Occupation : Former miner and construction worker. Occasional jobs. Representative Status : Leader of the Communist Party. Former Secretary of the Workers' Union of the Pedro de Valdivia Nitrate Office. Date of Detention : August 5, 1976

Gabriel Castillo Tapia, married, father of two, former union leader, and member of the Communist Party, left his home in the city of Santiago on August 5, 1976, at 5:00 PM, heading toward the city center, and has been forcibly disappeared since that time.

It should be noted that after September 11, 1973, the affected party was summoned via Radio Calama to present himself before the military authorities. Unofficially, in September 1976, Lidia Argandoña Tapia, Gabriel Castillo's spouse, learned of the affected party's presence at the "Cuatro Alamos" camp, a detention center for prisoners held incommunicado under the authority of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA).

In the proceedings substantiated to investigate the alleged disappearance of the affected party before the Tenth Criminal Court of Santiago, a request was made to issue an official letter to the head of the aforementioned facility, asking for information regarding the matter.

However, this request was rejected, as the Minister of the Interior had informed the court that Gabriel Castillo Tapia was not being held under the orders of that Ministry.

The detention of the affected party occurred at a time when security agencies had unleashed a strong offensive against the Communist Party, with many members and leaders of this political group being detained.

In press publications of the time, it was reported that in July 1976, the National Directorate of Social Communication (DINACOS) informed the public that the government was engaged in "a campaign against the Communist Party of Chile" and that it could not provide further information so as not to hinder the investigations.

For its part, the magazine "Qué Pasa," in its issues 235 (October 23, 1975) and 277 (August 12, 1976), informed its readers that "in these months, the number of communist militants and leaders who have disappeared from their usual activities and homes has reached significant figures," adding that "these are not isolated, loose, or unconnected events..."

In this same weekly, the opinions expressed by Admiral José T. Merino Castro were transcribed, which were entirely consistent with the aforementioned. The Admiral stated at the time, referring specifically to the Communist Party of Chile, that "it is being sought and they are trying to eliminate it, sending them abroad, because it is not the spirit to kill anyone."

The detentions and disappearances of communist militants and leaders that occurred in 1976 must be linked to one another, as they undoubtedly respond to a prior methodical plan carried out by an organization endowed with material means and the guarantees of anonymity and impunity to act in a criminal manner and in open violation of fundamental human rights.

Despite the efforts made to determine the fate of Gabriel Castillo Tapia, he remains a forcibly disappeared person.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On August 9, 1976, Lidia Argandoña Tapia, the spouse of the affected party, filed a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) on his behalf before the Santiago Court of Appeals, which was registered under No. 718-76.

In the relevant document, it was requested that official letters be sent to the Minister of the Interior, the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), and the Minister of Justice. The Court granted only the first of these requests, resolving that the others would be addressed by the chamber that would take cognizance of the appeal.

On August 16, the Court was asked to reiterate the official letter ordered to be dispatched, given that no response had been received to date.

The Division General and Minister of the Interior, Raúl Benavides Escobar, informed the Court on that same August 16 that Gabriel Castillo Tapia was not being held under the orders of that Ministry.

On August 25, 1976, the Sixth Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals, considering the merits of the Minister of the Interior's report, dismissed the writ of amparo, denying in the same resolution the request for official letters to the DINA and the Minister of Justice.

This resolution was appealed and confirmed by the Supreme Court on September 1, 1976.

On September 3, 1976, Lidia Argandoña Tapia filed a complaint for alleged disappearance on behalf of her spouse before the Tenth Criminal Court of Santiago, which was registered under No. 3.061-1.

On September 6, the Court accepted the complaint and ordered the initiation of the corresponding summary proceedings, dispatching an order to investigate. It also decreed the execution of the measures requested by the complainant, which were: the sending of official letters to the Ministry of the Interior, the National Executive Secretariat for Detainees (SENDET), the capital's first aid stations and hospitals, the Legal Medical Institute, the Carabineros police stations, and the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA).

