In July 1976, a crackdown began against various Communist Party (PC) militants linked to printing activities. On July 15, 1976, José Vicente TOLOSA VASQUEZ, a linotypist, graphic union leader of the CUT youth department, and member of the Communist Youth (JJCC), was detained on a public street after attending a meeting at the Vicaría Sur.

Since that day, there has been no news regarding his whereabouts. On the 21st of the same month, Guillermo Albino MARTINEZ QUIJON, a typographer and secretary of the Sole Union of the Editorial Gabriela Mistral, was detained at his home by DINA agents who transported him to Villa Grimaldi, the place from which his trail was lost.

On July 23, 1976, Juan Luis QUIÑONES IBACETA, a linotypist and student leader of the PC, was detained on a public street; all traces of him have been lost since that date. On July 28, 1976, Guillermo GALVEZ RIVADENEIRA, a journalist and president of the Sole Union of the Editorial Quimantú, also a Communist militant, was detained upon leaving the Círculo de Periodistas.

Nothing has been heard of him since. The Commission is convinced that the disappearance of all these individuals was the work of State agents, who thereby violated their human rights.

Source: Rettig Report

48 years after the coup d'état in Chile, from Trama al Sur, we pay a heartfelt tribute to the journalists, photographers, and press in general who were murdered or forcibly disappeared during the dictatorship, in the difficult times of State terrorism.

News and information are fundamental to avoiding complicity in barbarism. Because we are committed to truth and justice, we will remain present and active. Only those who are forgotten truly die. Memory is resistance and struggle.

September 11, 2021, no one is forgotten! 1973 LUIS EDUARDO ALANIZ ÁLVAREZ (23 years old) – Journalism student. Executed by firing squad on October 19 in Antofagasta. 1973 HUGO ARAYA GONZÁLEZ (37 years old) – Photojournalist, killed while taking pictures at the Universidad Técnica del Estado on September 12. 1973 CARLOS BASCUÑÁN MOURGUES-DEWET (28 years old) – Journalist.

His remains were found in the mountains, south of Copiapó, on November 5, 1973. 1973 CARLOS BERGER GURALNIK (30 years old) – Journalist. On October 19, he was executed by firing squad on the outskirts of Calama. 1973 DANIEL ANTONIO CASTRO LÓPEZ (68 years old) – Correspondent.

Detained along with 14 other people, they were killed in the Toltén River. 1973 SERGIO CONTRERAS (40 years old) – Journalist. Detained at La Moneda on September 11, he was murdered in Peldehue on the 13th. 1973 ALFONSO AMBROSIO GAMBOA FARIAS (35 years old) – Radio communicator, he was detained on October 17 and executed along with other people. 1973 LEONARDO HENRICHSEN (33 years old) – Argentine journalist, died while covering the military uprising known as the “tanquetazo” on July 29. 1973 CHARLES EDMUND HORMAN LAZAR (31 years old) – American independent journalist.

On September 18, he was executed at the Estadio Nacional de Chile. 1973 AUGUSTO OLIVARES BECERRA (45 years old) – Journalist. Killed at La Moneda, September 11. 1973 ARCHIBALDO MORALES VILLANUEVA (43 years old) – Journalist.

Killed on November 5, on the way from prison to the hospital. 1973 JAIME IVÁN SIERRA CASTILLO (27 years old) – Radio announcer. He was murdered on October 17. 1973 NENAD NESKO TEODOROVIC SERTIC (24 years old) – Austrian journalism student.

Detained and killed along with his wife on September 15. 1973 ERNESTO TRAUBMANN RIEGELHAUPT (39 years old) – Czechoslovakian radio journalist. Forcibly disappeared in the early hours of September 12. 1973 RICARDO TRONCOSO LEÓN (31 years old) – Photographer.

Forcibly disappeared from his home in Chillán on October 1. 1973 JORGE BERNABÉ YÁÑEZ OLAVE (29 years old) – Journalist. Forcibly disappeared on September 16. 1974 DIANA FRIDA ARÓN SVIGILISKY (24 years old) – Journalist.

Forcibly disappeared, arrested in Santiago on November 18. 1974 MARIO EDUARDO CALDERÓN TAPIA (31 years old) – Journalist, correspondent. Forcibly disappeared in Santiago on September 25. 1974 ÓSCAR MANUEL CASTRO VIDELA (40 years old) – Photographer.

Forcibly disappeared on August 16. 1974 LUIS EDUARDO DURAN RIVAS (29 years old) – Journalism student. Forcibly disappeared in Santiago on September 14. 1974 MÁXIMO ANTONIO GEDDA ORTIZ (26 years old) – Journalist.

Disappeared in Santiago on July 16. 1974 JOSÉ LEONARDO PÉREZ HERMOSILLA (32 years old) – Journalist. Forcibly disappeared on January 5 in Santiago. 1974 JOSÉ MIGUEL RIVAS RACHITOFF (35 years old) – Journalist.

Forcibly disappeared on January 3 in Santiago. 1974 JOSÉ TOHÁ GONZÁLEZ (47 years old) – Newspaper director. Died on March 15 at the Military Hospital under strange circumstances (asphyxiation by hanging). 1974 JANE VANINI CAPOZI (29 years old) – Brazilian journalist.

She was killed in Concepción on December 6. 1975 JOSË HERNÁN CARRASCO VÁSQUEZ (28 years old) – Journalism student. Found dead with signs of torture on December 1. 1975 RICHARD CRISTIAN MONTECINOS SLAUGHTER (27 years old) – Chilean-American photographer.

Kidnapped from his apartment on October 17 and executed by firing squad that same night. 1976 GUILLERMO GÁLVEZ RIVADENEIRA (49 years old) – Journalist. Forcibly disappeared in Santiago on July 28. 1977 AUGUSTO CARMONA ACEVEDO (38 years old) – Journalist.

Murdered on December 7. He was 38 years old. 1980 EDUARDO JARA ARAVENA (28 years old) – Journalism student. He was kidnapped on July 23 and murdered on August 2. 1981 ARCADIA PATRICIA FLORES PÉREZ (27 years old) – Journalism student.

She died riddled with bullets on August 16 in Quinta Normal. 1983 JUAN ELÍAS ESPINOZA PARRA (35 years old) – Journalist. He was killed on December 29 by 22 gunshots in Santiago. 1984 MARIO BARRIOS GALLARDO (36 years old) – Clandestine editor of El Siglo .

Killed in Santiago on July 24. He was 36 years old. 1984 FERNANDO GABRIEL VERGARA VARGAS (36 years old) – Graphic designer. Killed on December 15 in Santiago. 1986 JOSÉ HUMBERTO CARRASCO TAPIA (43 years old) – Journalist.

Kidnapped and killed on September 8, riddled with bullets. 1986 RODRIGO ANDRÉS ROJAS DE NEGRI (19 years old) – Photographer. Died on July 6 at the Posta Central as a result of severe burns caused by military personnel. 1990 JONATHAN MOYLE (28 years old) – British journalist.

