The Lautaro Brigade of the DINA was the extermination unit established by Manuel Contreras and directed by Army Major Juan Morales Salgado. This brigade operated from the clandestine barracks at Calle Simón Bolívar 8630.

The actions of this group of DINA agents known to date include the capture of the Communist Party leadership in 1976. The brigade operated with a contingent of more than 70 members, whose operational agents carried out information gathering, arrests, interrogations/torture, executions, and the disappearance of the detainees' bodies.

For these purposes, they had access to a large infrastructure; in addition to the barracks themselves, they had a varied number of vehicles at their disposal, as well as access to Puma helicopters from the Army Aviation Command (CAE) that operated from Peldehue.

The members of the Lautaro Brigade came from the four branches of the Armed Forces, in addition to having some civilian agents assigned to the various branches. Its composition was mostly non-commissioned officers.

The fact that there were at least seven agents from the Navy in this brigade makes it clear that the institution lied when it declared that the Navy had withdrawn all its personnel from the DINA in 1975.

Another characteristic of the Lautaro Brigade is that it had a large number of women, who, as has been discovered, were characterized by their coldness and cruelty in the face of these crimes. Several of them, due to their knowledge of medicine and nursing, cooperated in the experiments carried out in the chemical laboratory at Michael Townley's house in Lo Curro.

Townley constantly attended the Calle Simón Bolívar barracks to experiment on detainees with the gas manufactured by the chemist Eugenio Berríos. The information that has been recovered as of August 2007 appears following the investigation of the “Calle Conferencia” case carried out by Judge Víctor Montiglio, who has managed to establish the fate of a number of detainees from the Communist Party leadership, including the clandestine General Secretary of the PC, Víctor Manuel Díaz López, as well as Bernardo Araya Zuleta, María Olga Flores Barraza, Mario Zamorano Donoso, Onofre Jorge Muñoz Poutays, Uldarico Donaire Cortés, Jaime Patricio Donato Avendaño, Elisa Escobar Cepeda, Lenín Adán Díaz Silva, Eliana Espinoza Fernández, and Marta Lidia Ugarte Román. To date, it has been established that Víctor Manuel Díaz López was arrested in the early hours of May 12, 1976, at the house located at Calle Bello Horizonte No. 979, in the Las Condes district, days after the arrest of several PC leaders detained in the operation known as the “Ratonera” at Calle Conferencia No. 1587. Víctor Díaz was taken to the Villa Grimaldi torture center and subsequently transferred to “Casa de Piedra,” another DINA torture center located in the Cajón del Maipo, a place where it is known that Augusto Pinochet visited Víctor Díaz and other PC leaders detained there. At the beginning of 1977, Manuel Contreras gave the order to Juan Morales Salgado to eliminate Víctor Díaz, and in compliance with that order, agents Sergio Escalona Acuña and Bernardo Daza Navarro took Díaz out of a cell and tied a plastic bag over his head, suffocating him, while the Army lieutenant (nurse) Gladys de las Mercedes Calderón Carreño injected him with cyanide. Subsequently, they proceeded to place the body in plastic bags, tie it up, attach a piece of rail to it, and place it in potato sacks, then tie it with wire to ensure the bindings would not open. The body was transported in vehicles to the Army regiment in Peldehue, where they had other executed victims brought from Villa Grimaldi and tied in the same way as Víctor Díaz. They loaded the bodies into the Army Aviation Command's Puma helicopter and set off toward the coast of the Fifth Region to throw the bodies into the sea. This mode of operation by the Lautaro Brigade agents demonstrates the brutality and dehumanization of all its members. Below is the list of some of the Lautaro Brigade agents. 1 Acevedo Acevedo, Heriberto del Carmen - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 2 Ahumada Despouy, Joyce Ana - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 3 Altamirano Sanhueza, Orlando del Tránsito - Navy - Sub-officer (Ret.) 4 Alvarez Droguett, Victor Manuel - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 5 Alvarez Vega, Hiro - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 6 Arriagada Mora, Jorge Hugo - FACH - Civilian employee (Ret.) 7 Aspe Rojas, Celinda Angélica - Navy - Sub-officer (Ret.) 8 Benavides Escobar, César Raúl - Army - General (Ret.) 9 Bermúdez Méndez, Carlos Justo - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 10 Bitterlich Jaramillo, Pedro Segundo - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 11 Cabezas Mardones, Eduardo Patricio - FACH - Sub-officer (Ret.) 12 Calderón Carreño, Gladys de las Mercedes - Army - Officer (Ret.) and nurse 13 Castro Andrade, Sergio Hernán - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 14 Chaigneau Sepúlveda, Federico Humberto - Army - Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) 15 Daza Navarro, Bernardo del Rosario - Navy - Sub-officer (Ret.) 16 Díaz Radulovich, Jorge Iván - FACH - Sub-officer (Ret.) 17 Díaz Ramírez, Guillermo Eduardo - FACH - Sub-officer (Ret.) 18 Escalona Acuña, Sergio Orlando - Navy - Sub-officer (Ret.) 19 Escobar Fuentes, Jorge Marcelo - Army - Brigadier (Ret.) 20 Ferrán Martínez, Guillermo Jesús - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 21 Garea Guzmán, Eduardo - Army - Civilian employee (Ret.) 22 Guerrero Aguilera, Gustavo Enrique - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 23 Guerrero Soto, María Angélica - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 24 Gutiérrez Valdés, Pedro Antonio - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 25 Jaime Astorga, Rufino Eduardo - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 26 Jímenez Escobar, Berta Yolanda - Navy - Sub-officer (Ret.) 27 Krassnoff Martchenko, Miguel - Army - Brigadier (Ret.) 28 Lagos Yañez, Luis Alberto - FACH - Civilian employee (Ret.) 29 Lawrence Mires, Ricardo Víctor - Carabineros - Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) 30 López Tapia, Carlos José - Army - Colonel (Ret.) and Army Prof. 31 Magna Astudillo, Elisa del Carmen - Army - Officer (Ret.) 32 Manríquez Manterola, Jorge Lientur - Navy - Sub-officer (Ret.) 33 Marcos Muñoz, Carlos Segundo - Civilian - assigned to the Army 34 Meza Serrano, José Miguel - Navy - Sub-officer (Ret.) 35 Montre Méndez, Manuel Antonio - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 36 Morales Salgado, Juan Hernán - Army - Colonel (Ret.) and Army Prof. 37 Navarro Navarro, Teresa del Carmen - Navy - Sub-officer (Ret.) 38 Obreque Henríquez, Manuel Jesús - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 39 Ojeda Obando, José Alfonso - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 40 Orellana de la Pinta, Claudio Orlando - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 41 Oyarce Riquelme, Eduardo Alejandro - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 42 Pacheco Fernández, Claudio Enrique - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 43 Pichunmán Curiqueo, Jorge Segundo - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 44 Piña Garrido, Juvenal Alfonso - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 45 Reyes Lagos, Eduardo Antonio - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 46 Rinaldi Suárez, Carlos Ramón - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 47 Rivas González, Adriana Elcira - FACH - Sub-officer (Ret.) 48 Riveros Valderrama, René Miguel - Army - Officer (Ret.) 49 Saavedra Vásquez, Orfa Yolanda - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 50 Sagardía Monje, Jorge Laureano - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 51 Sarmiento Sotelo, José Manuel - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 52 Silva Vergara, Marilin Melahani - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 53 Sovino Maturana, Hernán Luis - Army - Captain (Ret.) 54 Torrejón Gatica, Orlando Jesús - Army - Sub-officer (Ret.) 55 Troncoso Vivallos, Emilio Hernán - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 56 Urrutia Acuña, Luis Arturo - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 57 Vacarella Gilio, Italia Donata - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 58 Valdebenito Araya, Héctor Manuel - Carabineros - Sub-officer (Ret.) 59 Vilches Muñoz, Ana del Carmen - FACH - Civilian employee (Ret.)