The Carabineros Colonel, Roberto Castillo Gallardo, 3rd Acting Chief of the General Prefecture, reported on September 9 that "the detention of Gabriel del Rosario Castillo Tapia is not registered in the dependent units."

Likewise, the various first aid stations and hospitals in the capital, as well as the Legal Medical Institute of Santiago, provided negative responses to the Court during the month of September 1976.

On September 9 and 20, the Minister of the Interior, Division General Raúl Benavides Escobar, reported that the affected party "has not been detained by order of this Ministry, nor is there any resolution that affects him."

On September 15, a copy of an official letter sent by Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Guarategua Peña, National Executive Secretary for Detainees, to the Minister of the Interior was added to the case file, stating: "given that this agency does not have records of Gabriel Castillo Tapia, it is requested that this Secretariat be informed of any information held by this Ministry regarding the citizen in question."

On September 27, the Minister of the Interior informed the Court that "the Director of the National Intelligence Directorate has expressed, via official letter, that the affected party has not been arrested by personnel of his agency, nor does he appear with any record in the respective files."

At the request of the complainant, the Court agreed to the requested measures of sending official letters to the General Directorate of the Civil Registry to report whether a death certificate for the affected party had been registered, and to the capital's cemeteries to report whether the body of Gabriel Castillo had been buried there.

During the month of October, the responses to the official letters sent were returned to the Court with negative results. The investigation order dispatched in the case file to the Investigative Police did not yield any information that would allow for the determination of the fate or whereabouts of the affected party.

On October 25, 1976, the Judge of the Tenth Criminal Court of Santiago, Ms. Carla Hevia Figueroa, declared the summary proceedings closed, and noting that the existence of a crime in the event that gave rise to the investigation had not been proven in the case file, she temporarily stayed the proceedings.

The aforementioned resolution was submitted for consultation, and the complainant presented a written observation regarding the temporary stay, requesting that the case be returned to the summary stage and ordering the execution of the following measures: official letters were dispatched to the DINA, the Ministry of the Interior, the Carabineros Intelligence Service (SICAR), the Air Force Intelligence Directorate (DIFA), the International Police, the Ministry of Defense, the Military Prosecutor's Offices, and the Santiago Psychiatric Hospital.

The Santiago Court of Appeals, by resolution dated December 15, 1976, revoked the temporary stay, ordering the case to be returned to the summary stage in order to dispatch an official letter to the International Police and to carry out the measures derived from it.

Almost three months after the measure was decreed, on March 11, 1977, the Department of Foreigners and International Police of the Investigative Police informed the Court that the affected party had no records of travel abroad, noting that only the Pudahuel outpost was checked, and not the rest of the borders, as their information was in the IBM Data Processing Section.

On March 18, 1977, the Court ordered ex officio that an official letter be sent again to the International Police, requesting information on how much longer it would take to obtain the requested data regarding the departure of Gabriel Castillo Tapia from the country from the other outposts controlled by this Department.

However, there is no record in the case file that this specific inquiry was answered.

At the request of the complainant, and with the consent of the Court, a letter was sent to the Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross Delegation in Chile, Mr. Armin Kobel, who responded on January 26, 1977, attaching a photocopy of the official letter from the Minister of Justice regarding the information that Criminal Judges request from Committee officials about persons whose whereabouts are unknown.

The aforementioned official letter states: "From: Minister of Justice, to: Mr. Rolf Jenny, Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross Delegation in Chile. This Ministry has taken note of your note, by which you serve to point out the confidential nature maintained by the information obtained by that Committee regarding the location of persons whose whereabouts are unknown, while at the same time requesting that some measure be adopted so that Criminal Judges refrain from summoning Committee delegates to provide them with the aforementioned reports.

Regarding this matter, I am pleased to express that the undersigned Minister has addressed the Supreme Court, requesting that Criminal Judges be instructed to refrain from requiring the aforementioned reports from Committee officials through judicial summons, for which it would be more convenient, in the future, for the respective Courts to formulate the request for the reports they require to the competent authorities."

