The judge with special dedication for human rights cases, Miguel Salgado, indicted nine people for the crime of aggravated kidnapping, including four former Carabineros officers and five farmers, who are held responsible for the disappearance of 24 people in the Alto Biobío sector between September and November 1973.

Magistrate Salgado stated that the investigation "for aggravated kidnapping" has not been easy, due to the lack of cooperation provided to him, without ruling out indicting two other former uniformed officers.

However, the magistrate valued the preliminary investigation initiated in 2000 by the head of the Santa Bárbara Criminal Court, Waldemar Koch. Salgado assumed the role of special judge by resolution of the Supreme Court, following the agreements of the Dialogue Table.

After being notified of the resolution against them by Judge Salgado, the nine defendants were held in the Los Ángeles prison. Four of them are former Carabineros officers who, in 1973, were serving at the Santa Bárbara Carabineros station.

They are Planté Aravena González, José Godoy Godoy, José Pulgar Riquelme, and Héctor Echeverría Beltrán. The civilians, mostly farmers from the area, are: José Valdivia Dames, Luis Barrueto Barne, Manuel Barrueto Barne, Jorge Domínguez Larenas, and Bernardo Larenas Larenas.

Source: El Mostrador, November 4, 2002

Massive conviction for the aggravated kidnapping of 28 people in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco in 1973

Almost eleven years after the investigation began into the detention and disappearance of at least 28 people in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, Bío Bío region, the special minister for human rights cases, Carlos Aldana, issued a first-instance sentence convicting a total of 17 people, including former uniformed officers and civilians.

The prison sentences established by Minister Aldana range from 10 years at the highest to 541 days at the lowest. Only in the latter case was the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence granted.

Santa Bárbara and Quilaco correspond to cases of human rights violations where there was close collaboration between Carabineros, military personnel, and civilians. Thus, in the case of Santa Bárbara, it was established that around September 19, 1973, the head of the local station, Plante Euclides Aravena, formed the so-called "Voluntary Collaboration Force with Carabineros de Chile," with the objective of "searching for extremists." Its first operation occurred on September 20, when the group of Carabineros and civilians proceeded to detain at least seven people at the "El Huache" estate, located 8 kilometers from the town and in the Los Junquillos sector. But these cases have a long history. On December 14, 2000, a complaint was filed with the Santa Bárbara Criminal Court, which was then headed by Judge Waldemar Koch, who was appointed with preferential dedication as a result of the Dialogue Table that took place during the government of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. During his tenure, there were substantial advances in the cases, as Koch also took on the judicial actions filed for cases of the forcibly disappeared in Quilaco. He already had the facts clear and had identified those responsible, but he did not manage to issue indictments because on December 11, 2001, he left the position after being appointed Judge of the Oral Court of Angol. Miguel Salgado then assumed the position of judge, who, by resolution of the Supreme Court on June 20, 2002, dedicated himself exclusively to the processing of human rights cases existing in his court. This allowed him to advance with greater speed, and thus, on October 28, 2002, he ordered the detention and indictment of nine people, four former Carabineros officers and five civilians, as responsible for the disappearance of 24 people in the commune of Santa Bárbara. Subsequently, and after the appointment of the minister of the Concepción Court of Appeals, Carlos Aldana Fuentes, as special minister for human rights cases, these proceedings—as well as others—passed into his hands. In that context, at the beginning of September 2005, Minister Aldana decreed a series of on-site proceedings, including new statements and confrontations. The sentence Thus, finally, this Wednesday, June 15, Aldana issued a first-instance sentence against 17 people, including former uniformed officers and civilians, as responsible for the aggravated kidnapping of 28 people, which occurred in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco after the military coup of September 11, 1973. The magistrate issued a conviction against those who participated in the aggravated kidnappings of José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldini, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldini, José Gilberto Araneda, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao, Julio Rubio Llancao, José María Tranamil Pereira, José Guillermo Purrán Treca, José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio César Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Solís, José Nazario Godoy Acuña, Manuel Salamanca Mella, José Mariano Godoy Acuña, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama, Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama, Elba Burgos Sáez, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz, Aliro Oporto Durán, Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann (all of them occurring in Santa Bárbara); and of Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, José Felidor Pinto, Luis Alberto Cid, Luis Alberto Bastas Sandoval, Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, Gabriel José Viveros Flores, Segundo Marcial Soto Quejón, and José Roberto Molina Quezada (occurring in Quilaco). Those sentenced for the kidnappings in Santa Bárbara are: -Planté Euclides Aravena Sáez: 10 years and 1 day. No benefits. -Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán: 7 and a half years. No benefits. -José Jaime Godoy Godoy: 7 years. No benefits. -José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme: 7 years. No benefits. -Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -José Roberto Valdivia Dames: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -Luis Enrique Ricardo Barrrueto Barting: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -Manuel Dario Barrueto Barting: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -Pedro Segundo Ruiz Pardo: 541 days. The benefit of conditional remission was granted. Meanwhile, those convicted for the kidnappings in Quilaco are: -Eugenio Villa Urrutia: 7 years. No benefits. -José Eleodoro Burgos Sandoval: 7 years. No benefits. -Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán: 7 years. No benefits. -Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera: 7 years. No benefits. -José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz: 7 years. No benefits. -Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Barrera: 7 years. No benefits. Likewise, the civil lawsuit filed against the State Treasury was accepted, determining that $60,000,000 (sixty million pesos) must be paid to Gretel del Carmen Godoy Acuña for the kidnapping of her brother Sebastián Campos Díaz; $80,000,000 (eighty million pesos) to Jacinta Godoy Acuña for the kidnapping of her spouse Manuel Salamanca Mella, and $15,000,000 (fifteen million pesos) for the kidnapping of her brothers José Domingo, José Nazario, and José Mariano Godoy Acuña; $70,000,000 (seventy million pesos) to Ana María D’Apollonio Zapata for the kidnapping of her father Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann; $70,000,000 (seventy million pesos) to Ana María Zúñiga Beroiza for the kidnapping of her father José Zúñiga Aceldini, and $10,000,000 (ten million pesos) for the kidnapping of her uncle José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldini. In addition, the convicted parties must jointly pay $80,000,000 (eighty million pesos) to Norma Panes Panes (spouse of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira), and $40,000,000 (forty million pesos) to Maritza Pilar, Fabiola del Carmen, Víctor Hugo, Dorian Inés, and Miguel Ángel Cuevas Panes (children of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira), as this family group did not file an action against the State Treasury.