Source: lanacion.cl, 2007

Significant errors of rigor are committed in the latest edition (No. 210) of the Digital Condensed Newspaper Chile Informa, a 20-page bulletin whose main concern is the situation of "Soldiers who are political prisoners in democracy." One of the topics in the October issue is the case of Carabineros Sergeant (Ret.) Rufino Jaime Astorga (82), who was recently detained for 77 days by order of Minister Alejandro Solís, who is investigating the aggravated kidnapping of 13 communist militants in 1976.

According to Chile Informa, this is actually a "revenge" by Minister Solís since "we said and it is known that he is a MIRista," and it happens that Rufino Jaime was one of the uniformed officers who, on October 5, 1974, arrived at the house on Calle Santa Fe, in San Miguel, and engaged in a shootout with the MIRistas, among them Miguel Enríquez (pictured), who were hiding there.

Chile (des) Informa points out that: "In that shootout, Enríquez fell. His lover, surnamed Gumucio, was also at the scene. She was in an advanced state of pregnancy and was taken from there to the Military Hospital.

Shortly after, the person who is now running for President of the Republic would be born. The woman and her son later left for exile, to France, where she would join, in a non-marital relationship, another MIRista, Carlos Ominami." Only for the sake of being rigorous, we must point out that Marco Antonio Enríquez-Ominami was born in Concepción on July 16, 1973, the product of a short romantic relationship between Miguel Enríquez and Manuela Gumucio.

The pregnant woman who was at the house on Calle Santa Fe in October 1974 was Carmen Castillo, and the baby died due to the wounds suffered by its mother.

Source: La Nación, October 2, 2009

Operation Condor is the name assigned to the coordination between the repressive services of the military dictatorships of Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia in the 1970s. They constituted an international clandestine gang for the practice of state terrorism through the kidnapping, murder, and disappearance of political leaders and social activists.

There are more than 70 Chileans who were kidnapped or murdered while in Argentina. Ten days after the coup d'état in Argentina, April 3 marks 40 years since the kidnapping in Mendoza of three young men: Luis Muñoz Velásquez, former president of the Student Center of the Liceo Consolidada in Puente Alto in 1968; candidate for Councilman and leader of the PS in San Bernardo, clandestine leader of the PS Consensus Commission sector since the 1973 coup.

Juan Hernández Zaspe, president of the Federation of Industrial and Technical Students of Chile (FEITECh), who was a militant in the clandestine PS Consensus Commission sector. Manuel Tamayo Martínez, former leader of industrial students, student of sociology and engineering at the University of Concepción, who was a militant in the clandestine PS as a liaison for national leader Ricardo Lagos Salinas.

They worked for a transformative social political project in the clandestine reorganization of Chilean socialism and did not renounce their convictions. The DINA, under the command of Lieutenant Fernando Laureani Maturana, and the Argentine Federal Police kidnapped the three young men on Av.

Belgrano, Mendoza, according to eyewitnesses José Cerda and Alex Muñoz. The kidnappers took them to the Maipo regiment in Mendoza to begin a long road of unspeakable hardships; at night, they transported them to Chile through the Los Libertadores border pass in a covered pickup truck and handed them over to the Cuatro Álamos torture camp.

The next morning, they were transferred to the Villa Grimaldi torture and extermination center, where they remained until the end of April 1976; the former surviving prisoner Juan Feres was a witness at Villa Grimaldi.

For 40 years, their families have demanded truth and justice against impunity, opposing oblivion and silence. They have filed writs of amparo, participated in hunger strikes, and made denunciations to the International Red Cross, the United Nations, and the Vicariate of Solidarity, and have held commemorative acts in the month of April.

TRIAL IN ARGENTINA

The Prosecutor General, Pablo Ouviña, in the oral and public debate on the international illicit association for the elimination of leftist militants implemented by the dictatorships in the 70s. The trial, which began in 2013, involves 18 former Argentine generals and colonels and one Uruguayan being judged for Operation Condor.

The Prosecutor stated that two DINA networks operated, one in Buenos Aires and the other in Mendoza. In 1977, the organization was dissolved, and its personnel and resources were transferred to the CNI. 25 Chilean victims are part of the first case in Argentina: Manuel Tamayo Martínez, Luis Muñoz Velázquez, Juan Hernández Zaspe, Edgardo Enríquez Espinoza, Ángel Athanasiú Jara, Pablo Athanasiú Laschan, Frida Laschan Mellado, Miguel Orellana Castro, María Magnet Ferrero, Luis Elgueta Díaz, Patricio Biedma, Jesús Cejas Arias, Crescencio Galañena Hernández, Carmen Delard Cabezas, José Appel de la Cruz, Gloria Delard Cabezas, Oscar Urra Ferrarese, Susana Ossola de Urra, Rafael Ferrara, Luis Zaragoza Olivares, Alexei Jaccard Siegler, Cristina Carreño Araya, Luis Espinoza González, Carlos Rojas Campos, and José De la Maza Asquet.

