Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich, married, father of 4, a communist militant, was detained by the DINA on July 15, 1974, around 15:30 hours, at his workplace located at the I.R.T. Industry, in the presence of his coworkers and supervisors, who ordered him to change his clothes to accompany the civilians who had requested his presence.

The agents were traveling in two Chevrolet pickup trucks, without license plates, one yellow and the other cream-colored. In one of these trucks, the victim was taken to his home in Villa Francia, which was raided; the captors then performed an excavation near the house, extracting a box whose contents remain unknown.

They then moved to the home of José Villagra Astudillo, whom they waited for to detain, which occurred at 20:30 hours. Both were taken to the DINA facility at Londres 38 and later to 4 Alamos, where all traces of them were lost. One week earlier, on July 10, Enrique Toro Romero was detained; he is also forcibly disappeared. All three belonged to the Christian Community of Villa Francia.

Regarding the circumstances of the victim's detention, these are documented in the recurso de amparo (writ of habeas corpus) and in statements from neighbors of Villa Francia who witnessed the events. The priest Mariano Puga Concha, parish priest of the neighborhood at the time of the apprehension, stated that he saw Lara Petrovich as a detainee in a cream-colored pickup truck parked in front of his home.

Mrs. Juana Cabezas Pacheco, an immediate neighbor of the victim, stated that on the indicated day she saw 3 people with the appearance of police officers get out of a truck and enter Lara Petrovich's house; one of them was about 40 years old, fat, short, with a mustache and a limp in his right leg; the second was a person slightly taller, fat, dark-skinned, and with long sideburns; the third was shorter than the previous two.

The minor Osvaldo Lara Ugas, 11 years old, son of the victim, noted that when the truck arrived with his father as a detainee, he went out to see him, finding him with his hands handcuffed, his left cheek bleeding, and the right side of his face swollen; his father asked him to bring his little sister, which he did, provoking mockery and insults from the agents; the minor states that the truck had a fiscal stamp or seal and license plate number SU-790.

Mrs. Rosa Peñailillo Núñez, spouse of José Villagra Astudillo, stated that around 17:30 hours on July 15, 5 subjects arrived at her home asking for her husband; upon learning he was not present, they decided to wait for his arrival, which occurred around 20:30 hours; when he arrived, they took him away, explaining that they needed him to speak with Eduardo Lara Petrovich, whom they had also taken into custody.

Regarding the victim's forced confinement at Londres 38, there is the testimony of former detainee Oscar Armando Alfaro Córdova, who stated that he was detained by the DINA on July 9, 1974, and taken to that secret facility.

He remained there for 8 days, being subjected to intense interrogations while being tortured with punches, kicks, and the application of electric current to different parts of his body. During his time at Londres 38, he noticed the presence of Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich, who lived in Villa Francia, and a person with the surname Toro, who also lived in that neighborhood.

When the 3 detainees were at 4 Alamos, they taught the other prisoners a hymn from their Christian Community. The parish priest of Villa Francia, Father Mariano Puga Concha, was detained on July 23, 1974, and held at 4 Alamos.

There, the prisoners sang the hymn they had learned from Lara Petrovich and the other two victims. Likewise, the priest appeared on June 7, 1979, before the 8th Criminal Court, in case 11.273, initiated due to the detention and subsequent disappearance of Jaime Buzio Lorca.

In his judicial testimony, he stated that after being detained, he was taken tied up and blindfolded to a place he assumes was Villa Grimaldi, where he remained for one day, and was then taken to 4 Alamos, where he remained incommunicado.

He stayed there for about 3 days before being taken to Londres 38, from where he was removed to be released at the home of Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez. At Villa Grimaldi, he was interrogated intensely regarding 3 detainees from his community: Enrique Toro Romero, Eduardo Lara, and José Villagra Astudillo; his interrogators wanted him to tell them the political affiliation of these people.

At 4 Alamos, one of the detainees there told him that in one of the cells, the names of 4 detained people were written on the window frame: the 3 already identified, and the fourth corresponding to Ramón Rojas, also from Villa Francia, who, after remaining detained for about 4 months, went into exile.

The victim's name appeared on a list of 119 Chileans who allegedly died in Argentina in clashes between ultra-leftist groups or in clashes with the Argentine Armed Forces. This list was published by the "LEA" publication in Argentina and "O'DIA" in Brazil, which published only one issue, without a responsible editor, and whose addresses listed as the imprint turned out to be false.

Neither the governments of Argentina nor Brazil took responsibility for this information. Subsequently, the Chilean government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that none of the mentioned persons had recorded an exit from the country.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On July 16, his spouse Mirta Ugas Olivos, together with the wives of the other two detainees, filed a recurso de amparo on behalf of Lara Petrovich, Villagra Astudillo, and Toro Romero. The petition was presented to the Santiago Court of Appeals, assigned role number 755-74.

On July 17, the Court requested information by official letter from the Ministry of Defense, whose response was received 4 months later, on November 21, stating that the Ministry had no records of the individuals and they had not been reported to the Military Justice system.