Source: tribunadelbiobio.cl, June 16, 2011

Concepción Court of Appeals issued conviction for dictatorship crimes in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco

The visiting minister of the Concepción Court of Appeals, Raquel Lermanda, issued a first-instance sentence in the investigation into the kidnappings of 29 people, which occurred in the towns of Quilaco and Santa Bárbara, Bío Bío Region, between September and November 1973.

The magistrate issued a conviction against the people who participated in the aggravated kidnappings of José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldini, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldini, José Gilberto Araneda, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao, Julio Rubio Llancao, José María Tranamil Pereira, José Guillermo Purrán Treca, José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio César Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Solís, José Nazario Godoy Acuña, Manuel Salamanca Mella, José Mariano Godoy Acuña, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama, Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama, Elba Burgos Sáez, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz, Aliro Oporto Durán, Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann (all of them occurring in Santa Bárbara); and of Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, José Félido Pinto, Luis Alberto Cid, Luis Alberto Bastas Sandoval, Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, Gabriel José Viveros Flores, Segundo Marcial Soto Quejón, and José Roberto Molina Quezada (occurring in Quilaco). The penalties determined are as follows: Planté Aravena Saez: 14 years. José Jaime Godoy Godoy: 11 years. Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán: 11 years. Jorge Domínguez Larenas: 10 years and one day. José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme: 11 years. Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela: 10 years and one day. Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames: 10 years and one day. José Roberto Valdivia Dames: 10 years and one day. Luis Enrique Ricardo Antonio Barrueto Bartnning: 10 years and one day. Manuel Darío Barrueto Bartnning: 10 years and one day. José Segundo Ruiz Prado: 5 years and one day of imprisonment. Eugenio Villa Urrutia: 10 years and one day. José Eleodoro Burgos Sandoval: 12 years. Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán: 10 years and one day. Carlos Antonio Sepúlveda Rivera: 11 years. José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz: 10 years and one day. Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Rivera: 10 years and one day. Sergio Alejandro Pino Cabeza: Acquitted. In the civil aspect, the lawsuits filed were accepted, determining that the State Treasury must pay different sums to the victims' relatives for the moral damage caused by the kidnapping of their relatives. In addition, the convicted parties must assume a payment for various amounts for the same event. It is worth mentioning that in 2011, Minister Carlos Aldana had issued a conviction for the same events; however, the sentence was annulled by the Concepción Court of Appeals, so Minister Lermanda assumed the case as a non-disqualified minister.

Source: Angelino.cl, May 10, 2013

After 40 years, justice is finally served: 14 Carabineros and 10 civilians from the fascist group Patria y Libertad convicted for the crimes against 28 peasants

The dramatic Santa Bárbara case will go to the Supreme Court, with the objective of reinstating the first-instance ruling that declared 10 civilians from the fascist group that supported the military coup, Patria y Libertad, as authors of the disappearance of 28 peasants in 1973.

It is the plaintiffs, representing part of the victims' families, who have already decided to file a cassation appeal against the sentence issued last week by the Concepción Court of Appeals, which modified the sentences for the civilians convicted of aggravated kidnapping.