On March 23, 1977, the complainant requested that the Court decree the execution of the following measures: sending official letters to the Ministry of Defense, the Santiago Psychiatric Hospital, and the Department of Union Organizations of the Labor Directorate, as well as sending a circular letter to the various Military and Naval Courts of the country.

The Court only agreed to two of the measures, namely: it ordered official letters to be dispatched to the Psychiatric Hospital and the Labor Directorate, with both results being negative. Specifically, on May 4, the Director of Labor reported that after reviewing the National Union Archive, only one industrial union was located in the Pedro de Valdivia locality, called the Anglo Lautaro Union of the Pedro de Valdivia Office, in which Gabriel Castillo Tapia does not appear as a leader.

Once again, on May 26, 1977, the summary proceedings were declared closed, and noting that the existence of a crime in the event that gave rise to the formation of the case had not been proven, the case was temporarily stayed until new and better investigative data were presented.

The aforementioned resolution was submitted for consultation and was approved by the Santiago Court of Appeals on October 5, 1977.

Having appointed a Minister in Extraordinary Visitation to hear cases of disappeared persons, Magistrate of the Santiago Court of Appeals Mr. Servando Jordán López, Lidia Argandoña Tapia filed a criminal complaint before him on June 13, 1980, for the crime of kidnapping with grave injury perpetrated against the person of Gabriel Castillo Tapia, against the clandestine organization dependent on the former National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) and other persons who may be responsible.

As soon as the complaint was filed, the Visiting Minister ordered the case files for the complaint of alleged disappearance substantiated before the Tenth Criminal Court of Santiago to be brought for review.

Once the background information was submitted, Minister Jordán accepted the complaint and decreed the reopening of the summary proceedings in the case under review, leaving without effect the temporary stay previously decreed and approved by the Court of Appeals.

Likewise, the Visiting Minister granted the complainant's requests to summon the following members of a team from the former DINA to the court: Germán Jorge Barriga Muñoz, Army Captain; Emilio Hernán Troncoso Vivallos, Carabineros 2nd Corporal; Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo, Carabineros 1st Sergeant; Julio Lorenzo Leyton Robles; Vianel Valdivieso Cervantes, Army Lieutenant Colonel; and finally, the location and summons of the former DINA doctor in 1976, Luis Hernán Santibáñez Santelices.

And, it was decreed ex officio to send official letters to the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs, as well as to the General Directorate of Carabineros and the Minister of Defense, for the purpose of summoning the aforementioned persons.

On July 17, 1980, Luis Hernán Santibáñez Santelices appeared before the Court and declared that he had been part of the former DINA for three months in 1977, in his capacity as a doctor, strictly in that condition, and for the purpose of attending to the families and personnel of that service.

He added that he had not been in any detention center and had worked at the London Clinic, located on Almirante Barroso Street, together with a doctor named Tarico. Regarding Gabriel Castillo Tapia, he stated that he did not know him after being shown his photograph.

On the same date, Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo appeared before the Court, stating that he had belonged to the DINA, being part of the "Lautaro Brigade," which also included Hernán Troncoso Vivallos, Carabineros Corporal, and Julio Leyton Robles, Army Corporal—who died in March 1977—and whose chief was Army Captain Germán Barriga Muñoz.

The declarant specified that although he knew the name of Lieutenant Colonel Vianel Valdivieso, he did not belong to the group, adding that his specific function consisted of investigating the address of persons whose names were given to him at the Identification Cabinet and then checking if they were actually there, reporting the action to Captain Barriga.

He also pointed out that he had never participated in detentions, and regarding the affected party, he stated that he did not know him after being shown his photograph.

Also on July 17, 1980, Carabineros 1st Corporal Emilio Hernán Troncoso Vivallos appeared before the Court, stating that he had been assigned to the DINA in November 1973, later joining the "Caupolicán Brigade," under the command of Army Captain Germán Barriga Muñoz.