On November 26, the Ministry of the Interior informed the Court that it had no records. Similar responses were received in January 1975 from the Aviation Courts and the Chief of the State of Siege Zone of the Province of Santiago.

On February 14, 1975, upon the completion of 7 months since the detention, Mrs. Mirta Ugas Olivos informed the Court of Appeals that at the SENDET, at the beginning of that February, she was verbally informed that her spouse was detained but that they could not provide information because he was being held incommunicado.

Likewise, she requested that the Court take statements from the eyewitnesses of the detention, that is, the workers, executives, the Social Worker, and the Head of Personnel of the I.R.T. Industry; at the same time, she placed the testimonies of Mariano Puga, Juana Cabezas Pacheco, and Osvaldo Lara Ugas at the disposal of the Court.

On March 10, the DINA informed the Court that reports regarding detainees must be requested from the Ministry of the Interior or SENDET. On April 2, the Ministry of the Interior again reported having no records regarding the detainee.

Two days later, on April 4, the Court of Appeals rejected the recurso de amparo based solely on the information provided by the administrative authority, without referring the records to the competent Criminal Court, despite the fact that the detainees had been missing for more than 8 months. The Court also did not take statements from the witnesses from the I.R.T. Industry.

On March 30, 1979, the Santiago Court of Appeals, in compliance with a resolution of the Supreme Court, sent the records of forcibly disappeared persons from that jurisdiction to the Third Criminal Court of Santiago. Among the records sent was the recurso de amparo 755-74, in order to investigate the disappearance of Lara Petrovich, Villagra Astudillo, and Toro Romero.

On July 26, 1979, the Third Criminal Court initiated case 130.923. During the processing of the case, the Minister of the Interior, Sergio Fernández Fernández, reported on November 25, 1980, that Eduardo Lara Petrovich, according to information that appeared in the newspaper "El Mercurio" on July 23, 1975, "had been executed by his own MIR militant comrades in Argentina, apparently over money matters that began with the fall of Allende." The Minister says nothing about the fact that this news was a reproduction of what was published by the magazines "LEA" of Argentina and "O'DIA" of Brazil, the veracity of which was called into question by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself when responding to the various official letters issued by the Courts of Justice. On the other hand, the Court received negative reports from the various health care centers in the capital. The order given to the various Investigation Prefectures of the country to find the whereabouts of the victims yielded no results. On September 23, 1982, Judge Carmen Canales Lavín temporarily dismissed the case on the grounds that the crime under investigation was not proven by the gathered evidence. This resolution was confirmed by the Court of Appeals on April 7, 1983, despite the fact that there is no record in the proceedings that the witnesses to the victim's detention appeared, nor the witnesses who knew of the victim's stay at Londres 38 and 4 Alamos, respectively.

Note: This file was corrected by his son, Osvaldo Lara Ugás, in April 2002.

Source: Vicaría de la Solidaridad

The 26th Civil Court of Santiago ordered the State of Chile to pay a total sum of $600,000,000 (six hundred million pesos) to the children of EDUARDO ENRIQUE LARA PETROVICH and José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo, detained by DINA agents in 1974, within the framework of the so-called Operation Colombo.

In the ruling (case role 22.881-2016), Judge Humberto Provoste Bachmann established the State's responsibility in the illegal detention and disappearance of the victims and ordered the treasury to pay $100,000,000 (one hundred million pesos) to each of the three plaintiffs who are children of Lara Petrovich, and an equal sum to each of the three children of Villagra Astudillo.

"That, with the merit of the copy of the sentence of May 20, 2015, issued in case Role 2182-1998 'Operation Colombo: Enrique Toro Romero and Others Episode,' by the Minister of Law Hernán Crisosto Greisse, the copy of the fragment of the Report of the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation (Rettig Report), Volume N° 1, Tome 2, page 812, and certificates issued by the Undersecretariat of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, all detailed in the preceding motive, and furthermore, the defendant not having disputed the facts set forth in the plaintiff's petition, it is concluded that on July 15, 1974, Mr. José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo and Mr. Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich were illegally detained by State agents, the former at his home and the latter at his workplace, being taken to the DINA facility at Londres 38 and then to Cuatro Álamos, the place from which they disappeared, with no further knowledge of their whereabouts to this day," the ruling states.

The resolution adds: "Likewise, having assessed the responses to the requested official letters and the testimony, it is proven that, as a consequence of the disappearance of the plaintiffs' parents, their families suffered affliction or pain, as well as disorders in their personality and development, which affected the lives of all their members."

"(...) in accordance with what is stated in the preceding motive, it is concluded that, having had State agents participate in the illegal detention of Mr. José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo and Mr. Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich, the State of Chile is responsible for their kidnapping and subsequent disappearance, an act that entailed pain or affliction for the plaintiffs, since from July 15, 1974, they not only had to live with the constant uncertainty of not knowing the whereabouts of their parents, but also a situation of constant humiliation and damage to their personality and development," it adds.