He was found hanged on March 13 in a hotel room in Santiago. Chilean judges later determined that he had been murdered. 1990 Juan Manuel Bertoló Rivas (48 years old) – Journalist. He was detained on February 10, 1990, by Carabineros; his death remains unexplained.

Source: tramaalsur.org 10/09/2021

Date: 10-09-2021

The Supreme Court rejected the appeals in cassation filed against the sentence that convicted four agents of the dissolved National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of José Vicente Toloza Vásquez, GUILLERMO GALVEZ RIVADENEIRA, Guillermo Albino Martínez Quijón, Hugo Ernesto Vivanco Vega, Alicia Herrera Benítez, Óscar Orlando Ramos Garrido, Óscar Arturo Ramos Vivanco, and Nicolás Hugo Vivanco Herrera, all crimes perpetrated between July and August 1976 in the Metropolitan Region.

In a unanimous ruling, the Second Chamber of the highest court confirmed the sentence that condemned Juan Hernán Morales Salgado, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Rolf Wenderoth Pozo, and Ricardo Lawrence Mires to 20 years in prison as authors of the eight kidnappings.

In the first-instance ruling, the visiting judge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos Sagristá, established the following facts: The DINA maintained, between 1974 and 1977, the clandestine detention center known as 'Cuartel Terranova' or 'Villa Grimaldi', located at Avenida José Arrieta No. 8200 in the commune of Peñalolén, Metropolitan Region, where a group of agents operated, constituting Brigades and Operational Groups (such as the 'Caupolicán' and 'Purén' Brigades, and the 'Halcón', 'Águila', and 'Mehuín' groups) who, with the knowledge of the organization's Director and the President of the Government Junta and holding various levels of command hierarchy, ordered some and executed other captures of people who were militants or sympathizers of political parties or leftist movements, whom they held illegitimately in the place, breaking them under physical torture of various kinds, with the object of forcing them to provide information about other people of the political left in order to apprehend them. In January 1975, 'Villa Grimaldi' became the operations center of the Metropolitan Intelligence Brigade, which exercised internal repression in Santiago. Detainees were taken to 'Villa Grimaldi' for their first interrogations and were subjected to different forms of torture; prisoners who had already been interrogated and tortured were also held there for long periods, awaiting the decision regarding their fate. They were kept continuously blindfolded, in poor hygienic conditions, and with scarce food. The most characteristic places where prisoners were held were the following: 'La Torre', 'Casas Chile', and 'Casas Corvi'. Likewise, the DINA maintained, from the end of 1975 and at least throughout the year 1977, the 'Simón Bolívar' barracks, located at Calle Simón Bolívar No. 8630, commune of La Reina, a facility where the brigade known as 'Lautaro' operated, whose main function, in addition to repressive tasks of detaining political dissidents, was the protection of the DINA Director, Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, and his family. This brigade was directed by Army Major Juan Morales Salgado, who was also the head of the barracks, and who was under the strict supervision of the DINA Director, who was also his direct evaluator. In 1975, a restructuring of the Brigades and operational groups that had 'Villa Grimaldi' as their barracks took place, merging the groups in charge of Army Captains Germán Barriga Muñoz and Carabineros Captain Ricardo Lawrence Mires, and integrated by numerous agents belonging to different branches of the Armed Forces and Carabineros, and whose designation would have been the 'Delfín' brigade or group. The purpose of this brigade was the repression of the Communist Party, carrying out tracking and detention tasks of leaders and militants of that Party, which were verified throughout the year 1976. Thus, during said period, the capture of dozens of Communist Party militants proceeded, many of them members of successive Central Committees that were constituted as the previous ones were being dismantled by the aforementioned repressive organization. The detainees were taken to the 'Terranova' or 'Villa Grimaldi' barracks, where they were interrogated under torture. Some of them were subsequently taken, still deprived of liberty, to the 'Simón Bolívar' barracks—to which the 'Delfín' brigade moved approximately in mid-1976—which became the main operations center of the aforementioned brigade, and from where operational groups went out to carry out detentions, in addition to transferring the Communist Party detainees who were in 'Villa Grimaldi'. To fulfill the functions described above, the so-called 'Delfín' brigade had the collaboration of the 'Lautaro' brigade, directed by Juan Morales Salgado. In the 'Simón Bolívar' barracks, the detainees, upon being admitted, handed over their personal belongings to an agent of the Barracks' general staff, who kept them in envelopes, writing on them the name of the detainees to whom the items belonged. In said barracks, the detainees were interrogated under torture, their trail was lost, and their current whereabouts remain unknown; however, there is evidence that several of these people were put to death, their bodies being removed and buried clandestinely; and others were thrown into the sea from helicopters; without their remains having been recovered yet.

Source: elclarin.cl 16/06/2021

Date: 16-06-2021

Santiago Court sentences former DINA agents to 20 years in prison as authors of eight aggravated kidnappings in 1976.

In a split decision.

The Court of Appeals confirmed the challenged sentence, which sentenced Juan Morales Salgado, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Carlos López Tapia, Rolf Wenderoth Pozo, and Ricardo Lawrence Mires to 20-year prison terms as authors of the eight kidnappings.

In the split decision, the Santiago Court of Appeals convicted five former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of José Vicente Toloza Vásquez, Guillermo Gálvez Rivadeneira, Guillermo Albino Martínez Quijón, Hugo Ernesto Vivanco Vega, Alicia Herrera Benítez, Óscar Orlando Ramos Garrido, Óscar Arturo Ramos Vivanco, and Nicolás Hugo Vivanco Herrera, illicit acts perpetrated starting in July and August 1976.

The Court of Appeals confirmed the challenged sentence, issued by visiting judge Leopoldo Llanos, which sentenced Juan Morales Salgado, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Carlos López Tapia, Rolf Wenderoth Pozo, and Ricardo Lawrence Mires to 20-year prison terms as authors of the eight kidnappings.

In the first-instance resolution, visiting judge Leopoldo Llanos managed to establish the following sequence of events: The DINA maintained, from the end of 1975 and at least throughout the year 1977, the "Simón Bolívar" barracks, located at Calle Simón Bolívar No. 8630, commune of La Reina, a facility where the brigade known as "Lautaro" operated, whose main function, in addition to repressive tasks of detaining political dissidents, was the protection of the DINA Director, Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, and his family.