TRIAL IN CHILE

The minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Mario Carroza, decreed the closure of the investigation of the Operation Condor case (first stage) for the aggravated kidnappings of Luis Gonzalo Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernández Zaspe, Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez, Julio del Tránsito Valladares Caroca (the four socialists), Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones, Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler (both communists), and Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón (of the MIR).

Likewise, also for the aggravated homicides of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Ruiter Enrique Correa Arce, and Hernán Soto Gálvez (the three communists) and the married couple Matilde Pessa Mois and Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik. The resolution concludes that 53 DINA hitmen are being prosecuted, and the magistrate ordered the Legal Medical Service to carry out examinations of their mental faculties.

JUDICIAL RESOLUTION

(case file 2182-1998) prosecutes the DINA genocidaires: Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Carlos Eusebio López Inostroza, Carlos José Leonardo López, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Cristoph Willeke Floel, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, Eduardo Alejandro Oyarce Riquelme, Eduardo Antonio Reyes Lagos, Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez, Federico Humberto Chaigneau Sepúlveda, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Gladys de las Mercedes Calderón Carreño, Guillermo Jesús Ferrán Martínez, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Héctor Wacinton Briones Burgos, Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo, Herman Eduardo Ávalos Muñoz, Herman Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Hernán Luis Sovino Maturana, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, Jorge Andrade Gómez, Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, Jorge Marcelo Escobar Fuentes, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, José Domingo Seco Alarcón, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Germán Ampuero Ulloa, José Javier Soto Torres, José Mario Friz Esparza, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Juan Hernán Morales Salgado, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Lionel de la Cruz Medrano Rivas, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Rivas Díaz, María Gabriela Órdenes Montecinos, Miguel René Riveros Valderrama, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Orlando José Manzo Durán, Óscar Belarmino la Flor Flores, Osvaldo Enrique Pulgar Gallardo, Pedro Mora Villanueva, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Rufino Eduardo Jaime Astorga, Silvio Antonio Concha González, and Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro.

Source: elclarin, April 1, 2015

Among the accused, all retired, are eight colonels and 23 Army non-commissioned officers, 40 Carabineros officers and non-commissioned officers, two former FACH agents, one former Navy agent, and seven former Investigative Police agents.

The biggest blow to the repression of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship was dealt yesterday by Minister Víctor Montiglio, by prosecuting 98 former agents from different branches of the Armed Forces, Carabineros, and the Investigative Police for 42 victims of Operation Colombo.

This is the most numerous resolution issued among the nearly 400 human rights violation cases being investigated in the country. It even surpassed the 67 former agents prosecuted by the same Judge Montiglio in 2007 for the crimes of the Lautaro Brigade and its Delfín Group at the Simón Bolívar barracks.

Among those accused for Colombo are eight Army colonels (Ret.), six of whom had not been prosecuted before in any case. Also declared defendants were 23 Army non-commissioned officers (Ret.), of whom at least 50 percent appear for the first time in such cases.

Among these non-commissioned officers is Juvenal Piña, alias "El Elefante," a former agent of the Lautaro Brigade, who was the one who suffocated the clandestine communist leader (1976) Víctor Díaz with a plastic bag over his head, before he was injected with cyanide.

In addition, the magistrate prosecuted 40 former Carabineros officers and non-commissioned officers, among whom are Ricardo Lawrence, Heriberto Acevedo, Claudio Pacheco, and José Mora, all former members of the same Brigade.

Among those prosecuted are also former agents who belonged to the Investigative Police. The only civilian (Army) is Juan Suárez. Of the total list, at least thirteen are already serving sentences for other cases (see list).

Until the closing of this edition, the accused continued to be detained to be interned in different places, such as the Peñalolén Military Police Battalion. Among the 42 victims for whom the minister issued his resolution are María Angélica Andreolli, Miguel Acuña Castillo, Juan Carlos Perelmann Ide, Juan Chacón Olivares, Jorge Müller Silva, Luis Guendelmann Wisniak, Mario Calderón Tapia, and Carmen Bueno Cifuentes.

Operation Colombo and the media The list of the 119 was published in the magazine Lea (Buenos Aires) and the newspaper O Dia (Brazil) in 1975, information that was also false. Both publications were created by DINA agents.

Operation Colombo was part of Operation Condor and consisted of a setup by the dictatorship to make the population believe that 119 detainees who were missing had clandestinely left for Argentina and died there in clashes with police and Army forces during the phase prior to the 1976 military coup in Argentina.

Some of those names appeared as militants "murdered" in Buenos Aires and its surroundings, with signs on their bodies saying they had been executed by their own comrades due to settling scores for internal disputes.

However, this also turned out to be a setup. The list of the 119 was published in the magazine Lea (Buenos Aires) and the newspaper O Dia (Brazil) in 1975, information that was also false. Both publications were created by DINA agents abroad and had only one edition.

In Chile, the pro-dictatorship press such as the newspapers El Mercurio, La Tercera, Las Ultimas Noticias, and La Segunda reproduced the intelligence services' setup. The headline of the evening paper that reported "Exterminated like rats: 59 Chilean MIRistas fall in military operation in Argentina" remains in memory.

They were part of the list of the 119 disappeared of Colombo. The former fugitive Raúl Iturriaga, who was one of those in charge of the DINA's foreign department, was the one who first gave light in Buenos Aires to this operation.

According to the former civilian agent Enrique Arancibia Clavel, convicted in Buenos Aires for the crime of General Carlos Prats and his wife, it was Iturriaga who met with him at the beginning of 1975 to ask him to prepare what was necessary because "we have to make some dead bodies appear for Operation Colombo." It was about preparing the appearance of the supposed bodies of Jaime Robotham and Luis Guendelmann as part of the setup.

List of prosecuted

Army (all retired)

Víctor Molina Astete (colonel); Sergio Castillo González (col); Eduardo Guerra Guajardo (col); Víctor San Martín Jiménez (col); José Fuentes Torres (col); Manuel Carevic Cubillos (col); Jaime Paris Ramos (col); César Manríquez Bravo (col); Raúl Toro Montes (non-commissioned officer); Eduardo Reyes Lagos (nco); Orlando Torrejón Gatica (nco); Osvaldo Tapia Alvarez (nco.