"Furthermore, the lack of collaboration from the various public institutions and services until the return to democracy shows that the State incurred a failure of service, enshrined in the Political Constitution of the Republic and in Law N° 18.575, the Constitutional Organic Law on the General Bases of State Administration," it concludes.

Source: adprensa.cl 2016

The Seventh Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals convicted 36 former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crimes of qualified kidnapping of Enrique Segundo Toro Romero, Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich, and José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo, members of the Christian community of Villa Francia in the commune of Estación Central.

In a unanimous ruling, the chamber—composed of ministers Jaime Balmaceda, Maritza Villadangos, and the lawyer (i) Jaime Guerrero—ratified the sentence that, in criminal terms, sentenced César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 15 years and one day in prison as authors of the crimes.

Meanwhile, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Ciro Torré Sáez, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, and Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas must serve 10 years and one day in prison.

In the civil aspect, with the dissenting vote of Minister Balmaceda, the State was ordered to pay a total compensation of $540,000,000 (five hundred and forty million pesos) to the victims' relatives.

In the investigation of the case, the visiting minister Hernán Crisosto established that on the night of July 10, 1974, Enrique Segundo Toro Romero, affiliated with the Communist Party, was detained at his home located at Calle Guillermo Saavedra 5440, Villa Francia, in the commune of Estación Central, by DINA agents.

The same occurred with Eduardo Lara Petrovich, also affiliated with the PC, who was kidnapped on July 15, 1974, at his workplace, "Industria IRT," located at Av. Vicuña Mackenna N° 3333, commune of San Joaquín, while José Villagra Astudillo, linked to the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained on July 15, 1974, at his home located at Calle Luis Infante Cerda N° 5447, Villa Francia.

All were taken to the clandestine detention facility known as "Yucatán" or "Londres 38," in downtown Santiago, and were subsequently taken to the clandestine detention facility known as "Cuatro Álamos," located at Calle Canadá N° 3000, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access.

The investigations add that during their stay at the Londres 38 and Cuatro Álamos barracks, they were subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks "with the purpose of obtaining information, including information regarding members of their political group and Christian community." The last time they were seen alive dates back to July and/or August 1974.

Their names later appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine Novo O'Día of Curitiba, Brazil, dated June 25, 1975, which reported that they had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal strife, which was later established to be part of disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.

Source: elmostrador 10/12/2018 Date: 10-12-2018

Miguel Krassnoff convicted for kidnappings during Operation Colombo

The Santiago Court of Appeals convicted former Army Brigadier Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko for his responsibility in the crime of qualified kidnapping against Enrique Segundo Toro Romero, Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich, and José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo, events that occurred during the so-called Operation Colombo.

In a unanimous ruling, the Seventh Chamber of the appellate court ratified the sentence issued in May 2015, which sentences the former military officer to serve a penalty of 15 years and one day in prison for his responsibility as an author of the crime.

The investigation established that Enrique Toro was kidnapped on July 10, 1974, while EDUARDO LARA and José Villagra were kidnapped on July 15 of the same year. All three were members of a Christian community in Villa Francia, the neighborhood where they lived and from where they were kidnapped.

After the intervention of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), the three kidnapped individuals were seen alive for the last time, according to the investigation, in August 1974. After that, their names appeared on the "list of the 119," a list of all those executed by Operation Colombo, which staged a false internal clash to justify the deaths.

In addition to Krassnoff, the ruling sentences César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann as authors of the crime to 15 years and one day in prison. Meanwhile, 32 other former DINA agents were sentenced to 10 years and one day in prison.

With the ratification of the sentence, it is confirmed that Krassnoff has accumulated 655 years in prison for all the human rights violation crimes he committed.

On the other hand, the Santiago Court of Appeals also ratified that the civil lawsuit filed by the relatives of the kidnapped persons was accepted and ordered the State to pay compensation of 540 million pesos.

Source: fortinmapocho.cl 10/12/2018 Date: 10-12-2018

Members of the Armed Forces and Order who have been convicted or prosecuted for human rights violations perpetrated during the dictatorship enjoy free transit throughout the country, and even abroad.

1. Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires This retired Carabineros colonel heads the list of those most wanted by the PDI. Using the nickname “Cachete Grande” (Big Cheek), he was a member of the DINA’s Caupolicán Brigade, tasked with repressing the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR).

From Villa Grimaldi, under the direction of Brigadier Pedro Espinoza Bravo, he commanded the “Águila” (Eagle) group, whose members were known as “Los Guatones” (The Chubby Ones).

RICARDO LAWRENCE MIRES, FORMER DINA AGENT.