This brigade was directed by Army Major Juan Morales Salgado, who was also the head of the barracks, and who was under the strict supervision of the DINA Director, who was also his direct evaluator; In 1975, a restructuring of the Brigades and operational groups that had "Villa Grimaldi" as their barracks took place, merging the groups in charge of Army Captains Germán Barriga Muñoz and Carabineros Captain Ricardo Lawrence Mires, and integrated by numerous agents belonging to different branches of the Armed Forces and Carabineros, and whose designation would have been the "Delfín" brigade or group; The purpose of this brigade was the repression of the Communist Party, carrying out tracking and detention tasks of leaders and militants of that Party, which were verified throughout the year 1976. Thus, during said period, the capture of dozens of Communist Party militants proceeded, many of them members of successive Central Committees that were constituted as the previous ones were being dismantled by the aforementioned repressive organization. The detainees were taken to the "Terranova" or "Villa Grimaldi" barracks, where they were interrogated under torture. Some of them were subsequently taken, still deprived of liberty, to the "Simón Bolívar" barracks—to which the "Delfín" brigade moved approximately in mid-1976—which became the main operations center of the aforementioned brigade, and from where operational groups went out to carry out detentions, in addition to transferring the Communist Party detainees who were in "Villa Grimaldi". To fulfill the functions described above, the so-called "Delfín" brigade had the collaboration of the "Lautaro" brigade, directed by Juan Morales Salgado; In the "Simón Bolívar" barracks, the detainees, upon being admitted, handed over their personal belongings to an agent of the Barracks' general staff, who kept them in envelopes, writing on them the name of the detainees to whom the items belonged. In said barracks, the detainees were interrogated under torture, their trail was lost, and their current whereabouts remain unknown; however, there is evidence that several of these people were put to death, their bodies being removed and buried clandestinely; and others were thrown into the sea from helicopters; without their remains having been recovered yet; Under these circumstances, the detentions of the following people occurred: a) José Vicente Toloza Vásquez, married, one child, linotypist, Communist militant, was detained on July 15, 1976, around 9:00 PM, in the vicinity of the 2.5 bus stop on Gran Avenida, perhaps Calle Milán, outside the Vicaría Zona Sur; b) GUILLERMO GALVEZ RIVADENEIRA, widower, five children, journalist, former union leader, Communist militant, detained on July 28, 1976, around 9:00 PM, in the vicinity of the Círculo de Periodistas at Calle Amunátegui No. 33; c) Guillermo Albino Martínez Quijón, married, linotypist, Communist militant, was detained on July 21, 1976, around 5:00 AM, at his home located at Calle Roberto Espinoza No. 975; d) Hugo Ernesto Vivanco Vega, married, one child, employee, Communist militant, was detained on August 4, 1976, around 12:30 PM on a public street, in the vicinity of Calle Cóndor and San Francisco in the commune of Santiago; e) Alicia Herrera Benítez, spouse of the previous, one child, housewife, Communist Party militant, detained on August 4, 1976, at 4:00 PM at her home at Calle Cóndor 745, house 6; f) Óscar Orlando Ramos Garrido, married, two children, linotypist, former intendant of Llanquihue, and member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, was detained on August 5, 1976, at 1:00 PM at his home located at Calle 7 No. 7801, Villa El Parque in the commune of Las Condes; g) Óscar Arturo Ramos Vivanco, son of the previous, sympathizer of the Communist Youth, single, 24 years old, detained along with his father at their home located at Calle 7 No. 7801, Villa El Parque in the commune of Las Condes; h) Nicolás Hugo Vivanco Herrera, married, 3 children, automotive worker, Communist militant, detained on August 10, 1976, at 9:00 PM, at his home at Calle Cóndor 745, house 6; The consequences of these detentions are that the aforementioned people are in the status of disappeared, since, having been deprived of liberty, they have not made contact with their relatives; nor have they carried out administrative procedures before State agencies or private organizations, nor do they have records of entry or exit from the country, and their death has not been proven. In the civil aspect, the sentence that accepted the filed lawsuit and ordered the State of Chile to pay compensation of $600,000,000 for moral damages to the victims' relatives was confirmed. The decision was adopted in the criminal part with the dissenting vote of lawyer Cruchaga, who was in favor of not recognizing the mitigating circumstance of Article 11 No. 6 of the Penal Code for the convicted, considering that by the date of the commission of the crimes investigated in this case, they had already perpetrated crimes for which they have been convicted in other proceedings and that, consequently, he was in favor of imposing the penalty of life imprisonment; and in the civil aspect, with the dissenting vote of judge Durán, who was in favor of accepting the statute of limitations exception.

Source: diarioconstitucional.cl 23/10/2018

Date: 23-10-2018

YOU ARE HERE: HOME / PUBLIC STATEMENT on the death of Manuel Contreras

Given the death of Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, director of the National Intelligence Directorate of the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and responsible for countless crimes perpetrated during said period by the regime, the Journalists' Association of Chile feels a duty to remember that he was, furthermore, the mastermind behind various setups that sought not only to legitimize his crimes before public opinion but also to denigrate and construct a despicable image of thousands of Chileans for thinking differently.

We journalists suffered the onslaught of the military dictatorship from its beginnings, not only with the closure of media outlets but also with imprisonment, torture, and death. Among our own are direct victims of Manuel Contreras; that is why we remember today GUILLERMO GALVEZ RIVADENEIRA, kidnapped from the headquarters of the Journalists' Association in July 1976 by DINA agents and whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Although Contreras Sepúlveda died sentenced to 526 years in prison for 75 kidnappings, 3 homicides, 2 crimes of illicit association, and 1 of child abduction, with many of his crimes still remaining unclarified and without conviction, it is no less true that he enjoyed privileges until the day of his death.

Through the ethics tribunals of the Journalists' Association of Chile and as the main representative body for journalists in our country, we are determined in the search for truth and justice. It is in this perspective that the ethical trials that have concluded with the expulsion of Agustín Edwards and with the sanctioning in other human rights cases are framed, along with the demand made to the Executive to advance decisively in giving firm signals of justice, such as the closure of the Punta Peuco prison, the degradation of military personnel convicted in human rights violation cases, the lifting of the secrecy of the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture, among others; collaborating with the clarification of the truth and the end of impunity for the Armed Forces. Our Ethical Charter mandates in its first article that “journalists are at the service of society, democratic principles, and Human Rights. In their professional work, the journalist shall be governed by truthfulness as a principle, understood as the delivery of responsible information about the facts. The practice of journalism does not promote or give room for ideological, religious, class, racial, gender, disability-based discrimination in all its forms, nor of any other type, that leads to the offense or impairment of any person, or attempts against the truthfulness of events.” Let today be the moment to remember this important precept that must be the guide for our professional practice.

Source: colegiodeperiodistas.cl 18/08/2015

Date: 18-08-2015

Quimantú: Salvador Allende's dream

Allende was the one who insisted, in a visionary way, on the need for a State publishing house. In 1967, he presented a motion for a Bill to create a publishing company that would allow, among other things, to lower the costs of books for the "benefit of the modest layers of the population." Although the idea did not prosper, Allende kept his purpose firm.

For that reason, already being President, in the Popular Unity, on February 12, 1971, he "communicated to the country a formal commitment to purchase" the Zig-Zag publishing house for the State of Chile.

One day later, on February 13, 1971, through the newspaper La Nación, the comrade President announced the definitive purchase of the label. All of this is told in Un sueño llamado Quimantú (2014), a testimonial book by one of the protagonists of the history we refer to: Hilda López, who was there from the beginning of the ambitious project until its last day of operations, September 11, 1973, first as coordinator and then as director of the emblematic magazine La Firme .

The book is a venture by Ceibo ediciones, a label that has successfully ventured into texts that mix testimony, committed journalism, and literature. The volume is illustrative regarding the epic that this company meant.