The emblematic human rights violation case investigated the disappearance of 28 peasants from Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, establishing the responsibility of former Carabineros officers and 10 former members of the Patria y Libertad group from the Bío Bío Province, who supported the Carabineros in the kidnappings, subsequent murder, and disappearance of these peasants.

While the sentences of between 10 and 14 years of effective prison were maintained for the former uniformed officers, they were reduced to 4 and 6 years of prison in some cases for the civilians, as the appellate court qualified the latter as accomplices in crimes against humanity, which is rejected by the plaintiff lawyer, Patricio Robles.

The former Patria y Libertad members convicted are Jorge Domínguez Larenas, Sergio Fuentes Valenzuela, the brothers Jorge and José Valdivia Dames, the brothers Luis and Manuel Barrueto Bartning, Eugenio Villa Urrutia, Juan Carlos Burgos, José Gutiérrez Ortiz, and Exequiel Celedón Barrera, who, according to the plaintiffs, should be qualified as authors of the crimes.

The criminal events After more than 40 years of investigation into the disappearance of 28 people in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco after September 11, 1973, the Supreme Court of Concepción issued the sentence against those involved in the events.

In a unanimous ruling, issued by the Third Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers Carola Rivas Vargas, Viviana Iza Miranda, and the lawyer (i) Jean Pierre Latsague Lightwood—these sentences were confirmed, as well as the total compensation of $1.215 billion that the State Treasury and the convicted parties must pay to the victims' families.

In the investigation stage, Minister Raquel Lermanda Spichiger managed to establish that Carabineros officers—supported by groups of civilians from Patria y Libertad—illegally detained 28 victims in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, mainly peasants, murdered them with gunfire, and threw them into a nearby river.

The whereabouts of the 28 peasants remain unknown to this day. In Santa Bárbara, the following were detained: José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Solís, José Nazario Godoy Acuña, Manuel Salamanca Mella, José Mariano Godoy Acuña, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz, José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldine, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldine, José Gilberto Araneda Riquelme, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao, Julio Rubio Llancao, José María Tranamil Pereira, José Guillermo Purrán Treca, Elba Burgos Sáez, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama, Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama, Sergio D´Apollonio Petermann, and Aliro Oporto Durán. In the commune of Quilaco, the victims were identified as Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, José Felidor Pinto Pinto, Luis Alberto Cid Cid, Luis Alberto Bastías Sandoval, Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, Gabriel José Viveros Flores, Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón, and José Roberto Molina Quezada. In the instance, the court convicted a series of people for this disappearance, among them the Carabineros officer Plante Euclide Aravena Sáez to a sentence of 14 years in prison, as the author of 19 crimes of aggravated kidnapping. Meanwhile, for Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán and José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme, the sentence of 11 years and 10 years and one day in prison will be applied for being authors of 10 and 7 aggravated kidnappings, respectively. Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera was sentenced by the court to 10 years and one day in prison, as the author of four crimes of aggravated kidnapping, and Pedro Segundo Ruiz Pardo must serve 5 years and one day in prison, as the author of one crime of aggravated kidnapping. All were active Carabineros when they committed those crimes in 1973 and early 1974, a few months after the coup d'état. The accomplices of Patria y Libertad In addition, in the case, the former Patria y Libertad members Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela, Luis Enrique Ricardo Antonio Barrueto Bartning, and Manuel Darío Barrueto Bartning were convicted as accomplices, and were given sentences of six years in prison, as accomplices to seven crimes of aggravated kidnapping. For his part, Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Barrera—also a former Patria y Libertad member—received a sentence of five years and one day of effective prison, as an accomplice to two crimes of aggravated kidnapping. In the case of the former Patria y Libertad members, Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas, Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames, and José Roberto Valdivia Dames were sentenced to 4 years in prison as accomplices to one crime of aggravated kidnapping. They were granted the benefit of supervised release. The same benefit was received by Eugenio Villa Urrutia, José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz, and Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, convicted to 4 years in prison, as accomplices to seven and five aggravated kidnappings, respectively. In the case, the dismissal of the Carabineros officers José Eleodoro Burgos Sandoval and José Jaime Godoy Godoy, and of the civilians Sergio Alejandro Pino Cabezas and Sergio Humberto Salazar San Martín, was decreed, as their participation in the events was not proven. Who were Patria y Libertad The Nationalist Front Patria y Libertad was a paramilitary movement of fascist ideology that was formed on April 1, 1971, as a reaction to the policies of the government of Salvador Allende, for which it carried out political activities of activism and social proselytism, mainly among the youth, and later, already in hiding—after the attempted coup d'état of June 29, 1973, known as the Tanquetazo—it opted for the armed path, terrorism, and sabotage to overthrow the Popular Unity government. Its origin dates back to September 10, 1970, when the lawyer Pablo Rodríguez Grez formed the Civic Movement Patria y Libertad to prevent the election of Salvador Allende in Congress, which originated the movement that opposed the Allende government until its dissolution in 1973 after the coup d'état. Many of the members of Patria y Libertad, after the coup d'état, went on to join the ranks of the DINA and the CNI, the repression organs of the dictatorship. One of them was Michael Townley, who murdered the former foreign minister Orlando Letelier in the United States, and attempted to assassinate the former vice president of the Republic, Bernardo Leighton (DC), in Italy.

