The minister in extraordinary visitation for human rights violation cases, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued an indictment against eight retired military officers for their responsibility in the crime of qualified homicide, as a crime against humanity, of José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández.

The latter was murdered while performing his mandatory military service at the Regimiento Cazadores de Valdivia. The homicide was perpetrated on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano between September and November 1973.

Thus, in the resolution, Minister Mesa Latorre indicted Hernán Agustín Rodriguez Leyton, Víctor Hugo Hermosilla Reinoso, Luis Edmundo Riveros Soto, Ernesto Alejandro Flores Colimán, Rigoberto Becerra Fica, Waldo Eugenio Salinas Núñez, René Miguel Sáez Gómez, and H.W.C.R. as perpetrators of the crime.

A conscript on the run

In September 1973, José Gastón Buchhorsts was performing his mandatory military service at the Regimiento Cazadores de Valdivia. On September 11 of that year, José was at his parents' home, as his leave had been authorized days prior.

However, as the days passed and due to the situation prevailing in the country, José did not report to his military unit on time, so his father decided to accompany him to explain the situation. Upon arriving at the guard post of the Regimiento Cazadores, the young conscript decided not to enter, telling his father that he was going to run some errands, and he did not return to the military unit.

As a result of not reporting to the regiment, which at that time was under the command of Colonel Santiago Sinclair, José Buchhorsts was considered a "deserter." Following this, a patrol led by Lieutenant Luis Rodríguez Rigo-Richi went out in search of the young man to arrest him in the commune of Villarrica and transport him back to the regiment.

Execution on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano

Several of his fellow soldiers who were also performing military service were able to observe him being guarded by other soldiers, entering with his hands tied behind his back and being thrown onto the floor of a military vehicle inside the facility.

Within the regiment, there was a patrol under the command of Rodríguez Rigo-Richi, identified as his trusted group, which was designated to carry out orders for patrolling, arrests, and raids. In the afternoon hours of the following days, this patrol was tasked with transporting José Gastón to the commune of Villarrica for the purpose of searching for weapons in the area, after Buchhorsts himself had allegedly indicated their location.

After having traveled through several sectors on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano, what they were looking for was not found. Faced with this situation, Lieutenant Rodríguez ordered Buchhorsts to dig, and at certain moments, required him to get inside the hole, as the purpose was for him to make his own grave.

Once finished, he ordered the conscript soldiers to fire upon Buchhorsts and bury him in that same place.

A covered-up homicide

Some time later, several conscript soldiers from the same Regimiento Cazadores de Valdivia learned about the death of José Buchhorsts in the vicinity of the commune of Villarrica, with some of them recalling that they even gathered the entire Mortar squadron to inform them of his death.

Despite this, and even though his father went on repeated occasions to inquire about his son's situation, the Regimiento Cazadores never provided him with reliable information, giving him evasive, erroneous, or ambiguous answers.

As time passed, and having no news of José, several family members traveled repeatedly to Valdivia to meet with a military prosecutor, who indicated to them that José had been taken to an area on the road to the Villarrica volcano, but that upon attempting to escape, the "Ley de Fuga" (Escape Law) had been applied to him, and he was executed on the spot.

He also informed them that his body had remained buried at that same site, not giving them the location nor allowing them to search for his body. To this date, no public official of the Armed Forces has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to José Buchhorsts and the location of his body, maintaining the concealment of all types of evidence to this day.

Likewise, according to the records of the case led by the visiting minister Álvaro Mesa, there was no instruction for investigations regarding the events surrounding the arrest and execution of the young man.

Source: diariodevaldivia.cl, August 14, 2023