In court, he admitted to the use of electric shocks on detainees, using a magneto and a metal cot to tie up the victims. When questioned about the forcibly disappeared, he stated that the head of the DINA, Manuel Contreras, and Augusto Pinochet must have known their whereabouts, criticizing them for “not showing their faces.” He was convicted for the aggravated kidnapping of Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo, Francisco Eduardo Aedo Carrasco, Jorge Elías Andrónico Antequera, Juan Carlos Andrónico Antequera, Jaime Mauricio Buzio Lorca, Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia, Cecilia Gabriela Castro Salvadores, Rodolfo Alejandro Espejo Gómez, Albano Agustín Fioraso Chau, Gregorio Antonio Gaete Farías, Mauricio Edmundo Jorquera Encina, Isidro Miguel Ángel Pizarro Meniconi, Marcos Esteban Quiñones Lembach, Jilberto Patricio Urbina Chamorro, Aldo Gonzálo Pérez Vargas, Carlos Fredy Pérez Vargas, Ariel Martín Salinas Argomedo, Carmen Cecilia Bueno Cifuentes, Jorge Hernán Müller Silva, Luis Eduardo Durán Rivas, Eduardo Humberto Ziede Gómez, EDUARDO ENRIQUE LARA PRETROVICH, Enrique Segundo Toro Romero, and José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo. Appearing as victims of the same crime against humanity are Luis Alberto Guendelman Wisniak, Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla, Ismael Darío Chávez Lobos, Jorge Alejandro Olivares Grandorge, Juan Carlos Perelman Ide, Juan Rosendo Chacón Olivares, María Angélica Andreoli Bravo, María Cristina López Stewart, Pedro Enrique Poblete Córdova, Rodrigo Eduardo Ugas Morales, Rubén David Arroyo Padilla, Teobaldo Antonio Tello Garrido, Washington Cid Urrutia, Zacarías Antonio Machuca Muñoz, Félix Edmundo Lebrecht Díaz-Pinto, Bárbara Gabriela Uribe Tamblay, Francisco Edwin Van Yurick Altamirano, Alfonso René Chanfreau Oyarce, Alejandro de la Barra Villarroel, Ana María Irene Puga Rojas, Marcia Bernardita Scantlebury Elizalde, Jesús Clara Tamblay Flores, among others.

2. Pedro Javier Guzmán Olivares Member of the CNI’s Anti-Subversive Brigade who operated under the alias “Roberto Téllez Fuentes.” Prior to dedicating himself to repressing the Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez (FPMR), he was part of the Army Intelligence Battalion (BIE). He was implicated in the crime against journalist José Carrasco Tapia, committed in retaliation for the attack on Pinochet.

PEDRO GUZMÁN OLIVARES, FORMER CNI AGENT

A retired colonel, he was convicted as the perpetrator of the torture suffered by Cristina Jeannette Miranda Osorio, Manuel René Moreno Torres, Víctor Hugo Cárdenas Díaz, Alexis Orlando Contreras Díaz, Juan Carlos Durán Fuentes, Sergio Enrique Cabello Romo, Julian Arnaldo Valdés Recabarren, Kristel Leonie Waleska Dossow Teillier, Víctor Manuel Jofré Valenzuela, Flor María Muñoz Meriches, Alejandro Fredy Almonacid Sandoval, Raúl Orlando Calfulen Quintrequeo, and Rodrigo Antonio Cárdenas Neira.

He was also sentenced as the perpetrator of the homicides of Ana Alicia Delgado Tapia, Juan Manuel Varas Silva, Felipe Segundo Rivera Gajardo, and Marcelino Carol Marchandon Valenzuela. Furthermore, he was a co-participant in the crime against Jecar Antonio Neghme Cristi, a member of the MIR.

3. Juan Eduardo Rubilar Ottone He directed the CNI’s Anti-Subversive Brigade starting in 1984. Hidden under the operational name “Captain Lira,” he exercised command over 25 agents, including those currently fugitives, Reimer Kohlitz and Pedro Guzmán.

His superior in the organization was Álvaro Corbalán, currently imprisoned in Punta Peuco. A former Army officer, he has convictions as the perpetrator of the aggravated homicides of Enzo Muñoz Arévalo and Héctor Patricio Sobarzo Núñez, for which an arrest warrant was issued against him on August 4, 2015.

During the trial, he claimed that the victims were followed after an attack carried out against the BIE barracks at Alameda and García Reyes. The property is adjacent to the former Army War Academy, which served as the cradle for the infamous Operation Condor in the 1970s, and from which the executioners of union leader Tucapel Jiménez emerged.

According to the regime’s version, the CNI detected the suspects in a vehicle traveling along Avda. José Pedro Alessandri, meters from the Rotonda Departamental, leading to a confrontation that caused the death of both. The Rettig Report determined that this account was not truthful, and that in reality, they were kidnapped and shot while defenseless.

4. Luis Arturo Sanhueza Ros (captured on August 26, 2017) He entered the Military School two years after the coup d’état. Also known as “El Huiro” and “Ramiro Droguett,” Sanhueza admitted to having participated in the death of MIR members in Neltume.

From 1981, he worked at the Borgoño Barracks, forming part of the CNI’s ranks. After the transition to democracy, during the investigation into the crime against former DINA chemist Eugenio Berríos, he indicated that he had gone into hiding, protected abroad by a secret squad of the Army Intelligence Directorate (DINE), led by officer Maximiliano Ferrer Lima.