Source: cambio21.cl, June 20, 2019

Authors and accomplices of the kidnapping of 28 peasants in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco convicted

After more than 40 years of investigation into the disappearance of 28 people in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco after September 11, 1973, the Supreme Court of Concepción issued the sentence against those involved in the events.

In a unanimous ruling, issued by the Third Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers Carola Rivas Vargas, Viviana Iza Miranda, and the lawyer (i) Jean Pierre Latsague Lightwood—these sentences were confirmed, as well as the total compensation of $1.215 billion that the State Treasury and the convicted parties must pay to the victims' families.

In the instance, the court convicted a series of people for this disappearance, among them Plante Euclide Aravena Sáez to a sentence of 14 years in prison, as the author of 19 crimes of aggravated kidnapping.

Meanwhile, for Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán and José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme, the sentence of 11 years and 10 years and one day in prison will be applied for being authors of 10 and 7 aggravated kidnappings, respectively.

Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera was sentenced by the court to 10 years and one day in prison, as the author of four crimes of aggravated kidnapping, and Pedro Segundo Ruiz Pardo must serve 5 years and one day in prison, as the author of one crime of aggravated kidnapping.

ACCOMPLICES TO THIS CRIME

In addition, in the case, Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela, Luis Enrique Ricardo Antonio Barrueto Bartning, and Manuel Darío Barrueto Bartning were convicted as accomplices, and were given sentences of six years in prison, as accomplices to seven crimes of aggravated kidnapping.

For his part, Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Barrera received a sentence of five years and one day of effective prison, as an accomplice to two crimes of aggravated kidnapping. In the case of Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas, Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames, and José Roberto Valdivia Dames, they were sentenced to 4 years in prison as accomplices to one crime of aggravated kidnapping.

They were granted the benefit of supervised release. The same benefit was received by Eugenio Villa Urrutia, José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz, and Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, convicted to 4 years in prison, as accomplices to seven and five aggravated kidnappings, respectively.

In the case, the dismissal of the Carabineros officers José Eleodoro Burgos Sandoval and José Jaime Godoy Godoy, and of the civilians Sergio Alejandro Pino Cabezas and Sergio Humberto Salazar San Martín, was decreed, as their participation in the events was not proven.

Regarding this ruling, Minister Carola Rivas commented that "the sentence, in that it condemns the Carabineros officers who, in the period after September 11, 1973, kidnapped and forcibly disappeared several people from the aforementioned sectors of the region to effective sentences of 14, 11, and 5 years and one day, also modifies in the same sentence the qualification of the participation of the civilians who collaborated with the Carabineros."

Source: latribuna.cl, June 14, 2019

Compliance order issued for ruling against retired Carabineros and civilians for aggravated kidnappings in Quilaco and Santa Bárbara

Minister Aldana instructed that the eleven people sentenced to effective prison terms serve them in penal facilities in the Bío Bío Region. The minister on extraordinary visit for human rights violation cases of the Concepción Court of Appeals, Carlos Aldana Fuentes, initiated the compliance of the sentence that convicted a group of retired Carabineros and civilians for their responsibility in the consummated crime of aggravated kidnapping of Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, José Felidor Pinto Pinto, Luis Alberto Cid Cid, Luis Alberto Bastías Sandoval, Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, Gabriel José Viveros Flores, Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón, and José Roberto Molina Quezada. These illicit acts were perpetrated in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco between September and December 1973. In the resolution (criminal case roll 372, Santa Bárbara episode), Minister Aldana began today—Thursday, February 2—with the notification to those convicted in the case: Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán, who must serve a sentence of 11 years in prison as the author of eight crimes of aggravated kidnapping; and José Roberto Valdivia Dames, who must serve five years in prison for the kidnapping of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira. In the coming days, the instructing minister will continue notifying the sentences to Exequiel Celedón Barra, 10 years and one day in prison as the author of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba and José Felidor Pinto Pinto; Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames, 5 years in prison for the aggravated kidnapping of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira; Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas must serve the same sentence as the author of three crimes of aggravated kidnapping; and Eugenio Villa Urrutia, Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, and José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz will serve 4 years of supervised release for seven aggravated kidnappings. Minister Aldana instructed that the eleven people sentenced to effective prison terms serve them in penal facilities in the Bío Bío Region. by Claudia A. Fuentes Riveros

Source: latribuna.cl, February 2, 2023