Committed suicide); Juvenal Piña Garrido (nco. “El Elefante”); Juan Suárez Delgado (civilian); Nelson Paz Bustamante (nco); José Aravena Ruiz (nco); Luis Torres Méndez (nco); Raúl Soto Pérez (nco); Jorge Andrade Gómez (nco); Juan Escobar Valenzuela (nco); Rolando Concha Rodríguez (nco); Gustavo Apablaza Meneses (nco); Hiro Alvarez Vega (nco); Víctor Alvarez Droguett (nco); Jorge Venegas Silva (nco); Carlos Rinaldi Suazo (nco); Carlos Letelier Verdugo (nco), Reinaldo Concha Orellana (nco); Máximo Aliaga Soto (nco); Hugo Clavería Leiva (nco); Samuel Fuenzalida Devia (nco) Investigative Police Juan Urbina Cáceres; Hugo Hernández; Manuel Rivas Díaz; Herman Alfaro; Eugenio Fieldhouse; Osvaldo Castillo Carabineros (officers and non-commissioned officers all retired) Gerardo Godoy García; Ciro Torres Sáez, Alejandro Molina Cisternas; Camilo Torres Negrier; Héctor Lira Aravena; José Fritz Esparza; Claudio Pacheco Fernández; Jorge Sagardia Monge; Sergio Castro Andrade; Luis Villarroel Gutiérrez; Armando Cofré Gómez; Fernando Roa Montaña; Gerardo Meza Acuña; Enrique Gutiérrez Rubilar; Luis Mora Cerda; José Muñoz Leal; Juan Duarte Gallegos; Carlos Miranda Meza; Rufino Jaime Astorga; Luis Urrutia Acuña; Luis Zúñiga Ovalle; Pedro Alfaro Hernández; Orlando Inostroza Lagos; Rosa Ramos Hernández; Gustavo Caruvan Soto; Héctor Valdebenito Araya; Manuel Avendaño González; José Mora Diocares; Guido Jara Brevis; Nelson Ortiz Vignolo; Ruderlindo Urrutia Jorquera; Héctor Flores Vergara; Jerónimo Neira Méndez; Manuel Montré Méndez, Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo; Claudio Orerllana de la Pinta; Nelson Iturriaga Cortés; Luis Gutiérrez Uribe; José Ojeda Obando Air Force Delia Gajardo Cortés; Hernán Avalos Muñoz Navy Teresa Navarro Osorio; Prosecuted who are already serving sentences Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda; Pedro Espinoza Bravo; Raúl Iturriaga Neumann; Marcelo Moren Brito; Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko; Ricardo Lawrence Mires; Basclay Zapata Reyes; Conrado Pacheco; Francisco Ferrer Lima; Gerardo Urrich; Orlando Manzo Durán; Rizier Altez España; Fernando Lauriani Maturana

Source: La Nación, May 27, 2008

Villa Grimaldi Case: Minister Solís prosecutes 21 former uniformed officers for kidnappings

Ximena Pérez G. The DINA leadership and other former agents of the organization were prosecuted yesterday by the visiting minister Alejandro Solís for the aggravated kidnapping of 13 communist militants, including doctors Iván Insunza Bascuñán and Carlos Godoy Lagarrigue.

Heading the list of 21 accused is the former head of the DINA, General (Ret.) Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, prosecuted as the author of the aggravated kidnappings along with Carlos López Tapia, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Juan Morales Salgado, Eugenio Fieldehouse Chávez, Marcelo Moren Brito, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Orlando Manzo Durán, Ciro Torré Sáez, and Claudio Andrade Gómez.

As accomplices to six of the kidnappings, Gladys Calderón Carreño, Rufino Jaime Astorga, José Friz Esparza, Hermon Alfaro Mundana, Orlando Inostroza Lagos, Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo, Claudio Pacheco Fernández, and Eduardo Reyes Lagos were accused.

Meanwhile, visiting minister Joaquín Billard ordered the entry into Punta Peuco of former Army officers Fernando Polanco Gallardo and Luis Fernández Monjes, sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison for the aggravated homicides of Bernardo Lejderman and María del Rosario Ávalos, which occurred on December 8, 1973, in the Elqui Valley.

The magistrate issued an arrest warrant against the third convicted person, Army non-commissioned officer (Ret.) Héctor Vallejos Birtiola, who did not attend the summons of the high court.

Source: El Mercurio, July 16, 2009

Minister Alejandro Solís issues prosecution in the case of the aggravated homicide of Ana María Puga Rojas and Alejandro de la Barra (executed)

The judge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Alejandro Solís, issued an indictment against five people responsible, as authors and accomplice, for the crime of aggravated homicide of Ana María Puga and Alejandro de la Barra.

According to the information in the case, on December 3, 1974, in the afternoon, while Ana María Puga, an actress and teacher, and Alejandro de la Barra, a political scientist, both MIR militants, were in their car to pick up their one-year-and-four-month-old son from the "Los Muñecos" Kindergarten, located at Calle Andacollo No. 1620 in the Providencia district, they were intercepted at the intersection of that street with Avenida Francisco Bilbao by a group of people traveling in a car, who fired at the couple, both dying as a result.

Subsequently, the bodies of Ana María Puga Rojas and Alejandro de la Barra Villarroel were taken to the facility known as “Villa Grimaldi” or “Cuartel Terranova,” located on Avenida José Arrieta, and later, their remains were transferred to the Legal Medical Service, an organization that, after performing the respective autopsies, handed them over to their families.

Days before this event, DINA personnel had gone to the aforementioned Kindergarten to make inquiries about the couple's son.

Those prosecuted by Minister Solís are

1.- JUAN MANUEL GUILLERMO CONTRERAS SEPÚLVEDA (author) 2.- MARCELO MOREN BRITO (author) 3.- RICARDO LAWRENCE MIRES (author) 4.- MIGUEL KRASSNOFF MARTCHENKO (author) 5.- EDUARDO RUFINO JAIME ASTORGA (accomplice) “Because the provisional release of the accused Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda, Marcelo Moren Brito, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Eduardo Rufino Jaime Astorga is dangerous to the security of society, their release will not be granted in accordance with what is established in the 3rd paragraph of article 363 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, given the manner and circumstances of the commission of the crime and the severity of the penalty assigned to it. Issue the respective entry orders for the accused, with Ricardo Lawrence Mires and Eduardo Rufino Jaime Astorga having to enter the Marchant Pereira detention facility of the Carabineros de Chile; the accused Marcelo Moren Brito and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko in the CCP Cordillera, as well as Juan Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, once the latter is discharged from the Military Hospital,” states the resolution issued by Minister Solís.

