eugenio Covarrubias (page 338 Volume I), María Langenbech (page 2289, Volume V), and Carlos Berríos Rodríguez (pages 3405 to 3407 and 3420 to 3421 vta., all of Volume IX), the prisoners did not possess the quantity and types of weapons detailed in the file, nor is it true that they were guerrillas.

G.- That according to the statements of the defendants' own defense attorney, Mr. Hugo Ocampo Paniagua (pages 105, 569, 572 of Volumes I and III respectively), an adequate defense could not be developed in the case as he was not allowed the necessary time for it (2 days), nor could he become familiar with the facts since he could never have direct contact with the defendants for an interview, adding that he could perceive a series of contradictions in the detainees' statements, so the defense by a single lawyer was something laughable.

To the above, he adds that they were sentenced through an aberrant retroactive application of D.L. No. 5 (Declaring that the State of Siege decreed due to internal commotion must be understood as 'State or time of War'), as this served to gravely increase the penalties of Law 17.798, on arms control, since in its Art. 3, this Decree Law adds the death penalty to crimes that were only sanctioned with imprisonment, all with the flagrant contradiction of the norm contained in Article 11 of the Political Constitution in force at that time, which states 'No one can be condemned unless they are legally tried and by virtue of a law promulgated before the act on which the trial is based,' and that contained in the first paragraph of Article 18 of the Penal Code, which in its text in force at the time of the investigated events states 'No crime shall be punished with any penalty other than that indicated by a law promulgated prior to its perpetration.' This defense attorney indicated that there was a preconceived determination to feign a formal process, without granting the defendants an effective and real opportunity for defense, despite the severity of the proposed penalties. Regarding the latter, it is necessary to recall what was stated by Ernesto Jhan Barrera on page 1388 (Volume III), where he testifies to having received the order to prepare personnel for the execution of the victims before the War Council was held.

H.- That it should be noted that from reading file 11-73, it was initiated for the crime of infringement of the arms control law and Article 248 of the Code of Military Justice. In relation to the facts that have their beginning of execution on September 15, 1973, according to consideration 2 of the sentence.

Now, the Government Junta issued D.L. No. 3 on September 11, which declared a state of siege for the entire country, published on September 18 of that year. Subsequently, D.L. No. 5 was issued on September 12, but its validity is from September 22, 1973.

This D.L. established that the State of Siege decreed due to internal commotion must be understood as 'State or time of War' and also increased the penalties of the arms control law. Without prejudice to what has already been stated in the preceding letters regarding the simulation of the War Council for the purposes of executing the aforementioned victims, the sentence of the military file in motive 5th classifies the acts against the defendants of that time under the criminal type of Art. 248 No. 2 (which stated 'Shall be subject to the penalty of major imprisonment in its maximum degree to death: 2nd He who, in case of war and with the purpose of favoring the enemy or harming Chilean troops, commits an action or omission that is not included in the preceding articles nor constitutes another crime expressly penalized by the laws') and for this it indicates 'That although it is true that the accused formed a militia or militarily organized group, it is no less true that their purpose and resolution are constituted by acts that had the precise purpose of harming Chilean troops in time of war as can be inferred from the invoked statements...'. More specific is the sentence in motive 2, which expressed 'That according to the merit of considerations 10 and 11 and especially to what is provided in articles 418 and 419 of the Code of Military Justice already cited, it is evident that finding the Republic in a state of war and with Chilean troops facing the enemy from the very moment or instant in which they undertook security services against those guerrilla organizations and even more so the very actions of subjection and reduction of those same adversaries paramilitarily prepared in order to avoid greater damages than those already caused by the action of these, it is sufficiently demonstrated that the Chilean troops are facing the enemy.'

I.- That given what was described above by normative hierarchy Article 11 of the 1925 Political Constitution cited above and by specialty of Article 18 of the Penal Code, a law pronounced subsequently that allows applying a type or a higher penalty cannot be applied to the detriment of the prosecuted or sentenced person.

In this case, as the state of war was declared, the criminal type of Article 248 cited above was applied to the detriment of the sentenced persons. If the state of war had not been declared, this criminal type could not have been applied.

It is in that sense that a violation of the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law occurs insofar as it harms the prosecuted person and violates the superior norm of the order of the time, which was Article 11 of the Political Constitution. In any case, as has been said in the previous letters, the War Council was only a form or a bad example of what is due process.

J.- That in the same line of reasoning, one must also keep in mind what was stated by Carlos Ebensperger on page 1290 (Volume III), in that he pointed out to the general that since the commission of this crime was prior to the date on which the state of war was decreed, the norms of this state could not be applied to him, much less the firing squad, reporting that because of that comment, the general became extremely annoyed and at the end of September, exonerated him for treason to the homeland, professional ineptitude, and lack of military courage.

