Reinaldo Huentequeo Almonacid, married, father of 5, a small-scale farmer and Communist Party member, was detained on October 6, 1973, while returning from a trip to Osorno, a city he had visited to purchase supplies.

The bus he was traveling on stopped at the "El Campesino" restaurant, and the passengers got off. A group of Carabineros from the Carimallín Station was present at the location; two of them were identified as Mario Cabello and a Corporal surnamed Jaramillo.

They asked the individuals to show their identity cards; those who did not have them were detained, which is what happened to the victim, who was subsequently taken to the Río Bueno Police Station. He was taken from this facility along with other detainees to the old suspension bridge over the Pilmaiquén River on the road between San Pablo and Río Bueno, where they were executed by firing squad.

Among the detainees was Francisco Herminio Martínez Noches, a 23-year-old small-scale farmer, also residing in Colonia Mantilhue. Reinaldo Huentequeo was the only one who managed to survive by jumping into the river, though he sustained several gunshot wounds to his left leg.

Despite his injuries, he was able to get out of the water and sought refuge in the area, being taken in by some farmers. From there, he sent a written message to his family informing them of his whereabouts and asking them to come and get him, but when his relatives arrived at the indicated location, they were informed that he had been detained again by Carabineros.

From that moment on, all information regarding his whereabouts is unknown. The family searched for him in police stations, prisons, and detention centers in the area without obtaining any information that would allow them to locate him.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

The victim's sister mentions in an account of the facts that in 1978, she reported the case to an official from the International Red Cross who traveled to Osorno. Furthermore, in a letter sent by the Committee for Cooperation for Peace in Chile in Osorno to the Military Governor (Jefe de Plaza) and the Prefect of Carabineros of that city on January 21, 1974, the case of Reinaldo Huentequeo was included among other similar situations that occurred in the area.

Source: Corporation report

Eight police officers and the wife of one of them were prosecuted by a judge in Osorno for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping, homicide, and concealment committed after the military coup.

The eight prosecuted individuals, one officer and seven non-commissioned officers—all of whom are retired—remain in custody as a preventive measure in the facilities of a Carabineros barracks in Osorno.

The prosecution was ordered by Judge Raúl Ramírez, a magistrate with exclusive dedication to investigating human rights violation cases. Ramírez has now prosecuted Lieutenant Colonel Baros Muñoz and former non-commissioned officers Mario Cabello, Sergio Jaramillo, René Bórquez, and Orozimbo Sepúlveda, charged with the aggravated kidnapping of Francisco Martínez and Reinaldo Huentequeo, who were detained on October 6, 1973.

The previous Friday, he had decided to prosecute former non-commissioned officers Raúl Zapata and Carlos Ovando as perpetrators of the aggravated homicide of Communist militant Gilberto González de la Torre, an event that occurred in January 1974.

For the same crime, in the capacity of accessories after the fact, former non-commissioned officer Camilo Astete and Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Baros were prosecuted. These four police officers were also prosecuted for the aggravated kidnapping of brothers Eduardo and Alfredo Pacheco, and of Juan Mancilla, Teobaldo Paillacheo, Valentín Cárdenas, and Enrique González, all Communist militants opposed to Pinochet who were forcibly disappeared after being taken to the Pilmaiquén police station in October 1973.

Meanwhile, non-commissioned officer Astete and his wife, Elsa Vilugrón, were subjected to prosecution as alleged perpetrators of the aggravated kidnapping of Marcelino Cárdenas, who was detained on December 30, 1973, and sent to the same Pilmaiquén barracks in Osorno.

Source: La Nacion, January 16, 2004

Date: 01-16-2004