Source: AFEP, November 17, 2009

Justice system issued new prosecutions against Manuel Contreras for human rights violations

40 years after the Coup d'État, Minister Leopoldo Llanos also indicted Carlos López, Pedro Espinoza, among others, as authors of the aggravated kidnappings of Juan Villarroel Zárate and Clara Canteros Torres and the aggravated homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado, which occurred in 1976.

The visiting minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos, prosecuted former agents of the former National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for the aggravated kidnappings of Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate and Clara Canteros Torres and the aggravated homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado, which occurred in July and August 1976.

The magistrate indicted as authors Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda; Carlos López Tapia; Pedro Espinoza Bravo; Juan Morales Salgado; Marcelo Moren Brito; Rolf Wenderoth Pozo; Eugenio Fieldehouse Chávez; Ricardo Lawrence Mires, and Jorge Andrade Gómez.

And as accomplices, Gladys Calderón Carreño; Rufino Jaime Astorga; José Friz Esparza; Hermon Alfaro Mundaca; Orlando Inostroza Lagos; Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo; Claudio Pacheco Fernández; Eduardo Reyes Lagos; Orlando Torrejón Gatica; Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza, and Carlos López Inostroza.

According to the investigation, Juan Villarroel Zárate was a forcibly disappeared person near the Mapocho station on August 13, 1976. Meanwhile, Clara Carrasco Torres and her uncle Eduardo Canteros Prado were arrested in La Florida on July 23, 1976.

Canteros' remains were identified among the victims who were illegally buried on an Army property located in the Las Tórtolas sector, Colina, on July 3rd, remains that were found in 1990.

Source: El Mercurio, August 30, 2013

Justice is served: Massive prosecution issued against Manuel Contreras and 29 former DINA agents

On the so-called International Day of the Disappeared, Llanos issued this massive prosecution for the disappearance of communist militants Juan Villarroel Zárate and Clara Canteros Torres, an event that occurred between July and August 1976, in addition to the execution of the also communist Eduardo Canteros Prado.

The visiting minister Leopoldo Llanos issued the prosecution of the former head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Manuel Contreras, and a score of former agents of the secret police of dictator Augusto Pinochet for crimes committed in 1976.

On the so-called International Day of the Disappeared, Llanos issued this massive prosecution for the disappearance of communist militants Juan Villarroel Zárate and Clara Canteros Torres, an event that occurred between July and August 1976, in addition to the execution of the also communist Eduardo Canteros Prado, who was murdered the same year in the center of Santiago, reports Radio Cooperativa.

The magistrate thus indicted as authors of the crimes of aggravated homicide and aggravated kidnapping Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, Carlos López Tapia, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Juan Morales Salgado, Marcelo Moren Brito, Rolf Wenderoth Pozo, Eugenio Fieldehouse Chávez, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, and Jorge Andrade Gómez.

Meanwhile, as accomplices, Gladys Calderón Carreño, Rufino Jaime Astorga, José Friz Esparza, Hermon Alfaro Mundaca, Orlando Inostroza Lagos, Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo, Claudio Pacheco Fernández, Eduardo Reyes Lagos, Orlando Torrejón Gatica, Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza, and Carlos López Inostroza were accused.

According to the investigation, Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate was arrested on August 13, 1976, in the vicinity of the Mapocho station. “From that date, his trail was lost. Meanwhile, Clara Carrasco Torres and her uncle Eduardo Canteros Prado were arrested on July 23, 1976, on Calle Panamá, in the La Florida district.

From that day, their trail was lost,” indicated the Judiciary. The remains of Eduardo Canteros Prado were identified on July 3rd by the Legal Medical Service (SML) among the victims who were illegally buried on an Army property located in the Las Tórtolas sector, Colina district, remains that were found in 1990.

Contreras has been serving sentences since 2005 totaling around 100 years for his crimes committed during the dictatorship.

Source: Cambio21.cl, August 30, 2013

“Calle Conferencia” Case: Judge Vázquez issued accusations against 79 former DINA agents

The Minister of the Court of Appeals, Miguel Vázquez, who is investigating the “Calle Conferencia” case, issued an indictment against 79 former DINA agents for the disappearance of 7 members of the Communist Party between May 1976 and January 1977, a list that includes Manuel Contreras, Pedro Espinoza, and Miguel Krassnoff.

The victims of the repressors correspond to the first political commission that the PC organized in clandestinity during the dictatorship: Mario Zamorano Donoso, Jorge Muñoz Poutays, Uldarico Donaire Cortés, Jaime Donato Avendaño, Elisa Escobar Zepeda, Lenin Díaz Silva, and Eliana Espinoza Fernández; and for the qualified homicide of Víctor Díaz López.

Vázquez’s resolution, which continued the investigations of judges Juan Guzmán and Víctor Montiglio, constitutes one of the final actions prior to the first-instance verdict for the qualified kidnappings.

According to Cooperativa, the list of the 79 accused is as follows: 01. Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda 02. Pedro Espinoza Bravo 03. Carlos López Tapia 04. Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko 05. Ricardo Lawrence Mires 06.

Jorge Madariaga Acevedo 07. Eugenio Fieldhouse Chávez 08. José Fuentealba Saldías 09. Hugo Clavería Leiva 10. José Soto Torres 11. Raúl Soto Pérez 12. Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela 13. Jerónimo Neira Méndez 14.

Héctor Briones Burgos. 15. Pedro Mora Villanueva. 16. Roberto Rodríguez Manquel. 17. Leonidas Méndez Moreno. 18. Jorge Andrade Gómez. 19. Nelson Herrera Lagos. 20. Juan Morales Salgado. 21. Jorge Sagardía Monje. 22.

Héctor Valdebenito Araya. 23. Federico Chaigneau Sepúlveda. 24. Bernardo Daza Navarro 25. Sergio Escalona Acuña 26. Guillermo Ferrán Martínez 27. Gladys Calderón Carreño 28. Elisa Magna Astudillo 29. Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo 30.

Emilio Troncoso Vivallos 31. Claudio Pacheco Fernández 32. Jorge Díaz Radulovich 33. Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza 34. Eduardo Cabezas Mardones 35. Jorge Escobar Fuentes 36. René Riveros Valderrama 37. Jorge Pichunmán Curiqueo 38.