He added that this group was later renamed the "Lautaro" Brigade, with Major Juan Morales Salgado as the chief. His specific function, the declarant noted, consisted of carrying out investigations to locate persons, sharing these functions with Heriberto Acevedo, without participating in detentions. Regarding Gabriel Tapia, he stated that he did not know him after being shown his photograph.

On July 24, 1980, the Minister of the Interior, Sergio Fernández Fernández, informed the Court that "no order or resolution has emanated from this Ministry that affects or has affected Gabriel Castillo Tapia, nor is there any record that this person has been detained by security personnel."

Brigadier General Enrique Valdés Puga, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, reported that the affected party had not left the country via asylum.

On July 29, 1980, Minister Jordán ordered the death certificate of Julio Leyton Robles to be requested, the summons of Major Juan Morales Salgado, sending an official letter for this purpose to the Ministry of Defense, and requesting an account of the summons for Army Captain Germán Barriga Muñoz and Lieutenant Colonel Vianel Valdivieso Cervantes.

On August 20, 1980, Julio Leyton Robles appeared before the Court, declaring that he had belonged to the Army for fifteen years, without ever having participated in the former DINA, noting that his brother, Manuel Jesús Leyton Robles, who worked in the Intelligence Service, died on March 28, 1977.

Subsequently, the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Raúl Benavides Escobar, reported on September 26 that "Major Juan Morales is assigned to the Antarctic Command, making his appearance before the Court impossible."

And for its part, this same authority, on October 15, informed the Court that, given the nature of the functions performed by Officers Germán Barriga Muñoz and Vianel Valdivieso Cervantes, it is not possible for them to be absent from the place where they are providing their services, requesting, in order to collaborate with the action of justice, that the measure be arranged with the Military Prosecutor on Duty in Santiago.

On October 23, 1980, Minister Jordán decreed that an official letter be sent to the Minister of Defense, requesting that he inform as soon as possible of the place where Lieutenant Colonel Vianel Valdivieso and Major Germán Barriga are providing services.

Likewise, it is added in the resolution that it will be pointed out in the respective official letter that the officers regarding whom information is requested appear as defendants—accused—in case Roll No. 3061 and, due to this, this Investigating Minister is not authorized to delegate functions.

On November 26, 1980, Army Major Germán Jorge Barriga Muñoz testified in the case. The declarant stated: "I joined the former DINA in mid-1974, remaining there until the end of 1977. In this agency, we worked in a compartmentalized manner, so I am unaware of the work carried out by other units and who their members were.

My specific work consisted of carrying out investigations entrusted by the Director, Mr. Contreras. It is not true that it corresponded to verifying the detentions of people from the Communist Party or any other political party.

Through the investigations we carried out, we sometimes detained people when there was an order that reached us through the Director of the former DINA; these people were handed over to the Tres Alamos facility.

The order, regarding their destination, I do not remember. I must specify," he added, "that the detentions were strictly adjusted to the name of the persons and other data that appeared in it. It is also false that I was part of a group called 'Lautaro' or 'Caupolicán,' and I never worked with the current Army Lieutenant Colonel Vianel Valdivieso, although he did belong to the former DINA.

Finally, and regarding the affected party, the declarant stated that he did not know him."

On the same date, Officer Vianel Valdivieso Cervantes testified before the Court, stating that he was assigned to the former DINA in 1974, belonging to said agency until its dissolution. His specific work, given his quality as an electronic engineer, was related to this specialty, corresponding to him to see everything related to motor vehicles, weaponry, telecommunications, photographs, and in general, it was technical support.

He also denies having belonged to a unit called "Lautaro" or "Caupolicán," having participated in investigations or detentions, as well as the fact of having worked with the current Major Germán Barriga Muñoz. Regarding Gabriel Castillo Tapia, he stated that he did not know him.

