The town of Paine holds the sad record of having the highest number of political executions and forcibly disappeared persons in proportion to its inhabitants. After the military coup, bands of civilians, police, and military personnel operated there, leaving a trail of blood and pain, murdering peasants from "settlements" born out of the Agrarian Reform.

In Paine, victims and perpetrators still live side by side under a cloak of impunity and oblivion. In 1979, the Military Justice system dismissed the cases opened regarding the events in Paine by virtue of the 1978 Amnesty Law, approved by General Pinochet himself to cover up his crimes.

After 29 years, Judge María Estela Elgarrista is nearing the truth. The Agrarian Reform, initiated in the 1960s and intensified under the government of Salvador Allende and the Unidad Popular, allowed many peasant families to benefit from the allocation of lands that, until then, belonged to a handful of large landowners.

Thus, the peasants gave life to the "settlements," but in Paine, as in the rest of the Chilean countryside, everything was set back on September 11, 1973. Bands of far-right civilians, police, and military personnel exacted "revenge," murdering union leaders and "settled" peasants.

The crimes, impunity, and fear spread through the small localities of Paine, Hospital, Huelquén, Culitrín, Chada, Rangue, El Vínculo, Pintué, and Laguna de Aculeo. Many peasants and their families witnessed how local civilians guided the uniformed men through the "settlements," providing names and, more often than not, participating directly in the repression and crimes.

Two weeks ago, and after 29 years, the judge of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, María Estela Elgarrista, summoned family members and perpetrators to various confrontations. Holanda Vidal, wife of the forcibly disappeared Cristian Cartagena Pérez, states: "I was summoned regarding the lawsuit for the kidnapping and murder of my husband, who disappeared on September 18, 1973.

Our goal is for the guilty to be prosecuted: Carabineros from the Paine sub-precinct and civilians who acted in concert. I identified several of them: Sergeant Retamal, Corporal Ortiz, Albornoz, and Víctor Sagredo; and civilians: Darío González Carrasco, now a merchant, a member of Patria y Libertad, who admitted that he detained my husband at the Chada School House where we lived, taking him to the sub-precinct at six in the morning." The former Carabineros have denied their participation in the crimes during the confrontations, arguing that they "were on guard duty." "That caused me a shock with paralysis of my arms, a crisis of crying and anguish. It is terrible to relive everything that happened, to see them so close, their cynicism, their audacity in denying the truth. To see them so arrogant, without accepting that what they did was atrocious. These are the first confrontations after 29 years of complaints, searches, and knocking on doors. This step was possible because of all our effort and work as an Association. We have not compromised on the trial and punishment of the guilty, and that they pay for their crimes with prison." After the confrontations, prosecutions should follow. The judge has a long list of civilians, Carabineros, and military personnel from the San Bernardo Infantry Regiment. "One of the murderers is Lieutenant Magaña Baum, and among the Carabineros, Sergeant Verdugo, a torturer who now presents himself as an old man who has done nothing," adds Holanda Vidal. "Everyone saw them" Juan Maureira is the son of René Maureira Gajardo, who was forcibly disappeared on October 16, 1973, along with 22 other peasants from the Campo Lindo, 24 de Abril, and Nuevo Sendero settlements. As president of the AFDD of Paine, he recalls that military personnel from the San Bernardo Infantry School also participated in the repression and murders: "The judge is investigating nearly 40 complaints filed before Judge Guzmán. In Paine, there are more than 70 victims, of whom about 40 are still missing. These are the cases compiled in the Rettig Report, but others were never reported. We presume that around 100 were murdered in Paine, most of them peasants from settlements. The minister will eventually have to prosecute the Carabineros, civilians, and military personnel involved. It is what we expect and what we have asked for, that true justice be done and that we can find our family members... We know that Lieutenant Magaña has information about what happened to my father and 22 other peasants, among other cases. He killed our family members... The Carabineros have denied their participation, but they are the same ones who still live in the town. How can they deny it if everyone saw them? The same happens with the civilians who acted. Paine is a small town." According to the family members, the judge has acted with rigor, caution, and intelligence. They trust the testimonies and statements she has managed to collect. For them, everything points to the fact that some of those involved will be prosecuted. "Many were even seen entering houses. There is a countless amount of evidence collected since that time." So far, they are satisfied with the investigation and the proceedings carried out by the judge. For them, it is the first investigation after 29 years without achieving justice. Up to this minute, civilians and Carabineros have been summoned, and some confrontations have taken place: "Which gives us a bit of satisfaction because it had never been achieved before. For the moment there are no prosecuted individuals, but the minister continues working. And we have been able to corroborate that," says Juan Maureira. Meanwhile, most of the civilians and Carabineros who murdered the peasants of Paine continue to live in the small rural town, in complete impunity. "As far as we have been able to see, for the first time there is an investigation as it should be. The criminals will have to provide information about what happened. They are the same Carabineros, civilians, and military personnel who are mentioned in most of the cases," he concludes. Murderers of Paine Carabineros Nelson Bravo Espinoza, Captain; Raúl Ortiz Maluenda, 2nd Sergeant; Carlos Aburto Jaramillo, 1st Corporal; José Retamal Burgos, 1st Corporal; Víctor Sagredo Aravena, 1st Corporal; Reyes, Sergeant; Luis Jara, Lieutenant of Pintué; and Carabineros Samuel Ahumada Cabello; Raúl Donoso Figueroa; Alamiro Garrido Ubal; Jorge González Quezada; Víctor Labarca Díaz; Eduardo Molina Armijo; José Piñaleo Pérez and Jorge Verdugo, among others. Civilians Hugo Aguilera, Fernando Aguilera, Francisco Luzoro, Jorge Sepúlveda, Tito Carrasco, Claudio Oregón, Darío González Carrasco, Luis Guerrero, Mario Tagle, Ricardo Tagle, Yule Tagle, Jorge Aguirre. Military - San Bernardo Infantry School Leonel Köening Alternatt, Director; Samuel Rojas Pérez, Lieutenant Colonel; Mario Morales Durán, conscript; Andrés Magaña Baum, Lieutenant; Pedro Montalvo Calvo, Colonel; Iván de la Fuente Sáez, Major; Hernán Pizarro Collarte, Major; Ciro Ahumada Miranda, Major; Juan Carlos Nielsen Stambuck, Captain; Sergio Rodríguez Rautcher, Captain; Luis Cortés Villa, Captain; Víctor Pinto Pérez, Captain; Marcial Cobos Farías, Captain; Jorge Romero Campos, Captain; Luis Villarroel Contreras, Captain; Héctor Maturana Zúñiga, Captain; Luis Garfias Cabrera, Captain; Eduardo Silva Bravo, Captain; Sergio Valdivia M., Captain; and Julio Cerda Carrasco, Captain, among others.