Orfa Saavedra Vásquez 39. Celinda Aspe Rojas 40. Teresa Navarro Navarro 41. Berta Jiménez Escobar 42. Adriana Rivas González 43. Jorge Arriagada Mora 44. Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo 45. Eduardo Oyarce Riquelme 46.

Guillermo Díaz Ramírez 47. Ana Vilches Muñoz 48. Italia Vacarella Gilio 49. Jorge Manríquez Manterola. 50. Orlando Torrejón Gatica 51. José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo 52. Manuel Obreque Henríquez 53. Gustavo Guerrero Aguilera 54.

Eduardo Garea Guzmán 55. Juvenal Piña Garrido 56. Rufino Jaime Astorga 57. Luis Lagos Yáñez 58. María Angélica Guerrero Soto 59. Sergio Castro Andrade 60. Manuel Montre Méndez 61. Pedro Gutiérrez Valdés 62.

Claudio Orellana de la Pinta 63. Joyce Ahumada Despouy 64. Hiro Álvarez Vega 65. José Miguel Meza Serrano 66. José Ojeda Obando 67. Carlos Bermúdez Méndez 68. Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett 69. Eduardo Reyes Lagos 70.

Marilin Silva Vergara 71. Hernán Sovino Maturana 72. José Friz Esparza 73. Carlos Miranda Mesa 74. Camilo Negrier 75. Orlando Inostroza Lagos 76. Carlos López Inostroza 77. José Seco Alarcón 78. Lionel Medrano Rivas 79. Juan Suazo Saldaña

Source: The Clinic, October 22, 2013

Six former DINA agents accused of crimes during the dictatorship acquitted

Court of Appeals acquits six former DINA agents and reduces sentences for 11 others accused of kidnapping and homicide in 1976. The Eighth Chamber of the Court of Appeals acquitted four former DINA agents and reduced the sentences of 13 others, who were granted the substitute penalty of intensive supervised release for a period of five years. “If such substitution is revoked, they must serve the initially imposed sentences,” the ruling clarifies.

The crimes were committed in 1976, and today, after decades, three ministers of the appellate court sealed, in the first instance, the fate of the 17 former agents linked to the kidnapping and murder of an equal number of people.

The Santiago Court of Appeals reported that on Friday, April 9, the special minister Leopoldo Llanos issued a final first-instance verdict and acquitted six former DINA agents accused as perpetrators and accomplices of the crimes of qualified kidnapping and qualified homicide that occurred during the dictatorship in 1976.

These are Juan Morales Salgado, perpetrator of the crimes of qualified kidnapping of Nalvia Mena Alvarado, Clara Canteros Torres, Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate, and the qualified homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado.

Ciro Torres Sáez and Orlando Manzo Durán, accused as perpetrators of the crimes of qualified kidnapping of Manuel Segundo Recabarren Rojas, Alejandro Rodríguez Urzúa, and José Eduardo Santander Miranda. (Orlando José Manzo Durán passed away on July 8, 2019, and no corresponding resolution has yet been issued regarding him).

And Jorge Andrade Gómez, accused of being the perpetrator of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Daniel Palma Robledo. In addition, Gladys Calderón Carreño, an accomplice to the crimes of kidnapping and homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado, was also acquitted.

And Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, also an accomplice to the crime of kidnapping, but of Daniel Palma Robledo. The Court of Appeals also decided to sentence 11 other former agents to various prison terms, granting them the substitute penalty of supervised release, for being perpetrators of repeated crimes of qualified kidnapping and multiple homicides.

Likewise, the Court of Appeals noted that Minister Llanos accepted 37 civil lawsuits for amounts ranging from $50,000 to $100,000,000. The ruling adds that various cassation and appeal motions were filed against these sentences.

However, the Court declared that all cassation motions filed by the defense of the convicted individuals Claudio Pacheco Fernández and Gustavo Guerrero Aguilera were rejected. Reduction of sentences The Eighth Chamber of the court, presided over by Minister Juan Cristóbal Mera and composed of Minister Mireya López and attorney Cristián Lepín, indicated that the sentence imposed on Ricardo Lawrence Mires as a perpetrator of the crimes of qualified kidnapping is reduced to three years and one day of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree, absolute perpetual disqualification for political rights, absolute disqualification for public offices and positions during the time of the sentence, and payment of the costs of the case. The same applies to Jorge Andrade Gómez, Juan Morales Salgado, Ciro Torré Sáez, Sergio Orlando Escalona, and Gladys Calderón Carreño, all as perpetrators of the crimes of qualified kidnapping. The Court reported that, meeting the legal requirements, each of the convicted individuals is granted the substitute penalty of intensive supervised release for a period of five years, and they must also comply with the requirements of Article 17 of Law 18.216. “If such substitution is revoked, they must serve the initially imposed sentences, which will be counted from the time they present themselves or are apprehended, with credit given for the time they were deprived of liberty, as referred to in the ruling under review,” the ruling specifies. Finally, it is noted that the definitive and partial dismissals decreed due to the death of Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos, Eduardo Antonio Reyes Lagos, Rufino Eduardo Jaime Astorga, Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda, Marcelo Luis Morén Brito, Bernardo del Rosario Daza Navarro, Guillermo Jesús Ferrán Martínez, Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez, and José Mario Friz Esparza, respectively, are approved.