After remaining as a refugee with his family in Argentina and Uruguay, he chose to return, fearing being distanced from his custodians, and testified in court, where he was also accused of the cold practice of throwing detainees into the sea off the coast of Quintay.

He was convicted for the homicide of Fernando Gabriel Vergara Vargas, Juan Elías Espinoza Parra, Julio Arturo Guerra Olivares, and Gonzalo Iván Fuenzalida Navarrete, and for the aggravated kidnapping of Julio Orlando Muñoz Otarola, José Julián Peña Maltés, Alejandro Alberto Pinochet Arenas, and Manuel Jesús Sepúlveda Sánchez.

Finally, he was convicted as a co-perpetrator of the crime against Jecar Neghme Cristi.

5. Reimer Eduardo Kohlitz Fell A fugitive for the crime of homicide in case file 2182-98, the Enzo Muñoz Arévalo episode, of the Santiago Court of Appeals, according to PDI records. His arrest was ordered by Judge Mario Carroza on October 9, 2015.

He wore an Army uniform and was a lieutenant when the extermination brigade led by Rubilar Ottone—who is also evading justice—ended the lives of Enzo Muñoz and Héctor Sobarzo in a fake “confrontation,” a hallmark of CNI actions.

His presence at the scene was indicated by Carabineros officer Dina Petric Meneses, a CNI official who, as revealed by El Ciudadano in its digital edition, is listed as a member of the teaching staff at the police force’s Non-Commissioned Officers School with a specialty in intelligence, while simultaneously serving as the establishment’s public relations officer as of 2017.

Identified by the alias “Eduardo Covarrubias,” Kohlitz denied having participated in the crimes. However, the magistrate dismissed his statements.

6. Armando Fernández Larios Although he has been out of the country for years, he appears on the list provided to El Ciudadano by the PDI. He participated in the feared Caravan of Death, involved in the massacres, torture, and abuse that stained the northern cities with blood and pain.

After entering the United States in 1987, the former DINA major under “Mamo” Contreras declared himself an accomplice to the car bomb attack that claimed the life of former Allende diplomat Orlando Letelier in Washington D.C.

He reportedly provided the U.S. justice system with sufficient evidence to prove Contreras’s participation in the massacre, and in exchange, he received protection from that country’s Department of Justice.

As discovered by a team from Ahora Noticias, Fernández currently lives in Florida, in the resort town of Marco Island, where he owns a house that he rents out for 700,000 pesos per week, dedicating himself to business.

In Chile, the Supreme Court requested his extradition for the crimes of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated homicide of Manuel Sanhueza Mellado, which occurred in Pisagua in July 1974. His handover is also being demanded from the U.S. as he is implicated in the death of the Spanish ECLAC official Carmelo Soria, alongside the FBI-protected hitman Michael Townley and the Cuban terrorist Virgilio Paz.

7. Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra A civilian official of the FACH who belonged to the DINA. He was convicted as an accomplice for the aggravated kidnappings of Modesto Segundo Espinoza Pozo and Roberto Enrique Aranda Romero, which occurred in Santiago between August 22 and 23, 1974, alongside Manuel Contreras and Miguel Krassnoff.

Modesto Espinoza, a militant of the MIR, was taken to the “Cuatro Álamos” detention center, located on Calle Canadá in Santiago, near the 3000 block. Like many others, he was taken to the clandestine barracks of Londres 38 and Villa Grimaldi to be subjected to interrogation.

The MIR member became another victim of the setup known as Operation Colombo, appearing on the list of 119 people published by the Chilean press complicit with the regime and the magazine Novo O’Día of Curitiba, Brazil.

These reports claimed that Espinoza and other MIR members had died due to internal disputes, as part of the disinformation strategy deployed by the DINA abroad. Cárdenas’s whereabouts have been unknown since August 2009, when Judge Mario Carroza of the Santiago Court of Appeals ordered his arrest in case file No. 2182-98.

8. Leonidas del Carmen Bustos San Juan A former official of the Carabineros de Chile convicted on October 13, 2016, for the aggravated homicides of residents Ramón Bernardo Beltrán Sandoval, Carlos Alejandro Ibarra Espinoza, Juan Luis Inostroza Mallea, Rodolfo Ismael Rojas González, and Abraham José Romero Jeldres.

In court, he admitted his participation as a material perpetrator of the crimes perpetrated between September 26 and 27, 1973, in Quilicura, “since he was part of the group of Carabineros that removed the detainees from the police unit, and he was also among those who transported them to the Portezuelo sector and joined the group that culminated the action by firing,” the sentence reads.

Bustos was part of the Eneas Gonel Marín station and participated in raids alongside Investigative Police and members of the Army. According to the ruling, in compliance with orders issued by a commanding officer, the detainees were loaded into a pickup truck, taken out, forced to kneel, and subjected to gunfire throughout their bodies, some directly in the skull.