On March 12, 1981, Minister Jordán ordered the summons to Major Juan Morales Salgado to be reiterated, sending an official letter for this purpose to the Ministry of Defense, and adding in the same resolution that the urgency in compliance should be pointed out, as it was a pending measure, the last one since July 1980.

On April 2, 1981, the Lieutenant General and Minister of Defense, Carlos Forestier Haensgen, informed the Court that the cited Officer Morales Salgado is a student at the War Academy. He adds in the same communication that the study regime of this military higher education establishment, and the fact that the respective official letter was received on the 23rd of the current month, make the appearance of the indicated person impossible.

For this reason, the Court is requested to set a new day and time for the respective hearing.

With the merit of the previous report, the Visiting Minister set the hearing for May 26, 1981, for the purposes of the appearance of Officer Juan Morales.

Once again, the Minister of Defense, this time on June 25, 1981, informed the Court that the relevant official letter by which the presence of Officer Juan Morales before the Court was required had been received several days after the set date, and requested that a new day and time be set for the respective hearing.

Only on July 1, 1981, did Army Lieutenant Colonel Juan Hernán Morales Salgado testify before the Court, stating that he had belonged to the former DINA from 1974 until 1977, his specific functions being intelligence, that is, seeking information on subversion, especially on the clandestinity of political parties and the MIR, work he carried out in various marginal neighborhoods of Santiago, without having participated in the detention of persons.

He added that he was in charge for a very short time—one month—of a brigade called "Lautaro," receiving orders directly from General Contreras. He also pointed out that in each measure entrusted by the aforementioned General, it was he who designated the people who would accompany him, which were different on each occasion. Regarding the affected party, he stated that he did not know him.

On August 18, 1981, Visiting Minister Jordán declared the summary proceedings closed. This resolution was appealed and confirmed by the Santiago Court of Appeals on September 29 of the same year.

And, on October 7, 1981, Minister Jordán, noting that the perpetration of a punishable act due to the complaint in the case file was not completely justified, temporarily stayed the proceedings until new and concrete investigative data emerged.

The aforementioned resolution was submitted for consultation and was confirmed by the Santiago Court of Appeals on December 29, 1981.

For her part, Mrs. Lidia Argandoña Tapia addressed the Minister of the Interior on November 4, 1976, requesting information about the whereabouts of the affected party. That authority informed her, in the traditional form, that "no records are registered."

On November 15, 1976, the President of the Supreme Court, Mr. José María Eyzaguirre, was requested to use the powers of Decree No. 187, and in view of unofficial information that Gabriel Castillo Tapia remained at the "Cuatro Alamos" camp, to constitute himself at the aforementioned facility.

The previous effort did not yield any results, as the President of the country's highest court did not immediately constitute himself at the requested location.

Likewise, in a letter addressed to the then President of the Council of State, Mr. Jorge Alessandri, the spouse of the affected party requested his support. That authority responded by expressing that the position he held "does not grant him powers to intervene in efforts such as the one that interests you."

On the other hand, the situation affecting Gabriel del Rosario Castillo Tapia was exposed and presented before various international instances and organizations.

However, everything would be in vain. Since August 5, 1976, the date on which the affected party left his home, he has been disappeared.

Source: Corporation

Without repenting for anything, the murderer Germán Barriga committed suicide.

“A torturer does not redeem himself by committing suicide. But something is something.” (Despistes y franquezas XVIII. Mario Benedetti) On Monday, January 17, 2005, the criminal Germán Jorge Barriga Muñoz, prosecuted for dozens of cases of forcibly disappeared and executed persons, ended his existence.

Barriga Muñoz entered an apartment building with the excuse of visiting the "model" unit to make a subsequent purchase. He went up to the 18th floor of the building, which faces the back of the Military School, and jumped into the void with letters in his pockets addressed to his family and the lawyer Marcelo Cibié.