It narrates how, for example, Sergio Maurín, who assumed the role of an important executive, broke all management codes when, during his lunch break, "he stood in line at the canteen and then, tray in hand, sat next to the workers." His conduct, the author adds, was always the same, and it was common to see him go down to the workshops "to learn" the work with the operators.

The book offers very relevant graphic material. A series of photographs and images of collaborators and multiple appearances of the publishing house in the press of the time stand out. These records, which run from beginning to end of the book, are in black and white; however, in the center of the volume, there are 14 pages in color, and on better quality paper, that accurately reproduce the covers of magazines and books, as well as various posters, published by the publishing house.

A section of the volume is dedicated to the different projects that Quimantú developed in its short existence. The approaches to these magazines and children's book collections, among other editorial products, are often texts by people who were directly involved in those projects.

The women's magazine Paloma stands out, whose idea was backed by Hortensia Bussi de Allende, the First Lady, and which, curiously, was conceived by its creator based on the experience of Hugh Hefner and Playboy , as a broad and complex magazine that would support a plurality of themes.

A considerable space in the book is dedicated to the "quimantucinos," that is, to those who worked at the publishing house. Among them are Hernán Vidal (Hervi), Pablo Dittborn, and Jorge Arrate, among many others.

Here, as in the previous texts, there are collaborations from the participants themselves in this joyful process of cultural paradigm shift, who decided to narrate their experience in the first person.

Their testimonies are of undoubted value. One of them, the sociologist Tomás Moulian, a member of the Editorial Division team, points out: "Quimantú participates in the core of the Popular Unity: the dignification of the poor.

The fact that they read Chekhov, Flaubert, Jack London, Pushkin, in a tiny little book that was within their reach, was a labor of cultural struggle." Before closing the tour of the history of the state label, the author pauses on a painful memory, called "Our dead." In this section, she gives an account of the victims of military repression linked to Quimantú, all consigned in the Rettig Report.

Only one of them, Arturo San Martín Sutherland, has a grave; the others still remain unfound. Along with their photos, the author mentions the circumstances in which they were kidnapped. The Forcibly Disappeared are: Luis Jiménez Cortés, Diana Aron Svgilsky, Guillermo Martínez Quijón, Guillermo Gálvez Rivadeneira, Moisés Mujica Maturana, Carmelo Soria Espinoza.

Quimantú means "wisdom of the sun"; it is the union of two voices from Mapudungún: Kim (to know) and Antú (Sun), found by Luz María Hurtado—who had been entrusted with the mission of finding an appropriate name—in a 1934 book written by Father Félix de Augusta.

This wisdom makes sense in our days. In addition to the essential need to look at the past, with the lights and shadows that a project like this offers, Hilda López's book fosters a reflection that is currently cardinal: the possibility of creating a State publishing house.

The topic, of course, generates controversy, but I think it is necessary at least to consider it given how expensive it is to acquire a book in Chile. Independent publishers, as I understand it, support the idea; I suppose the same is not true for the representatives of the transnationals.

However, it would be interesting to evaluate the feasibility of a company of this nature, moving away from the ideological debate it arouses. Without a doubt, culture deserves to overlook the quasi-transcendental assumptions that the gurus of private capital defend as revealed word.

Source: opinion.cooperativa.cl 2/7/2015

Date: 02-07-2015

Tribute paid to the 31 journalists murdered by the dictatorship

On September 8, on the third floor of the journalists' guild building, located at Amunátegui 31, a memorial was inaugurated in honor of the 31 press professionals and journalism students who were murdered and/or forcibly disappeared during the dictatorship.

The two women's names appearing on the monument are Diana Aron and Arcadia Flores, both militants of the MIR. Also belonging to that organization were Mario Calderón, Augusto Carmona, José Carrasco Tapia, Máximo Gedda, Ricardo Troncoso, José Yáñez, and the students Luis Eduardo Alaniz, José Hernán Carrasco Vásquez, Juan Elías Espinoza, José Jara Aravena, and Nehad Teodorovic Sertic.

The fallen socialist journalists are Daniel Castro, Sergio Contreras, Archibaldo Morales, José Tohá, José Pérez, José Miguel Rivas, and Jaime Aldoney. Carlos Berger, Guillermo Gálvez, and Ernesto Traubmann were militants of the Communist Party.

Luis Durán R. was from the MAPU, while Augusto Olivares, Carlos Bascuñán, Juan Manuel Bertoló, and Rodolfo Fuenzalida were left-wing independents. Leonardo Henrichsen was of Argentine-Swedish nationality, Charles Horman was American, and Cristián Montecinos lived in the United States and held no left-wing views.

Family members and colleagues of the fallen attended the ceremony, organized jointly by leaders of the Círculo de Periodistas—the initiator of the project—and the Colegio de Periodistas. Also present were Deputy Tucapel Jiménez and various government ministers and authorities.

The event—with TVN journalist Amaro Gómez as master of ceremonies—was held in the Círculo's Library, where an exhibition titled "Press in Dictatorship" was also inaugurated, which will remain open until October.

– On behalf of the families and friends of the fallen, the author of these lines, a journalist, provided a portrait of the fallen and the judicial status of each case, which we reproduce below.

Words for a Good Memory

We will begin by remembering Diana Aron Svigiliski, Daniel Antonio Castro López, and Ricardo Troncoso León, because, at least in the first two cases, there has been truth and justice, while in the latter, nothing has been achieved.

Diana finally defeated Krasnoff, Contreras, and the entire leadership of the DINA, who are imprisoned in the Penal Cordillera with a sentence from Judge Alejandro Solís (15 and 10 years) confirmed by the Supreme Court.

They did, however, prevent Diana from continuing to write about the resistance, or from brightening our lives now with her contagious laughter. They did not let her cradle in her arms the child she was expecting when they detained her, who disappeared with her.

But they cannot tear her from our memory or from the memory of those who will come to learn about the young combatant journalist. Here we inscribe her name as an intrepid hunter, next to the transparent water and the polished stone that speak to us of the life of a dignified and courageous woman.

This remarkable journalist began reporting as an intern at Canal 13—where we met—and later worked at the magazine Onda. She belonged to the team of El Rebelde, the newspaper of the MIR, and never stopped writing, even though journalism was proscribed.

Daniel Castro did not know her, because this correspondent for the newspaper Clarín, a socialist militant, was from another generation and lived in Liquiñe, near Valdivia, in the area of the Panguipulli timber complex, the largest in the country.

There, he was an enthusiastic and participatory witness to the process experienced by the peasants, now without bosses, producing for the social property area. Mr. Daniel did not just report: he taught many peasants to read and write, and later showed them what he wrote in Clarín about their achievements.

His fate was so tied to theirs that in October 1973, Mr. Daniel, who was almost the same age as the century, was murdered with blows from a corvo knife along with ten or more peasants. All the bodies were thrown into the Toltén River.

Judge Alejandro Solís sentenced Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Guerra Jorquera to 18 years in prison for 11 counts of aggravated kidnapping and a civilian, Luis García Guzmán, owner of the Termas de Liquiñe, to five years and one day for his participation in these events.

It is the highest sentence so far in a human rights case, and the only one given to a civilian, but we must await the result of the appeals.