9. Carlos Humberto Minoletti Arriagada A retired Army major who reportedly fled the country. He is wanted for the kidnapping of Leopoldo García Lucero, a militant of the Socialist Party who supported the Unidad Popular government.

The exile passed through, among others, the National Stadium and the Chacabuco prison camp, located in the Antofagasta Region, where Minoletti served as a security officer. The agent was prosecuted in the Calama Caravan of Death case by special judge Hernán Crisosto, as a co-perpetrator of the crime of aggravated homicide against Mario Arguellez Toro, Carlos Berger Guralnik, Haroldo Ruperto Cabrera Abarzúa, Jerónimo Jorge Carpanchai Choque, Bernardino Cayo Cayo, Carlos Alfredo Escobedo Caris, Luis Alberto Gahona Ochoa, Daniel Jacinto Garrido Muñoz, Luis Alberto Hernández Neira, Manuel Segundo Hidalgo Rivas, Rolando Jorge Hoyos Salazar, Domingo Mamani López, David Ernesto Miranda Luna, Hernán Elizardo Moreno Villarroel, Luis Alfonso Moreno Villarroel, and Rosario Aguid Muñoz Castillo. In the same capacity, he was prosecuted for the deaths of Milton Alfredo Muñoz Muñoz, Víctor Alfredo Ortega Cuevas, Rafael Enrique Pineda Ibacache, Carlos Alfonso Piñero Lucero, Sergio Moisés Ramírez Espinoza, Fernando Roberto Ramírez Sánchez, Alejandro Rodríguez Rodríguez, Roberto Segundo Rojas Alcayaga, José Gregorio Saavedra González, and Jorge Rubén Yueng Rojas. Likewise, he was convicted for digging up corpses and throwing them into the sea in the operation called “Retiro de Televisores” (Removal of Televisions) to cover up the facts, crimes of illegal exhumation committed against Mario Arguellez Toro, Carlos Verger Guralnik, and Haroldo Ruperto Cabrera Abarzúa, among others.

10. Walter Ludwig Klug Rivera A retired Army officer who served in the ranks of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM) and attended the School of the Americas in Panama. He supervised the stables of the Los Ángeles Regiment, which were transformed into a prison camp.

According to the PDI, he is considered a fugitive based on an order issued by the Concepción Court of Appeals by Judge Carlos Aldana Fuentes on September 22, 2015, in case file No. 13.886. He was sentenced as an accomplice to the aggravated kidnappings of Manuel Antonio Aguilera Aguilera, José Óscar Badillo García, Mario Omar Belmar Soto, Abel Carrasco Vargas, José Abel Coronado Astudillo, Plutarco Enrique Coussy Benavides, Bernardo Samuel Meza Rubilar, Domingo Antonio Norambuena Inostroza, Mario Samuel Olivares Pérez, Benjamín Antonio Orrego Lillo, Wilfredo Hernán Quiroz Pereira, Alamiro Segundo Santana Figueroa, Manuel Sepúlveda Cerda, Luis Leopoldo Sepúlveda Núñez, Exequiel del Carmen Verdejo Verdejo, Luis Eduardo Vergara Corso, and Juan Miguel Yáñez Franco. In the same capacity, he was convicted for the aggravated homicides of César Augusto Flores Baeza, Víctor Jerez Meza, Juan Eladio Ulloa Pino, and Víctor Adolfo Ulloa Pino.

Source: laorillaizquierda.wordpress.com (elciudadano.cl) 4/09/2017

Date: 04-09-2017

Judge Hernán Crisosto issues conviction against 83 DINA agents for three kidnappings of the so-called “Operation Colombo”

The judge for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, issued a new conviction in the framework of the so-called “Operation Colombo” against 83 former members of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the aggravated kidnappings of Enrique Toro Romero, Eduardo Lara Petrovich, and José Villagra Astudillo, members of the Villa Francia Christian community, crimes perpetrated starting in July 1974.

In this aspect of the case, Judge Crisosto issued sentences against former agents: Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Marcelo Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann, who must serve 20-year prison sentences as perpetrators of the three crimes.