K.- That the participants of this War Council, despite having been pointed out by the defense attorney the violation of the Political Constitution of the Republic that was being incurred and being the physical, procedural, and psychic condition of the accused manifest, obvious, and serious, acted in a predetermined manner and without analyzing the merit of the procedure nor the constitutional and legal norms described above, nor what Prosecutor Ebensperger (a person specialized in the matter) had pointed out to the general, approving the death penalty for the accused, without making any objection, so it can only be classified as homicide.

L.- That having made the preceding analyses, there is no doubt that everything done there was only a staging to fulfill its objective, which was to execute the detainees identified above, which happened, as recorded in the certification on page 101 of file 11-73.

M.- That in addition to what was stated above, one must consider the tendency of the time, which relates to using military courts in times of war to justify repressive actions without foundations. In this aspect, the report of the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture, the 'War Councils' (added to pages 3307 to 3313 of Volume VIII) concluding that in them the character and rights of the prisoners were not respected nor was any of the precepts established in international conventions on war considered. 'Indeed, they limited themselves to receiving and recording information contrary to the accused, omitting any action or diligence that could benefit and exonerate them, even though it was their duty to investigate the truth of the facts and gather the information that would serve to prove them.'

N.- That also based on what was pointed out above, the Honorable Supreme Court has ruled regarding War Councils held at the time of the investigated events, invalidating them through the review appeal, in case files No. 27.543-16, No. 1488-20, No. 4176-2019, and No. 6889-2019, simple copies of which are attached to this process from pages 2104 to 2171 (Volume V), from pages 3166 to 3185 (Volume VIII), from pages 3475 to 3487 (Volume IX), and from pages 3488 to 3500 (Volume IX), respectively."

Source: pjud.cl, December 13, 2023

Eight former uniformed personnel sentenced for crimes against six detainees in Puerto Montt in 1973

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced eight former uniformed personnel as perpetrators of the crimes of qualified homicide, kidnapping, and torture, in the nature of crimes against humanity, against Mario César Torres Velásquez, José Mario Cárcamo Garay, Francisco del Carmen Avendaño Bórquez, Oscar Arismendi Medina, José Luis Felmer Klenner, and José Antonio Barría Barría, perpetrated in September and October 1973, at the Fundo El Toro, commune of Fresia, and in Puerto Montt.

In the ruling (case file 10.819), the visiting judge sentenced the former Air Force officer, squadron commander, and ad-hoc auditor of the FACH at the time of the events, Patricio Eugenio Rodríguez Encalada, to life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the consummated crimes of qualified homicide of the six victims.

He also sentenced former Army personnel Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela (captain at the time of the events, retired as a general, serving a sentence in Punta Peuco for other convictions for crimes against humanity), Fernando Luis Concha Giordano, and Francisco Javier Alarcón Castro; and former Carabineros members René Isidro Villarroel Sobarzo (lieutenant of carabineros at the time of the events, serving a sentence in Punta Peuco for other crimes against humanity), José Harnoldo Ule Guineo (lieutenant of carabineros at the time of the events), Gabriel Osvaldo Mejías Leyton, and Carlos Berríos Rodríguez to two 10-year prison terms each, as perpetrators of the kidnappings and illegitimate coercion applied to the six victims.

The victims Mario César Torres Velásquez was 32 years old, a linotype worker, and a member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR); Francisco Avendaño Bórquez, 20 years old, was a normal school teacher and a member of the MIR; José Luis Felmer Klenner, 20 years old, an employee, agronomy student, and member of the MIR; José Antonio Barría Barría, 23 years old, an agricultural worker and member of the MIR; José Cárcamo Garay, 26 years old, an agricultural technician and member of the MIR; Oscar Arismendi Medina, 46 years old, was an agricultural worker and a socialist militant.

War Council In the judicial investigation and first-instance sentence, Judge Mesa Latorre established that on the morning of September 20, 1973, a large military contingent composed of members of the Army, Air Force, and Carabineros de Chile entered a property located in the commune of Fresia, known as 'Fundo El Toro,' proceeding to violently detain all the men who were there.

They were held in the same place for several hours, during which time they were subjected to torture and interrogations.

Uniformed personnel René Villarroel Sobarzo, Osvaldo Mejías Leyton, Fernando Concha Giordano, Edinson Chávez Gallardo, Francisco Alarcón Castro, Jaime Serra García, Carlos Berríos Rodríguez, and José Ule Guinero participated in these events, as recorded in the report by the then-captain Eugenio Covarrubias, in charge of Section II of the No. 12 Sangra Regiment of Puerto Montt.

Said report also identifies six of the detainees (and subsequent victims) as guerrillas captured in the aforementioned operation and lists the weapons supposedly found on that occasion.

After the mass detention of the men from Fundo El Toro, a group of the detainees was transferred to the Fresia Police Station, while Mario César Torres Velásquez, José Mario Cárcamo Garay, Francisco del Carmen Avendaño Bórquez, Oscar Arismendi Medina, José Luis Felmer Klenner, and José Antonio Barría Barría were transferred to the city of Puerto Montt, where they remained detained at the Investigative Police barracks for approximately one month.