For the disappearance of journalist Ricardo Troncoso León, on the other hand, there are no defendants in the case being followed in Chillán. He worked as an announcer at Radio La Discusión in Chillán, where he created and hosted the program El Rincón de los Niños.

He was also a playwright, director, and theater actor. He was a police reporter, a photographer for Vea, and a correspondent for the newspaper Puro Chile. Without a doubt, he is not forgotten by the members of the Theater Company he founded and named with a title that speaks of his immortal spirit: "Libre" (Free).

All Pending Cases

In none of the other kidnappings and executions of colleagues are there sentences, as of yet. Only some indictments, and criminals at liberty. Regarding the crime of Pepe Carrasco, our dear Pepone, for the last six years, the truth has been delivered to us in dribs and drabs.

Judge Dolmetsch, who obtained confessions from the guilty and prosecuted them, did not complete the task. He left for the Supreme Court without issuing a sentence, applying the statute of limitations in the case of Jecar Neghme, ignoring international human rights conventions and leaving us stunned.

From the regions

– Carlos Berger, director of Radio El Loa in Chuquicamata, former director of the magazine Ramona, and a communist militant, remained at his post on the air on September 11. He fell into the nets of the Caravan of Death.

There is also no sentence in this case, which is in the hands of Judge Víctor Montiglio, whose rulings are predictable: amnesty for the criminals. Also in the north, in the interior of Copiapó, we lost Carlos Bascuñán Mourgues Dewet, director of the weekly El Andino of Potrerillos, whose frozen remains reportedly appeared in the interior of the mountain range.

He is described as a precocious ecological activist. His pen is undoubtedly missed today in defending the water and the Huasco Valley from the Pascua Lama project.

There are two professionals from the regions who were disappeared by the official press, complicit in Operation Colombo, set up by the DINA to cover up the kidnapping—among others—of Mario Calderón Tapia and Luis Durán Rivas.

They appeared on the List of the 119 (called Operation Colombo by the DINA). Their names were sullied. This list, inscribed in granite and presented by their peers, honors them forever today.

For those crimes, Manuel Contreras, former head of the secret police, Miguel Krasnoff, Basclay Zapata, and Osvaldo Romo are under indictment. "Negro" Calderón was 32 years old when they detained him, but he had already worked at the newspaper La Unión in Valparaíso, at EMPORCHI, was a professor at the School of Journalism, a correspondent for El Rebelde, and directed workers' newspapers.

He wrote on the walls of the clandestine facility of Cuatro Álamos: "Negro Calderón passed through here." In truth, even if he had not written it, his footprints and his memory are imprinted on the port he loved.

Another native of Valparaíso, Jaime Aldoney Vargas, is remembered especially in Limache and the surrounding areas. He was a fourth-year journalism student when he took over as administrator of the Cervecerías Unidas company.

The dictatorship did not forgive him for that position or for having been a socialist councilman in that commune. He was detained the day after the coup d'état. Although the case has had defendants since 2003, there is no sentence against the high-ranking Navy officers prosecuted, and the judge who was investigating recused herself.

The Students

Other disappeared students include Luis Eduardo Alaniz Álvarez, from the Universidad del Norte, a socialist leader, the youngest of those executed by the Caravan of Death; José Hernán Carrasco Vásquez, from the Universidad de Concepción, and Juan Elías Espinoza Parra, president of the Journalism Student Center in Concepción, who had returned from the German Democratic Republic, both from the MIR; Rodolfo Jacinto Fuenzalida Fernández, a student of the master Alejandro Cabrera at the Universidad de Chile, executed and disappeared in Piragua.

José Eduardo Jara Aravena, an intern at Radio Chilena, died under torture, and Nehad Teodorovic Sertic, a playwright and militant of the MIR, was executed along with his wife.

Arcadia Flores Pérez was one of the founders of the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared, following the disappearance of her brother Julio. Later, she went from being a journalism student at the Universidad de Chile to a writer and editor for the newspaper El Miliciano.

She practiced her profession as a combatant, participating in the early 80s in armed propaganda actions and distributing the respective communiqués. When militants took over Radio Portales to broadcast a proclamation of the resistance, they did so with a text that had been written and recorded by Arcadia. They killed her when she was just 20 years old.

The Journalists/Poets

For his part, Luis Durán belongs to the endearing species of journalist-writer-poets. They called him "Mechón" (Freshman) in the Journalism department at the Universidad de Chile, where he was a leader of the Student Center.

Originally from Chillán, he worked in Operation Saltamontes and was a militant in the MAPU. In the magazine Chile Nuevo, he wrote reports on the intervened industries. His friends remember that he was of the generation of Che but also of the Beatles, and a great reader of Cortázar, Marcuse, and Sartre.

He worked in the clandestine press of the resistance, in a news agency created by his group of friends. He continued writing poetry in prison, and in verse, he told his beloved that his last cry would be one of triumph and love.

Of that same species of transparent beings was Máximo Gedda, a television director and union leader at Canal 7—where we worked together—and a contributor to the magazine Punto Final. Inseparable from Pepone, a faithful ally of the struggles of the most humble, he was tortured to death.

Neither truth nor justice has been written into this story of a young professional and leader who knew how to be just and true, solidary and sensitive like few others. Unforgettable, for many.

Also a member of that distinguished brotherhood was Jorge Yáñez Olave, a member of the MIR, a journalist and laureate poet who wrote for the newspapers La Provincia and El Heraldo in Linares, and had studied theater.

At the time of the coup d'état, he lived in Constitución and marched in protest alongside the workers of Celulosa Constitución (CELCO). We also miss him today in the fight against CELCO... After the city was occupied by the military, he tried to head to Linares with a friend, but both were kidnapped.

Those responsible, led by former Colonel Juan Hernán Morales Salgado of the Linares Artillery School, have been indicted and are awaiting sentencing by Judge Solís.

We also honor the memory of Archibaldo Morales Villanueva, founder and director of the newspaper El Guerrillero in San Fernando, of communist convictions, and of profound love for his people and for the figure of the independence hero, Manuel Rodríguez. He died from torture after 43 days of detention.

Juan Manuel Bertoló Rivas, a self-taught journalist, worked for the newspaper La Estrella de San Antonio and the regional newspaper Proa, and was a correspondent for Radio Cooperativa, a very important station in those times. He was detained by the San Antonio Carabineros, and the circumstances of his death have yet to be clarified.

José Miguel Rivas Rachitoff was another self-taught journalist specializing in agrarian issues. A socialist militant, he worked at INDAP and was director of the newspaper Poder Campesino. He was reportedly murdered in Tejas Verdes, but there are still no defendants or substantial progress in the case.

His friend and coworker, José Leonardo Pérez Hermosilla, a journalist for the National Agricultural Communications Program of INDAP and a socialist communal leader, was likely murdered in Tejas Verdes. He had glaucoma, but his inner vision was enormous and allowed him to produce valuable opinion articles. His family awaits justice.

The Friends of President Allende

For the death under torture of the former director of the newspaper Última Hora, José Tohá, a socialist who served as Minister of Defense and the Interior during the government of the Unidad Popular, there are also indictments, and the truth has prevailed after decades of cover-up.