Meanwhile, Gerardo Godoy García, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Gerardo Urrich González, Ciro Torré Sáez, Castillo González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Hermon Helec Mundaca, Basclay Zapata Reyes, José Fuentes Torres, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Paz Bustamante, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Claudio Orellana de la Pinta, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Ojeda Obando, Gustavo Carumán Soto, Orlando Torrejón Gatica, Luis Villarroel Gutiérrez, Enrique Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo Hernández Valle, Juan Urbina Cáceres, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Risiere Altez España, Raúl Rodríguez Ponte, Juan Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Guerra Guajardo, José Fuentealba Saldías, Olegario González Moreno, Hugo Delgado Carrasco, Lautaro Díaz Espinoza, Pedro Araneda Araneda, Carlos Sáez Sanhueza, Juan Villanueva Alvear, Alfredo Moya Tejeda, Rafael Riveros Frost, Leonidas Méndez Moreno, Demóstenes Cárdenas Saavedra, and Hernán Valenzuela Salas were sentenced to 13 years in prison as perpetrators of the crimes. Likewise, agent Manuel Avendaño González must serve 10 years and one day in prison for his responsibility as a perpetrator of the kidnapping of Enrique Toro Romero. As accomplices, Judge Crisosto Greisse sentenced the following former DINA members to 5 years and one day in prison: Luis Mora Cerda, José Mora Diocares, Claudio Pacheco Fernández, Héctor Valdebenito Araya, Héctor Lira Aravena, Jaime París Ramos, Jorge Sagardía Monje, José Muñoz Leal, Nelson Ortiz Vignolo, Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo, Víctor San Martín Jiménez, Máximo Aliaga Soto, Juvenal Piña Garrido, Camilo Torres Negrier, Manuel Montre Méndez, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Nelson Iturriaga Cortés, Carlos Bermúdez Méndez, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, Fernando Roa Montaña, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Luis Torres Méndez, Reinaldo Concha Orellana, Gustavo Apablaza Meneses, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Moisés Campos Figueroa, Juan Miguel Troncoso Soto, José Hormazábal Rodríguez, Jorge Lepileo Barrios, Óscar la Flor Flores, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Sergio Díaz Lara, Roberto Rodríguez Manquel, and Héctor Díaz Cabezas. Meanwhile, Armando Cofré Correa and Orlando Manzo Durán were sentenced to 4 years in prison as accomplices to the kidnapping of Enrique Toro Romero. The magistrate acquitted agent Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez of responsibility. The facts: According to the sentence, in the case of Enrique Toro Romero, it was established that: “On the night of July 10, 1974, Enrique Segundo Toro Romero, who was affiliated with the Communist Party, was detained at his home located at Calle Guillermo Saavedra 5440, Villa Francia, in the Estación Central commune, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who forced him into the back of a pickup truck and transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38,’ located at that address in the city of Santiago. Subsequently, he was transferred to the clandestine detention center called ‘Cuatro Álamos,’ located at Calle Canadá No. 3000, Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access. During his stay at the Londres 38 and Cuatro Álamos barracks, Toro Romero remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being subjected to interrogation under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information, including information regarding members of his political group and the Christian community. The last time the victim Toro Romero was seen alive was on an undetermined day in the month of July or August 1974, and he has remained forcibly disappeared to this day. The name of Enrique Segundo Toro Romero appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine Novo O’Día of Curitiba, Brazil, dated June 25, 1975, which reported that Enrique Segundo Toro Romero had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal disputes that had arisen among those members; and these publications that declared the victim Toro Romero dead originated from disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.” Regarding the kidnapping of EDUARDO ENRIQUE LARA PETROVICH, the ruling maintains that: “On the afternoon of July 15, 1974, Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich, who was affiliated with the Communist Party, was detained at his workplace, ‘Industria IRT,’ located at Av. Vicuña Mackenna No. 3333, San Joaquín commune, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who forced him into the back of a Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38,’ located at that address in the city of Santiago, and on a later date, transferred him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Cuatro Álamos,’ located at Calle Canadá No. 3000, Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access. During his stay at the Londres 38 and Cuatro Álamos barracks, Lara Petrovich remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being subjected to interrogation under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information, including information regarding members of his political groups and the Christian community. The last time the victim was seen alive was on an undetermined day in the month of August 1974, and he has remained forcibly disappeared to this day. The name of Eduardo Enrique Lara appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine ‘LEA’ of Argentina, dated June 25, 1975, which reported that Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich, along with 59 others belonging to leftist groups, had died due to internal disputes that had arisen among those members; and these publications that declared the victim Lara Petrovich dead originated from disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.” In the case of José Villagra Astudillo, it was established that: “On the afternoon of July 15, 1974, José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo, who was affiliated with the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), was detained at his home located at Calle Luis Infante Cerda No. 5447, Villa Francia, in the Estación Central commune, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who forced him into the back of a Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38,’ located at that address in the city of Santiago, and on a later date, transferred him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Cuatro Álamos,’ located at Calle Canadá No. 3000, Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access. During his stay at the Londres 38 and Cuatro Álamos barracks, the victim Villagra Astudillo remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogation under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of his political groups and the Christian community. The last time the victim Villagra Astudillo was seen alive was on an undetermined day in the month of August 1974, and he has remained forcibly disappeared to this day. The name of José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine Novo O’Día of Curitiba, Brazil, dated June 25, 1975, which reported that José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo had died in Argentina, along with 58 people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal disputes or confrontations; and these publications that declared the victim Villagra Astudillo dead originated from disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.”

Source: aldiachile.microjuris.com 11/12/2014

Date: 11-12-2014

Supreme Court convicts 30 former DINA agents for three other victims of Operation Colombo

The Supreme Court convicted 30 agents of the defunct National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of three members of the Villa Francia Christian community, committed in July 1974 in the communes of Estación Central and San Joaquín, in Santiago.