On September 23, the 6 men mentioned above, along with other civilians, were placed at the disposal of the Military Prosecutor's Office in wartime in Puerto Montt. Then, on October 11, a War Council was convened to sanction the detainees.

This Council was composed of the then-colonel and commander of the Sangra Regiment Rubén Rojas Román (deceased), Air Group Commander Renato Valenzuela (deceased), Carabineros Lieutenant Colonel Eduardo Partarrieu Navarrete (deceased), Frigate Captain Osvaldo Federico Schwarzenberg Stegmaier, Major Patricio Lira Atkinson (deceased), Squadron Commander Fernando Roca Meroz (deceased), and integrated as ad-hoc auditor of the Air Force, Squadron Commander Patricio Rodríguez Encalada.

The spurious War Council issued a sentence condemning detainees Mario César Torres Velásquez, José Mario Cárcamo Garay, Francisco del Carmen Avendaño Bórquez, Oscar Arismendi Medina, José Luis Felmer Klenner, and José Antonio Barría Barría to the death penalty, accusing them of the absurd crime of treason.

Everything done there was only a staging to fulfill its objective, which was to execute the detainees.

The unheard-of sentence was executed on October 19, 1973, at 9:00 AM. The six convicts were executed by firing squad at Air Force facilities located in the Chamiza sector of the city of Puerto Montt.

Source: resumen.cl, December 17, 2023

Four former uniformed personnel and police officers sentenced for kidnapping and torture in Puerto Montt in 1973

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced four former repressive agents belonging to the Army, Carabineros, and the Investigative Police for their responsibility in the consummated crimes of kidnapping, kidnapping with serious injury, and the application of torture to 31 political detainees, illicit acts perpetrated starting September 11, 1973, in the city of Puerto Montt.

In the ruling (case file 10.858), the visiting judge sentenced the then-Army captain at the time of the events, Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela (retired with the rank of general), and the former Carabineros lieutenant Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos to a 10-year term, plus two 8-year prison terms, as perpetrators of the consummated crimes of kidnapping with serious injury, kidnapping, and illegitimate coercion (torture).

Meanwhile, he sentenced former Investigative Police (PDI) detectives Roberto Javier Díaz Moya to three effective 10-year prison terms as the perpetrator of the consummated crimes, in the nature of crimes against humanity, of simple kidnapping, kidnapping with serious injury, and illegitimate coercion or torture; and Javier Armando Olavarría Díaz to 10 years in prison as the perpetrator of kidnapping with serious injury, and two 9-year prison terms for kidnapping and illegitimate coercion (torture), respectively.

In the case of the convicted Covarrubias Valenzuela and Tapia Galleguillos, they must be notified at the penitentiary where they are serving sentences for other human rights violation crimes in various cases.

The four convicted individuals were part of the Internal Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) based in the city of Puerto Montt, which included the provinces of Llanquihue, Chiloé, and Palena. This organization operated under the command of Air Brigadier General Sergio Hiram Rodolfo Leigh Guzmán (deceased), then-commander of the Third Air Brigade and Wing No. 5 (El Tepual Air Base), and acted from the offices of the Provincial Intendancy of the time.

Part of the aforementioned CAJSI were the then-Army colonel and commander of the No. 12 'Sangra' Infantry Regiment of Puerto Montt, Rubén Rojas Román (already deceased); Frigate Captain and commander of the Naval Station and Maritime Governor of Puerto Montt, Osvaldo Federico Pablo Schwarzenberg Stegmaier, representing the Navy; Carabineros Lieutenant Colonel and Prefect of the Province of Llanquihue, Eduardo Partarrieu Navarrete (deceased); and the Prefect of Puerto Montt, Vicente Leonel Hormazábal Rojas (deceased), representing the Investigative Police.

To transmit his instructions and guidelines, General Sergio Leigh Guzmán established an operational group of liaison officers with each of the Armed Forces and Order institutions existing in the territory under his command.

For the Army, the operational liaison was the then-captain Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela, who was in charge of the Second Intelligence Section of the No. 12 'Sangra' Infantry Regiment; for the Air Force, it was Colonel Mario Ernesto Jahn Barrera (deceased); for the Carabineros, it was the then-lieutenant Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos, of the Second Carabineros Precinct of Puerto Montt; and for the PDI, it was detective Roberto Javier Díaz Moya, of the Information Department of the Puerto Montt Prefecture; for the Navy, the exact name of the officer who performed this liaison function is unknown.

The 31 victims were all illegally detained by military and police units; several of the detainees surrendered voluntarily, complying with the calls to do so made by the de facto authority of the area. In that condition as prisoners of the uniformed personnel, they were subjected to abuse and torture that correspond to crimes against humanity.

by Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, November 6, 2024