With a relevant role in the three campaigns of President Allende, from the newspaper Última Hora which he directed, José Tohá initiated a new style in left-wing journalism.

Among his collaborators was Augusto Olivares, a great journalist, faithful advisor to Salvador Allende, brilliant analyst for the evening paper Última Hora and Punto Final, and director of Televisión Nacional. He chose to share the same fate as his friend, the "Compañero Presidente."

A similar decision was made by Sergio Contreras, a socialist militant, an Allende supporter to the core, a radio man, bohemian, generous, in love... with his profession. He disappeared along with the members of the GAP in Peldehue or the Tacna regiment, without there being a sentence for those responsible for the crime.

The Internationals

We also have internationalists of journalism in our memorial.

Part of this group is Charles Horman, who during the time of the Unidad Popular founded the independent agency FIN (North American Information Source) to report on the Chilean process from a perspective different from that of the Nixon administration.

The kidnapping and execution of Charles Horman inspired the film "Missing." So far, there is no justice, despite the fact that there is a defendant and a reconstruction of the scene of the events that occurred at the National Stadium was carried out.

Ernesto Traubmann, a militant of the Communist Party, born in Czechoslovakia, was an anti-fascist combatant, radio operator, and gunner in the RAF of England when he was 20 years old. In Chile, he worked for the Czechoslovak Press Agency and the National Mining Company.

His remains, located in Patio 29, are part of that new pain experienced by the families in the face of doubts about their actual identification.

Leonardo Henrichsen is the Argentine-Swedish cameraman who, with his lens, anticipated our dramatic future. His family awaits justice today.

Cristián Montecinos Slaughter, a Chilean living in the United States and a former student of Saint George, was murdered by mistake. With his camera and a personal diary, he was a witness to the breaking of Chile, "which will not end in a generation," as he himself wrote.

Guillermo Gálvez, a communist leader, was director of the magazine Hechos Mundiales of the Quimantú publishing house and worked at Radio La Voz del Sur in Punta Arenas. His friends remember his serenity, his commitment to the popular cause, his sense of humor, his love for tango, and good conversation.

He was kidnapped from La Taberna—in our own house, from this building—with deceit and brazenness. The crime remains unpunished.

I am here, they tell me, representing the family and friends. Because in addition to my friends and colleagues, the name of Augusto Carmona Acevedo is inscribed here, my partner during those years, the father of my daughter Eva María, and of his other daughter, Alejandra. He was a journalist for Canal 9 of Television and a writer for Punto Final.

He had specialized in politics, reported from Congress, but was very attentive to student, union, and peasant struggles. He was a militant in the MIR and reported on the ups and downs of the Latin American guerrilla movement in the 70s.

He traveled to Bolivia to cover the death of Che and the trial of Régis Debray. In the underground, he became a political leader, without leaving aside his adventurous spirit and his love for life.

My grandson Víctor, 4 years old, who could not come because at this very hour he is at his kindergarten in a celebration for the 18th, dancing the cueca, asked me yesterday: "Is it true that my grandfather Augusto didn't die of an illness?" I nodded, and he continued asking, and I continued trying to answer everything for which there is actually no answer, and for which words are not enough.

But he also knew that there are people here today remembering him and all the fallen. And that is important. I know that by thanking Alejandro Cabrera, who was also my teacher at the School of Journalism of the Universidad de Chile, and by congratulating the Círculo de Periodistas for this initiative, I represent all the family and friends.

Thank you for the memorial, thank you for the water that flows like life, thank you for the stone that remains.

Santiago, September 8, 2006

– Those included in the memorial

Diana Aron Svigiliski

Carlos "Dewet" Bascuñán Mourgues (militancy unknown) Carlos Berger (PC) Juan Manuel Bertoló Rivas (no known militancy) Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia (MIR) Augusto Carmona Acevedo (MIR) José Carrasco Tapia (MIR) Daniel Antonio Castro López (PS) Sergio Contreras (PS) Luis Eduardo Durán Rivas (MAPU) Guillermo Gálvez Rivadeneira (PC) Máximo Antonio Gedda Ortiz (MIR) Leonardo Henrichsen Charles Horman Cristián Montecinos Slaughter Archibaldo Morales Villanueva (PS) Augusto Olivares Becerra (left-wing independent) José Leonardo Pérez Hermosilla (PS) José Miguel Rivas Rachitoff (PS) José Tohá González (PS) Ernesto Traubmann Riegelhaupt (PC) Ricardo Troncoso León (MIR) José Yáñez Olave (MIR)

Students murdered and/or forcibly disappeared

Luis Eduardo Alaniz Álvarez (MIR) Jaime Aldoney Vargas (PS) José Hernán Carrasco Vásquez (MIR) Juan Elías Espinoza Parra (MIR) Arcadia Flores Pérez (MIR) Rodolfo Jacinto Fuenzalida Fernández José Eduardo Jara Aravena (MIR) Nehad Teodorovic Sertic (MIR)

Source: rebelion.org 09/13/2006

Date: 09-13-2006

Guillermo Gálvez: Kidnapping at La Taberna by Virginia Vidal in collaboration with Lidia Baltra and Ernesto Carmona (*) Name Guillermo Gálvez Rivadeneira Place and date of birth San Bernardo, October 20, 1926 Specialty As a journalist, he held positions ranging from a modest reporter (ORBE agency) to the director of a publication (Hechos Mundiales magazine).

Place and date of death Forcibly disappeared, kidnapped under false pretenses from La Taberna at the Círculo de Periodistas in Santiago, on July 28, 1976. Activities A member of the Communist Party, he was president of the Technical Union of Editorial Quimantú.

Judicial status (1996) Case filed in the Second Criminal Court of Santiago, Case File 86549-b. The Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay of proceedings on 11/11/1977.

Guillermo Gálvez Rivadeneira was chatting with some colleagues at La Taberna, the bar at the Círculo de Periodistas, when he disappeared forever on July 28, 1976, around 9:00 PM.

The vague memories—20 years had passed—retained by Heriberto Carrasco, "Carrasquito," the waiter who served him that night, recount that two individuals in ordinary clothing greeted him cordially, had a drink with him, and calmly led him out of the premises under false pretenses.

It is said that the hitmen pretended to be "journalists from Rancagua who had an urgent message." They likely ambushed him upon exiting and forced him into a vehicle or into the DINA facility on the narrow Nueva Amunátegui street, across from the Círculo building.

His disappearance sparked many conjectures. Some relatives believed he had left the country; others suggested he had run off "with another woman." Only his daughter Lucía was certain of his true fate.

Those who frequented La Taberna remember him as a serious and discreet man. Perhaps involved in more important tasks, he rarely participated in discussions about current events. He refrained from expressing opinions, commenting on gossip, or intervening in the barrage of labels typical of bar-room analysis.

María Bañados recalls him as a devoted tango fan who frequently visited her home for long sessions of music from Buenos Aires. Ernesto Carmona remembers that in the 60s, they both witnessed how two burly journalists from La Ruca (1) settled their severe personal and political differences with their fists, using the enormous hall of the Ministry of Economy as a ring.