The three victims of the criminal action were the State Railways worker Enrique Segundo Toro Romero, 28 years old, the mechanical worker Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich, 35 years old, and the worker José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo, 40 years old, who were included in the so-called “Operation Colombo.” Darío Núñez In a unanimous ruling (case file 3.739-2019), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of judges Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, and judge María Teresa Letelier—rejected the appeals for cassation filed by the convicted individuals and confirmed the sentence issued in December 2018 by the Seventh Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals, which sentenced former Army officers and former DINA leaders César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 15 years and one day in prison as perpetrators of the crimes. Meanwhile, former Carabineros officer Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, former Army officer Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, and agents Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, and Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas must serve 10 years and one day in prison. In the judicial investigation and the first-instance sentence, issued by special judge Hernán Crisosto Greisse, it was established that on the night of July 10, 1974, Enrique Segundo Toro Romero, who was affiliated with the Communist Party, was detained at his home at Calle Guillermo Saavedra 5440, in Villa Francia, in the Estación Central commune, by DINA agents who forced him into the back of a pickup truck and transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38.’ Subsequently, he was transferred to the clandestine detention center called ‘Cuatro Álamos,’ located at Calle Canadá No. 3000, Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access. Likewise, the kidnapping of Eduardo Lara Petrovich, also affiliated with the Communist Party, occurred on the afternoon of July 15, 1974, at his workplace at ‘Industria IRT,’ located at Av. Vicuña Mackenna No. 3333, San Joaquín commune. He was detained by DINA agents who forced him into the back of a Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and transported him to the aforementioned clandestine detention center ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38.’ On a later date, they transferred him to the clandestine center ‘Cuatro Álamos.’ Finally, in the case of José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo, a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), on the afternoon of July 15, 1974, he was detained at his home at Calle Luis Infante Cerda No. 5447, in Villa Francia, in the Estación Central commune, by DINA agents. He was likewise transported to the clandestine detention and torture center called ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38,’ and on a later date, they also transferred him to the clandestine center ‘Cuatro Álamos.’ In both clandestine detention centers, the three detainees remained in a state of kidnapping, without contact with the outside world, blindfolded, tied up, and continuously subjected to interrogation under torture for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of their political groups and the Christian community. The last time Enrique Toro Romero, EDUARDO ENRIQUE LARA PETROVICH, and José Villagra Astudillo were seen alive by other surviving prisoners was on an undetermined day in the month of July or August 1974, and they have remained forcibly disappeared to this day. Disinformation maneuvers At the time, the DINA set up the so-called “Operation Colombo” aimed at covering up the detention and final destination of the kidnapped victims, making them appear as having died abroad as a result of internal disputes among members of the leftist organizations fighting against the dictatorship. “Operation Colombo” included the names of 119 kidnapped detainees in publications created specifically for this purpose abroad and reproduced with criminal enthusiasm by the Chilean press of the time. The names of Enrique Segundo Toro Romero and José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo, along with 58 other people, appeared on a list published in the magazine Novo O’Día of Curitiba, Brazil, dated June 25, 1975, which mentioned that they had died in Argentina. The name of Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich appeared on the list of 119 people, published in the Chilean press, after it appeared, along with 59 other people, on a list published in the magazine ‘LEA’ of Argentina, dated June 25, 1975, which reported that he had died in that country. Another murdered victim: Cedomil Lausic In another human rights criminal case, the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence that convicted former DINA leaders and former Army officers Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko and Rolf Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo, and agent Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, to 10 years and one day in prison for their responsibility as perpetrators of the crime of aggravated homicide of agricultural technician Cedomil Lucas Lausic Glasinovic, perpetrated in April 1975 at the clandestine detention center Villa Grimaldi, in Santiago. In a unanimous ruling (case file 44.105-2020), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of judges Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, and lawyer Ricardo Abuauad—ruled out any legal error in the sentence and rejected the appeal for cassation filed by the defense of DINA agent and former Carabineros officer Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández against the sentence issued by the Sixth Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals in January 2020. In the judicial investigation, it was proven that agricultural technician Cedomil Lucas Lausic Glasinovic, a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), 28 years old, was detained at his home at Calle Carlos Cariola No. 6375, Cerrillos commune, on April 3, 1975, by DINA agents, and then transported to the Villa Grimaldi barracks. In that facility, he was imprisoned and interrogated under torture to, according to the testimonies of survivors, “soften him up” and force him to reveal to his captors his contact with a high-ranking MIR leader. Lausic argued the need to go out to the street to carry out that meeting, a matter that did not materialize; on the contrary, he took the opportunity to attempt to escape. The escape attempts did not succeed, and he was recaptured. Taken back to the clandestine torture center, he was subjected to a brutal and inhumane beating with chains in the facility’s courtyard. The criminal retaliation was led by leader Marcelo Morén Brito (now deceased) and executed with cruelty by those now convicted. At the end of these tortures, Cedomil Lausic was taken in an agonizing state to a cell, where he remained for days until he finally died. Subsequently, as a result of the incessant search by his relatives after his detention, his remains were found at the Legal Medical Service of Santiago.

Source: resumen.cl 22 Oct 2022