Source: nodal.am, April 12, 2020

41 DINA agents convicted for kidnapping in Operation Colombo

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, issued a first-instance verdict against 41 agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the qualified kidnapping of Rubén David Arroyo Padilla, an illicit act perpetrated starting on November 25, 1975, as a victim of the so-called “Operation Colombo.” In the resolution, Minister Crisosto sentenced the following DINA agents to 13 years in prison as perpetrators of the crime: Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda, César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Marcelo Luis Manuel Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann. Meanwhile, he applied 10-year prison sentences, also as perpetrators, to the agents: Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Rufino Eduardo Jaime Astorga, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Juan Angel Urbina Cáceres, Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, and Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno. Likewise, agent Samuel Fuenzalida Devia received a sentence, as a perpetrator, of 541 days of suspended prison. Meanwhile, as accomplices, Minister Crisosto Greisse sentenced the following agents to 4 years in prison, without benefits: Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez, José Jaime Friz Esparza, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Reinaldo Concha Orellana, Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Miguel Ángel Yáñez Ugalde, and Héctor Carlos Díaz. In the case, the magistrate acquitted the former agents: Orlando Manzo Durán, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Alejandro Francisco Molina Cisternas, Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, Alfonso Humberto Quiroz Quintana, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Juan Ignacio Suárez Delgado, Carlos Enrique Letelier Verdugo, Herman Eduardo Ávalos Muñoz, Raúl Bernardo Toro Montes, and Víctor Abraham González Salazar. During the investigation stage, Minister Crisosto managed to determine the following sequence of events: -That on the morning of November 25, 1974, while Rubén David Arroyo Padilla, a militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was heading from his home, located at Calle Santo Domingo N° 3726, Santiago commune, to his workplace, located at Calle Lira N° 580, in the same commune, he was detained on a public street by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who transported him to the clandestine detention center called “Villa Grimaldi,” located at Lo Arrieta N° 8200, in the commune of La Reina, which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; -That the victim Arroyo Padilla, during his stay at the Villa Grimaldi barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization; -That the last time the victim Arroyo Padilla was seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in the month of December 1974, and to date, there is no information regarding his whereabouts; -That the name of Rubén David Arroyo Padilla appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press, after it appeared on a list published in the Argentine magazine “LEA,” dated July 15, 1975, which reported that Rubén David Arroyo Padilla had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among those members, and -That the publications that declared the victim Arroyo Padilla dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.

Source: elclarin.cl, May 5, 2015

Former DINA agents prosecuted for the kidnapping of Nalvia Mena Alvarado

The Court of Appeals prosecuted a new kidnapping case that occurred during the military dictatorship. DINA agents were prosecuted by Minister Sergio Llanos for the disappearance of Nalvia Mena Alvarado, who disappeared in 1976.

The Santiago Court of Appeals issued an indictment in the case of the qualified kidnapping of Nalvia Mena Alvarado, which occurred in April 1976. Minister Leopoldo Llanos confirmed the prosecution for authorship of the crime against former National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) agents Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, Carlos López Tapia, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Juan Morales Salgado, Marcelo Moren Brito, Rolf Wenderoth Pozo, Eugenio Fieldhouse Chavez, and Jorge Andrade Gómez.

Meanwhile, as accomplices, the following agents were prosecuted: Gladys Calderón Carreño, Rufino Jaime Astorga, José Friz Esparza, Hernán Alfaro Mundaca, Orlando Inostroza Lagos, Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo, Claudio Pacheco Fernández, Eduardo Reyes Lagos, Orlando Torrejón Gatica, Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza, and Carlos López Inostroza. “The consequence of this detention is that they are in the status of disappeared, since, being deprived of liberty, they have not made contact with their relatives, nor have they carried out administrative procedures before State or private organizations, nor are there any records of entry or exit from the country, and their death has not been confirmed,” explains the judicial document that reviews the abuses committed in the “Villa Grimaldi” and Simón Bolívar torture houses.

Source: radiouchile.cl, September 12, 2014

Operation Colombo: 41 DINA agents in prison for the kidnapping and disappearance of Rubén Arroyo Padilla

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, issued a first-instance verdict against 41 agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the qualified kidnapping of Rubén David Arroyo Padilla, an illicit act perpetrated starting on November 25, 1975, as a victim of the so-called “Operation Colombo.” Almost simultaneously with the previous sentence, Minister Miguel Vázquez indicted Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda for his responsibility in the homicide of José Troncoso Aguirre and six other kidnappings. In the resolution, Minister Crisosto sentenced the following DINA agents to 13 years in prison as perpetrators of the crime: Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda, César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Marcelo Luis Manuel Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann. Meanwhile, he applied 10-year prison sentences, also as perpetrators, to the agents: Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Rufino Eduardo Jaime Astorga, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Juan Angel Urbina Cáceres, Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, and Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno. Likewise, agent Samuel Fuenzalida Devia received a sentence, as a perpetrator, of 541 days of suspended prison. Meanwhile, as accomplices, Minister Crisosto Greisse sentenced the following agents to 4 years in prison, without benefits: Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez, José Jaime Friz Esparza, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Reinaldo Concha Orellana, Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Miguel Ángel Yáñez Ugalde, and Héctor Carlos Díaz. In the case, the magistrate acquitted the former agents: Orlando Manzo Durán, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Alejandro Francisco Molina Cisternas, Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, Alfonso Humberto Quiroz Quintana, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Juan Ignacio Suárez Delgado, Carlos Enrique Letelier Verdugo, Herman Eduardo Ávalos Muñoz, Raúl Bernardo Toro Montes, and Víctor Abraham González Salazar. During the investigation stage, Minister Crisosto managed to determine the following sequence of events: -That on the morning of November 25, 1974, while Rubén David Arroyo Padilla, a militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was heading from his home, located at Calle Santo Domingo N° 3726, Santiago commune, to his workplace, located at Calle Lira N° 580, in the same commune, he was detained on a public street by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who transported him to the clandestine detention center called “Villa Grimaldi,” located at Lo Arrieta N° 8200, in the commune of La Reina, which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; -That the victim Arroyo Padilla, during his stay at the Villa Grimaldi barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization; -That the last time the victim Arroyo Padilla was seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in the month of December 1974, and to date, there is no information regarding his whereabouts; -That the name of Rubén David Arroyo Padilla appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press, after it appeared on a list published in the Argentine magazine “LEA,” dated July 15, 1975, which reported that Rubén David Arroyo Padilla had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among those members, and -That the publications that declared the victim Arroyo Padilla dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad. Contreras prosecuted for homicide and kidnappings Likewise, Minister Miguel Vázquez indicted the former director of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, for his responsibility in the homicide of José Troncoso Aguirre and the kidnappings of Carlos Arnoldo Veloso Reidenbach, Carlos Héctor Veloso Figueroa, Luis Rubén Mardones Geza, Osvaldo Figueroa Figueroa, Humberto Ramón Drouillas Ortega, and Williams Robinson Zuleta Mora. In this process, the high magistrate determined the following sequence of events: -That on May 2, 1977, around 16:00 hours, the minor Carlos Arnoldo Veloso Reidenbach, 16 years of age, was detained at the exit of the Cardjin Foundation, an organization sponsored by the Archbishopric of Santiago, dedicated to the promotion of workers and where his father Carlos Veloso Figueroa worked, by subjects who took him to an unknown place where he was subjected to interrogations and tortured, being put into a vehicle and abandoned on a public street. Later, he was detained again along with his father Carlos Veloso Figueroa, and both were separately forced to sign statements falsely incriminating third parties in the kidnapping of the minor, for which DINA personnel arrived at the minor’s home, occupying the property and preventing its inhabitants from making contact with people from the outside, complying with an alleged security measure for the affected party. -That, on May 8, 1977, DINA agents took the minor and his father from their home again, taking them to a barracks, and after deception maneuvers, which made them face one another, the minor recognized only as neighbors three people whose photographs were shown to him and incriminated Eduardo de la Fuente Sandoval, Williams Robinson Zuleta Mora, and Osvaldo Figueroa Figueroa in his alleged kidnapping. -That, on May 9, 2015, Osvaldo Figueroa Figueroa was detained by DINA agents at his home at Veracruz 642, Villa México, Maipú. -That, on May 10, 1977, Eduardo de la Fuente Sandoval was detained on a public street by a woman and a man, who held him at gunpoint and forced him to get into a Fiat 125 automobile, taking him to the Villa Grimaldi barracks, where he was interrogated under torture, forcing him to blame himself for an alleged kidnapping and rape of the minor Carlos Veloso Reidenbach. -That, on May 11, 1977, Jorge Troncoso Aguirre, a jeweler and watchmaker, a communist militant, was detained at General Velásquez with Santa Teresita by agents who transported him to a detention center where he was seen by another detainee, Eduardo de la Fuente Sandoval, and where he was tortured through the application of electric current, until it caused his death, his body being thrown into a mine shaft at Cuesta Barriga, with remains found at that location that were positively identified as those of Jorge Andrés Troncoso Aguirre with 99.999842% certainty, with the cause of death established by forensic experts as “violent death due to polytrauma caused by third parties.” -That, on May 12, 1976, Luis Rubén Mardones Geza at 15:30 hours and Humberto Ramón Drouillas Ortega at 19:30 hours were detained by DINA agents in their respective homes.