Source: El Siglo, February 25, 2003

Paine: two cops accused of disappearances and execution of workers in 1973

Paine is sadly known for being the locality that records the highest percentage of forcibly disappeared persons and political executions in relation to its population due to the repression following the Coup, as reported in 1990 by the Rettig Report, which also confirmed that it was here that the active participation of civilians in said repressive onslaught was most evident.

After having carried out a long investigation, which included several scene reconstructions, the minister in extraordinary visit for human rights violation cases of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Marianela Cifuentes Alarcón, issued an indictment in three investigations she is substantiating for the crimes of qualified kidnapping—detention and subsequent disappearance—and homicide, illicit acts perpetrated by State agents and right-wing civilians between September and October 1973, in the commune of Paine, south of the Metropolitan Region.

In the first case (case file 04-02 F "Paine – Canal Viluco), for the crimes of qualified kidnapping and homicide of the turner JOSÉ GUMERCINDO GONZÁLEZ SEPÚLVEDA, 32 years old at the time of the tragic events, Minister Cifuentes presented an indictment as authors of such illicit acts against Nelson Bravo Espinoza, a former Carabineros officer, and José Retamal Burgos, a former non-commissioned officer of the same.

According to the evidence collected during the investigation stage, the visiting minister managed to establish that: "on the afternoon of October 10, 1973, while José Gumercindo González Sepúlveda was working in his trade as a turner at the Pereira family's workshop, located in the commune of Paine, he was detained without legal basis by Carabineros officials from the sub-precinct of that locality, a police unit in charge of Captain Nelson Iván Bravo Espinoza, among whom was Corporal José Osvaldo Retamal Burgos.

Immediately thereafter, González Sepúlveda was taken to the aforementioned sub-precinct, and his body was later found in the Viluco canal, inside the Carmen Vineyard, in Linderos, confirming that his death was caused by a gunshot wound to the skull." In the second resolution (case file 04-02 E "Paine – El Sol Bakery"), the magistrate indicted the same jackals, Bravo Espinoza and Retamal Burgos, as authors of the crime of qualified kidnapping—disappearance—of PEDRO LEÓN VARGAS BARRIENTOS, 23 years old at the time and a member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).