In them, he admits that he was fired from his jobs when it became known that he was being prosecuted for crimes against humanity, according to him, "all for being a retired Army colonel, prosecuted for alleged human rights violations, committed when I was a junior officer (lieutenant or captain)... also staining my personal records with this (another reason for not being accepted for employment), all for living and fulfilling orders during the period of the Military Government." Without repenting for anything, he makes it clear that he will be "soon convicted for having, among others, several people kidnapped, whom according to justice I keep in that fictitious situation since the 70s, and to a prison to serve a sentence for said false legal figures, prescribed or covered by the amnesty." "I have determined to try to leave this life because I do not want to be a living burden... The former military man, the prosecuted and 'funado' (publicly denounced) one was me," he points out at the end of his letters. Barriga Muñoz, 60 years old at the time of his death, received a pension of 650,000 pesos, plus a bonus for "post-war stress" that the Army granted to all DINA, CNI, or DINE agents involved in crimes during the Pinochet dictatorship. In addition, his defense in court was paid for, along with that of all the former uniformed officers prosecuted, with a percentage deducted from the payroll of all active members of the Army. The criminal record: Germán Barriga was 'funado' (publicly denounced) on two occasions, the first in August 2000 when he was denounced at his home, located at Avenida Irarrazaval 2061, apartment 105, a place he left the same day never to return. The second was at the beginning of December 2004, at the Líder supermarket located at the 14th stop of Vicuña Mackenna, to make its customers and owners aware that they were financing a torturer and murderer by being hired to direct the security guards of the supermarket chain. The action of the FUNA Commission, as always, was on both occasions peaceful and full of color, with drums, chants, and the denunciation flyer read collectively to make known the crimes committed by the person denounced. Germán Jorge Barriga Muñoz used the aliases "Don Jaime" or "Don Julio," was part of the DINA General Staff, and graduated with honors from the School of the Americas as an "instructor of anti-subversive tactics and counterintelligence." At the time of the coup d'état, he was an Infantry lieutenant. He took part in the preparation courses for DINA agents held in Tejas Verdes at the end of 1973, among whom was the current mayor of Providencia, Cristián Labbé, as an instructor. Officially, and through a Comptroller's document, he was integrated into the DINA starting August 26, 1974. At the beginning of 1975, he joined the Metropolitan Intelligence Brigade (BIM), and was assigned to the Purén Brigade, operating from the clandestine detention and torture center known as Villa Grimaldi. His mission, in 1975, was to direct the repression toward the Socialist Party, and in 1976 he dedicated his criminal labors against the Communist Party. Fulfilling these functions, he had primary responsibility for dozens of kidnappings, illegal detentions, torture, rapes, murders, and disappearances of socialist militants and sympathizers, among them the detentions and subsequent disappearances of the psychiatrist and former deputy Carlos Lorca Tobar; of the leaders Ricardo Lagos Salinas and Exequiel Ponce Vicencio; of the Spanish citizen and engineering student Michelle Peña Herreros, seven months pregnant; of the social worker Modesta Carolina Wiff Sepúlveda; of Mireya Herminia Rodríguez Díaz; of the nursing students Rosa Elvira Solís Poveda and Sara de Lourdes Donoso Palacios; of the medical student Jaime Eugenio López Arellano; of the civil constructor Adolfo Ariel Mancilla Ramírez; of the civil engineer Alfredo Rojas Castañeda; of the professor Guillermo Hernán Herrera Manríquez; of the Political Science graduate Octavio Julio Boettiger Vera. He is prosecuted as a participant in the detention and torture of the socialist leader Fidelia Herrera and her spouse. In the cases of communist militants, he is accused of being the main person responsible for the disappearances of the employee Juan Elías Cortes Alruiz; of the construction worker GABRIEL DEL ROSARIO