When the unusual match broke out, Gálvez also decided not to intervene and instead watched, observing Solomonically: "They are evenly matched; they have more or less the same weight and height."

Testimony of Hugo Cabezas

One of his good friends, the journalist Hugo Cabezas, describes him as a responsible father and head of the family:

"He was married in his first marriage to a very pleasant woman we called 'la Gringa,' with whom he bought a property in Villa Santa Carolina, a matter related to what happened on the day he disappeared.

At the corner of Matías Cousiño and Moneda, leaving our work at the economic bulletin edited by Lautaro Insinilla, he asked me to arrange his weekly payment because he was planning to travel to La Serena."

Cabezas, who also has a disappeared son, made the arrangements, but Gálvez never showed up to collect the money. The separation between Gálvez and "la Gringa" was very amicable, but unfortunately, the lady passed away. "He wanted their children to inherit that house in Santa Carolina because, he said, it was rightfully theirs." But he needed to handle paperwork in La Serena, where his ex-wife's relatives resided and where her remains rested.

Hugo Cabezas

"On Monday of that week, he asked me to arrange the money because he planned to travel on Thursday; on Wednesday, I informed him that everything was settled. 'Oh, that's good, old friend,' he told me, 'then I'll travel tomorrow and return on Saturday.

You take care of the bulletin.' As we left, he invited me to the Círculo to have a drink and talk, but I excused myself because I had family commitments. We said goodbye, but I never imagined it would be the last time I would see him.

The next day, I asked several times if Guillermo had collected his money; they always told me no. On Friday, I called his wife, who shared the same concern. 'I'm starting to get desperate,' she replied."

"Later, I learned the horrific truth. At La Taberna, he had supposedly met some colleagues from Rancagua. They had a few drinks and left together. But years later, the Journalists' Association investigated, confirming that they were not friends, much less journalists. Those he was forcibly with were the executioners who led him to his death."

Testimony of Jorge Babarovic

Guillermo Gálvez's personality was well known to the journalist Jorge Babarovic, a comrade in his circle and vice president of the National Press Association (1996):

"We used to meet every July 14, the day of the French Revolution, to remember a deceased friend, the journalist Mario Vargas Rosas. In 1976, Gálvez attended the annual meeting of our circle for the last time, a group united by the memory of a friend of great human quality and composed mostly of old-guard journalists: Reinaldo Lomboy, author of the novel Ranquil; the cartoonist Carlos Ruiz; the journalist Hugo Cabezas, a Radical and Mason who would suffer the disappearance of a son during the dictatorship; Juan Lenin Araya, Fernando Opazo, Mario Mercado, Franklin Quevedo, Raúl Iturra Falcka, and others."

"Our group survived all sectarianism. We enjoyed the gatherings at the bars 'Ciro's' and 'La Unión Chica' with essential plurality. There was absolute trust; our friendship was great, but we spoke little of our private lives.

At the beginning of the dictatorship, Franklin was imprisoned in Chacabuco, left the country, and was no longer there. We were deeply affected by the disappearance of Cabezas's son, who—before the tragedy—visited the lawyer Jorge Ovalle to consult him about the advisability of getting the young man out of the country, but he told him: 'Don't worry, nothing will happen to your son.' The boy disappeared forever...

In July 1976, when we met with Jaime Atria, Gálvez confided in me that he was being followed and that he felt worried. I believe he was a leader of the PC Central Committee at that time."

"I knew Guillermo at La Voz del Sur, a radio station I directed in Punta Arenas. I remember that José Miguel Varas handed the position over to me when he left for Prague. Guillermo Gálvez, who arrived in the southern city in the 60s, was a great journalist.

Our team (which also included Antonio Benedicto and Fernando Reyes Matta) practiced a new kind of journalism for Magallanes through the program Impactos. After the coup, when Gálvez became unemployed, he did magazine-style freelance work for La Prensa Austral from Santiago. In addition, we edited an annual horoscope, a thick book that Guillermo made and that Hugo Cabezas sold at newsstands."

In Babarovic's portrait, Guillermo Gálvez was apparently serious but possessed a great sense of humor. "We played many pranks on him because he was a young Radical militant in La Serena," he recalled. "Gálvez was also the director of Hechos Mundiales, a magazine of major historical and cultural topics, where he succeeded Edwin Harrington when the magazine, which belonged to Zig-Zag and was called Sucesos, began to be published by Quimantú..."

Testimony of his daughter

Lucía Gálvez, a beautiful, very sensitive woman, single and in the prime of life, remembers her father with the passion of Electra:

"My father was unemployed when my mom ('la Gringa') died of a stroke in La Serena in March 1976. I was twenty years old and had left university due to a lack of resources. The preparations for May 1st were coming up, and I knew my father was very busy.

One day I asked him, 'Why are you sad?' and he replied: 'Daughter, the less you know, the better for you.' I said to him again: 'You're worried.' 'Many of my friends are no longer here; there are fewer of us left every time,' he replied. 'I have never thought about leaving the country.

But if I were to leave, I would have to unite the family. I would never leave without all my children,' he added. He was a single father and had a married daughter, Gladys Amada, with a one-year-old baby, so he was already a grandfather; there were three of us: Guillermo, Alfredo, and me."

Dad had a new partner, with two small children, María Teresa and Patricio. But the children of 'la Gringa' resisted all family pressure to stop living together. "The three siblings decided not to separate because my mother's family wanted to distribute us into different houses.

At that time, Dad spent one day with us and one day out. That day, he announced that he needed medicine and that he would spend the night with us. He always kept his word. He told me: 'I'm going to the Círculo de Periodistas to talk to the doctor to get me some medicine, and I'll come afterward.' Nine, ten, eleven, twelve o'clock at night passed.

The curfew had already begun. I felt sad: 'My dad left me aside.' The next day, I called a place where I could leave messages for him or receive his: 'No, he's not here, he hasn't come.' I went to an office where they might have news: 'Many people have called for him, but we haven't seen him.' I called his mother's house.

She got scared. A brother of Dad's called from Germany. Finally, his sisters Mireya and Gladys reported his disappearance to the Vicariate, after visiting hospitals and clinics. Dad had many military cousins on his mother's side, all officers, like Abarzúa Rivadeneira and the accountant Rivadeneira. I suffered a lot when some relative suggested that he had left us to go with another woman..."

"I remember how he loved opera. When we were kids, he would tell us stories with the plot of an opera that we would listen to later. My maternal grandmother was English, and he really enjoyed speaking with her in English.

He liked writing a lot. He had finished some books, novels; we didn't know where they ended up. His hobby was carpentry. He made his own very complete workbench to work on, and for us, tables and benches. He had such beautiful hands! Since I was little, I would accompany him when he went out, and once I was impressed to hear a woman praise his hands."

"Very loving to all his children, he made no differences with any of them. I shared time with him. He took me to see the Beatles in Yellow Submarine. He played tops and flew kites with my brothers. He was cheerful, sociable. He sang tangos at family gatherings. He liked to cook on Sundays: he would put on an apron, make himself a paper chef's hat, and prepare a stew and a Chilean salad."