In the investigation, the visiting minister established that, "on September 13, 1973, while Pedro León Vargas Barrientos was at the El Sol bakery in the commune of Paine, he was detained, without legal basis, by officials of the sub-precinct of that locality, a police unit in charge of Captain Nelson Iván Bravo Espinoza, among whom was Corporal José Osvaldo Retamal Burgos.

Immediately thereafter, Vargas Barrientos was transported to the aforementioned sub-precinct in a pickup truck driven by Claudio Oregón Tudela, currently deceased, where he was kept locked up and was last seen alive, with no news of his whereabouts to this date." It should be noted that the aforementioned Oregón Tudela was a civilian, a right-winger, who, along with other businessmen, large landowners, and some sycophants, accompanied the uniformed coup plotters in their raids against the local population identified with the left and the overthrown Unidad Popular government.

In the third case (case file 04-02 H "Paine – Campo Lindo"), Minister Cifuentes held the aforementioned cop Bravo Espinoza responsible as the author of the crime of qualified kidnapping of JORGE ORLANDO VALENZUELA VALENZUELA, 30 years old, an agricultural worker with no political affiliation.

In the investigation carried out regarding the detention and subsequent disappearance of Jorge Valenzuela, the judge established that, "on October 8, 1973, Carabineros officials from the Paine sub-precinct, a police unit that, at the time, was in charge of Captain Nelson Iván Bravo Espinoza, detained, without legal basis, Jorge Orlando Valenzuela Valenzuela while he was spending the night inside the Campo Lindo settlement in the commune of Paine, with his whereabouts unknown to this date." Uniformed and civilian culprits of the repression in Paine The execution and disappearance of the three young men are part of the bloody repression in Paine after the 1973 military coup, which resulted in 70 executions, 40 of them forcibly disappeared. This massive reprisal was the civil and military response to the affront that it represented to the powerful that the peasants and workers of the area (and the country) dared to demand their long-delayed rights and began to decide on the type of society they wanted for themselves and their families. Participating in the unbridled repression were Carabineros: Nelson Bravo Espinoza, Captain (now accused); Raúl Ortiz Maluenda, 2nd Sergeant; Carlos Aburto Jaramillo, 1st Corporal; José Retamal Burgos, 1st Corporal (also accused); Víctor Sagredo Aravena, 1st Corporal; Reyes, Sergeant; Luis Jara, Lieutenant of Pintué; and Carabineros Samuel Ahumada Cabello; Raúl Donoso Figueroa; Alamiro Garrido Ubal; Jorge González Quezada; Víctor Labarca Díaz; Eduardo Molina Armijo; José Piñaleo Pérez and Jorge Verdugo, among others. Also fully involved were soldiers from the San Bernardo Infantry School: Colonel Leonel Köening Alternatt, Director of the San Bernardo Infantry School; Samuel Rojas Pérez, Lieutenant Colonel; Mario Morales Durán, conscript; Andrés Magaña Baum, Lieutenant; Pedro Montalvo Calvo, Colonel; Iván de la Fuente Sáez, Major; Hernán Pizarro Collarte, Major; Ciro Ahumada Miranda, Major; Juan Carlos Nielsen Stambuck, Captain; Sergio Rodríguez Rautcher, Captain; Luis Cortés Villa, Captain; Víctor Pinto Pérez, Captain; Marcial Cobos Farías, Captain; Jorge Romero Campos, Captain; Luis Villarroel Contreras, Captain; Héctor Maturana Zúñiga, Captain; Luis Garfias Cabrera, Captain; Eduardo Silva Bravo, Captain; Sergio Valdivia M., Captain; and Julio Cerda Carrasco, Captain, among others. We must not forget the participation in this shameful wave of post-coup murders, torture, and humiliation in Paine by right-wing civilians: landowners, businessmen, and the lumpen paid by the former. Thus, the following civilians are pointed out as murderers of the people: Hugo and Fernando Aguilera; Francisco Luzoro; Jorge Sepúlveda; Tito Carrasco; Claudio Oregón; Darío González Carrasco; Luis Guerrero; Mario, Ricardo, and Yule Tagle; Jorge Aguirre; Christian Kast; Luis Mondaca; Segundo Suazo; Miguel González; Patricio Meza; Jorge Nazar, and Ruperto Concha (the latter 6, mentioned in the judicial statement of survivor Alejandro del Carmen Bustos González, October 22, 2001; Paine Case, Page 1726 of volume VII). No Forgetting, No Forgiveness: Truth, Justice, and Memory! Only Struggle and Unity Will Make Us Free! Colectivo Acción Directa CAD – Chile January 27, 2017

Source: acciondirectachile.blogspot.com, January 28, 2017