CASTILLO TAPIA; of the doctor Carlos Enrique Godoy Lagarrigue; of the union leader Mario Jesús Juica Vega; of the brothers Juan and Washington Maturana Pérez; of the union leader Miguel Luis Morales Ramírez, and of the businessman Daniel Palma Robledo, whose car was also stolen by order of Barriga. In this last case, the material author of the robbery, the agent Manuel Leyton Robles, "died" of a heart attack under suspicious circumstances inside the London Clinic, a clandestine DINA center located at Almirante Barroso 76, shortly after having confessed to Justice that "Don Jaime" had ordered him to commit the crime. From the CNI to the courts: When the DINA was officially dissolved on July 12, 1977, Germán Barriga was integrated into the CNI to continue his terrorist tasks. Near the end of the dictatorship, he was appointed Governor of the Loa Province. In 1990, when the CNI was dissolved, Barriga returned to the Army with the rank of colonel and was given command of the 15th Infantry Regiment of Calama. In 1991, he was assigned to the National Directorate of Mobilization, retiring shortly after. In May 1993, already as a retired colonel, he was sent as Head of Administration of CODELCO-Calama, a position from which he was finally removed due to union protests. Among other prosecutions, Barriga is indicted by Minister Juan Guzmán in the case known as Calle Conferencia as the author of the crime of kidnapping in 1976 of nine communist militants: the former deputy Bernardo Araya and his wife, María Olga Flores, and the members of the clandestine leadership of the PC Mario Zamorano, Jorge Muñoz (husband of Gladys Marín), Elisa Escobar, Uldarico Donaire, Jaime Donato, Lenín Díaz, and Víctor Díaz (father of the AFDD leader, Viviana Díaz). In December of the same year, the Purén Brigade struck again, and this time its agents detained members of a new clandestine leadership of the PC, in what is known as the "case of the thirteen." In this second wave of repression, Waldo Pizarro, husband of Sola Sierra and father of the AFDD president, Lorena Pizarro, fell. The list of disappeared persons in this case also includes Santiago Araya Cabrera, detained on November 29, 1976; Armando Portilla, detained on December 9, 1976; Fernando Navarro Allende, detained on December 13, 1976; Lincoyán Berríos Cataldo, Horacio Cepeda Marinkovic, Luis Lazo Santander, Juan Fernando Ortiz Letelier, Reinalda del Carmen Pereira Plaza—five months pregnant—and Héctor Véliz Ramírez, all of them detained on December 15, 1976, together with Waldo Pizarro; Lizandro Cruz Díaz, Carlos Patricio Durán González, both detained on December 18, 1976; and Edras de las Mercedes Pinto Arroyo, detained on December 20, 1976. Along with Barriga, in the Calle Conferencia case, DINA members Carlos López Tapia, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, and the doctor Osvaldo Pincetti were prosecuted, who would soon be convicted. They are also prosecuted for the kidnapping and execution of the communist teacher Marta Ugarte, whose body appeared on the beach of Los Molles after having been tied to a rail and thrown into the sea from an Army Puma helicopter. Other cases for which he was prosecuted are that of the forcibly disappeared Julia Retamal Sepúlveda, detained on August 13, 1976, and seen subsequently at Villa Grimaldi, and the execution of the doctor Jorge Lamich Vidal and the worker Héctor García García, murdered on August 13, 1974, after being detained in Buin. Both were accused of attempting to poison the city's water and bread. They were taken to the Chena Regiment of San Bernardo where, according to testimonies, they were beaten and subjected to electric shocks. Subsequently, they were executed in the presence of the troops. The last known job of Germán Barriga was his hiring by Pedro Ibáñez—owner of Líder supermarkets, former senator of the National Party, and former owner of the ALMAC chain—to serve as head and "ethics professor" of the Líder security guards. His dismissal occurred after the denunciation made by the FUNA Commission on December 11. With Barriga Muñoz, a large part of the information that could have provided clues to the fate of hundreds of forcibly disappeared persons and the real names of those responsible was lost.

Julio Oliva G. FUNA Commission

Source: archivochile.com January 22, 2005

Date: 01-22-2005