"At home, we always talked and argued; we all had the right to speak and vote. He didn't force ideas on us, but he taught us by example and made us see things. Once, he bought a lot of toys, and I got sulky when I found out they weren't for me, but he took me to some very poor children, and I helped him distribute them..."

"His disappearance didn't convince me. I invented a ghost father, and when friends or suitors invited me, I would say: 'I can't, my dad is waiting for me.' Or: 'I can't go out because my dad is at home.' I even invented another profession for him.

When they asked me what he did, I would say: 'He is a writer.' I started working as a secretary at the Journalists' Association in 1981, and in 1986, when Pepe Carrasco was killed, I fell ill. I couldn't believe in such evil.

I thought the dictatorship was going to be eternal. During the Aylwin government, when the first bones of the disappeared were found, I realized that sixteen years had passed and there was nothing to be done. I knew he was dead, and I screamed: 'It would have been preferable if you had abandoned us, as many said!' Then his echo reached me: 'Only dead will they take me away from my children'..."

Testimony of Lidia Baltra

The journalist Lidia Baltra met Guillermo Gálvez at the Editora Nacional Quimantú (formerly Empresa Editora Zig-Zag) during the times of the Unidad Popular. She was the last director of Telecrán; the new management eliminated the magazine, considering that "it did not align with their programmatic conception for a socialist publishing house." Lidia, who keeps the memories of that entire era very alive, went on to work in the newly created Documentation department (formerly the Photo Archive), which was directed by the Brazilian journalist María Teresa Moraes:

"Gálvez presided over the Unidad Popular Committee (CUP), and I was in charge of the Christian Left in the company. He was chubby, of medium height, with large brown eyes and a kind and calm gaze. He was known as a hardworking and serious person.

He directed Hechos Mundiales (the new name of the magazine Sucesos, created in another time by our colleague Edwin Harrington). He never wasted his time: he wrote, edited, and was concerned about everything that happened in the company.

As president of the CUP, he was not insistent with political instructions—at least in the more normal times of the period—and he let each of us do and work on our own things."

"That morning of September 11, I arrived at the company at the time I could—given the circumstances—after listening on the radio to what was happening. With my colleagues in Documentation, we watched, nervous and dismayed, as tanks positioned themselves in the gardens of Plaza Italia, in front of Avenida Santa María, and set themselves up, pointing their cannons directly at Quimantú, evidently a key target as the publishing center of a government 'on the road to socialism,' whose books were sold at newsstands for less than a pack of cigarettes."

"That day, Guillermo went through the company's offices, ordering us all to remain at our posts. The hours passed, and all we did was listen to the radio, censored and intervened by the military, while the threat of bombing loomed over La Moneda.

My husband, Claudio Verdugo, came back for me as soon as he could. Around noon, I went down to the street, where he was waiting for me, and I said to him with a firm voice: 'We have to stay.' With a grave gesture, he replied that he would also join, and we re-entered the company together."

"Guillermo Gálvez was precisely in the Documentation offices, repeating the latest instructions from the Central Única de Trabajadores: we all had to remain at our workstations. Claudio asked: 'What do we have to defend ourselves with, comrade?' Gálvez looked at him surprised and, after hesitating a little (as if saying 'what did you expect?'), replied dryly: 'With nothing, comrade.'"

"We went back home. Several colleagues, on the other hand, went to get blankets and returned to stay... until the next day, when they had to leave the company by order of the same union leadership. Days, weeks, and months passed.

A team of coup plotters—one of whose ringleaders was Hernán Errázuriz Talavera—began the 'raid' on Quimantú workers. They fired us with peremptory and unpleasant orders. Some immediately, according to the feared Article 38 (which automatically categorized one as an 'extremist'), as happened with Diana Arón, a journalist for the magazine Onda; others, they sent on vacation while they investigated our papers more thoroughly; and others, of course, remained in their posts."

"Quimantú changed its editorial line radically, transformed into Editora Nacional Gabriela Mistral, under the command of Diego Barros Ortiz, an aviation commander (retired) and... writer."

"Guillermo Gálvez became unemployed immediately, but he continued to direct a cell of communist journalists in the underground. One day, one of its members told him that she could not continue in the country, unemployed and putting her children in danger with her resistance actions, and that she should leave.

Unlike many political leaders of the time, Guillermo listened to her attentively and, without refuting her reasons, limited himself to telling her that it was better to stay and continue the fight, but that if that was her choice, they were going to miss her very much for her valuable contributions."

"Years passed, and one day in 1976, I ran into a former Quimantú colleague on the street, Jimmy Smith, a cartoonist and graphic designer who has since passed away. In the ritual of exchanging information that we did whenever we met a friend, Jimmy told me that he knew from a good source that the DINA was looking for Gálvez, obviously to detain him.

Since we found out that he was resting at the Círculo cabins in El Tabo in those days, we went there one night to warn him. We found him very calm, chatting with a colleague we didn't know. When we explained what we knew, with his usual calm, he shrugged his shoulders, said he would not hide or leave, and that if they detained him, they detained him. This was the last time I saw him."

"Claudio ran into him days later at the 'Café Do Brasil' on Bandera and Huérfanos, near the Courts. He was leaning on the counter, apparently alone. When buying his coffee voucher, Claudio greeted him from afar, nodding and smiling at him, but Guillermo looked right through him, without making the slightest gesture.

Immediately, Claudio understood that they had him detained and, as they used to do, were parading him around so he would recognize his comrades. My husband sipped his coffee quickly, without looking at him, and left, desperate to tell what he had seen to someone who could do something.

But we were in 1976, and there was little to be done. The Journalists' Association was led mostly by supporters of the coup. Only his relatives could turn to the Committee for Peace, of Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez, to report his disappearance, which they did."

(1) Headquarters of the Economic Sector source.

Virginia Vidal is a journalist and writer, a contributor to the magazines Punto Final and Mensaje, a reporter for El Siglo in 1966, and the author of several books. Winner of the "María Luisa Bombal" Novel Prize and the Municipal Literature Prize.

Lidia Baltra is a journalist, director of Telecrán (1970/71), opinion editor at La Nación (1990/92), and a leader of the National Journalists' Association (1992/94). Ernesto Carmona is a journalist and editor. Electronically edited by the Nizkor Team - Derechos Human Rights on 09nov01

Source: derechos.org 9/11/2001 Date: 09-11-2001

Bureaucracy. Collection "We Chileans" No. 44 Gálvez Rivadeneira, Guillermo (1926-1976) Publisher: Quimantú, Santiago de Chile, 1973 Bookstore: Librería Monte Sarmiento (Santiago, SANTI, Chile) https://www.iberlibro.com/ Source: uberlibro.com undated

Hechos Mundiales: Great Reports on Universal History (Pablo Neruda: Combatant Poet of Love and the People, 5:60 November) by Guillermo Gálvez Rivadeneira (Editor) from the year 1972 about the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Publisher: Quimantu (January 1, 1972) Source: https://www.amazon.com/ undated