Source: reddigital.cl, October 22, 2015

Indictment issued against five former officials of the DINA leadership

Manuel Contreras, Marcelo Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko (perpetrators), and Eduardo Rufino Jaime Astorga are listed. The special minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Alejandro Solís, issued an indictment against five high-ranking former DINA officials, including Manuel Contreras, as perpetrators and accomplice, for the qualified homicide of Ana María Puga and Alejandro de la Barra in 1974.

According to the background information recorded in the case, on the afternoon of December 3, 1974, while Ana María Puga, an actress and teacher, and Alejandro de la Barra, a political scientist, both MIR militants, were going to pick up their one-year-and-four-month-old son at the “Los Muñecos” kindergarten, located in the Providencia commune, they were intercepted by a group of people moving in an automobile, who fired at the couple, both dying as a result of the attack.

Subsequently, the legal text states, “the bodies of both opponents of the military regime were taken to the facility called Villa Grimaldi (...) however, later, their remains were transferred to the Legal Medical Service, an organization that, after performing the respective autopsies, handed them over to their relatives.” According to Magistrate Solís’s sentence, “because the provisional release of the prosecuted individuals is dangerous to the security of society, the following gentlemen: Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda, Marcelo Moren Brito, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko (perpetrators) and Eduardo Rufino Jaime Astorga (accomplice), will not be granted release in accordance with what is established in the 3rd paragraph of Article 363 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.” Finally, the resolution determined that, after giving the respective orders, Lawrence Mires and Jaime Astorga must enter the Marchant Pereira detention facility of the Carabineros de Chile, while Moren Brito and Krassnoff Martchenko are obligated to report to the CCP Cordillera, as is Juan Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, once the latter is discharged from the Military Hospital.

Source: diarioelsur.cl

Justice increased prison sentence for Miguel Krassnoff for homicides of MIR members

In a unanimous ruling, the Third Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals modified the criminal participation of the former agent of the dissolved National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Brigadier (r) Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, from accessory to perpetrator of the qualified homicide of the members and leaders of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), Alejandro de la Barra Villarroel and Ana María Puga Ortiz, a married couple murdered on December 3, 1974, in the Providencia commune.

Due to the above, the capital’s appellate court increased the sentence from 5 years and one day in prison to 15 years and one day in prison. Likewise, magistrates Juan Manuel Muñoz Pardo, Amanda Valdovinos, and Christian Le Cerf ratified the sentences for the crimes of 15 years and one day in prison for former DINA agents Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, Marcelo Moren Brito, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, and Pedro Espinoza Bravo, held responsible as perpetrators of both homicides, and 10 years and one day in prison for Eduardo Jaime Astorga, accused as an accomplice.

According to the case background: “DINA agents managed to find out that the members and leaders of the Revolutionary Left Movement Ana María Puga Rojas, actress and teacher; and Alejandro de la Barra Villarroel, political scientist; had a son one year and months old who attended a kindergarten located at Calle Andacollo 1620 in the Providencia commune.

The agents went to verify his existence on December 2, 1974, checking the enrollment books; and on December 3 of the same year, they organized themselves into groups to wait for them to arrive, as they did daily, to pick up the infant from the kindergarten; they distributed themselves, approximately at 16:00 hours, according to orders and instructions from the previous day, along the streets near the aforementioned kindergarten; at Ricardo Lyon with California, a group composed of agents Rinoldo Alismer Rodríguez Hernández, José Silva, Heriberto Acevedo, and José Fritz Sparza; and another, formed by Ricardo Lawrence, Rufino Jaime, and José Valdebenito, was situated on Avenida Bilbao, between Lyon and Pedro de Valdivia; in this way, when the members of the first group saw the white “Peugeot 404” automobile approaching, which they already knew, with both MIR militants inside, and it did not stop in front of the kindergarten, they notified the other contingent, so they were intercepted by the latter at the intersection of Calle Andacollo and Avenida Francisco Bilbao, firing at the couple, without there having been an arrest order or resistance on their part, both dying as a result of cephalic and cervical wounds. Subsequently, the bodies of Ana María Puga Rojas and Alejandro de la Barra Villarroel were taken to the “Villa Grimaldi” facility and later their remains were transferred to the Legal Medical Service, an organization that, after performing the respective autopsies, handed them over to their relatives.” In the civil aspect, the Third Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed the sentence that ordered the State to pay $50,000,000 (fifty million pesos) to Rodrigo Hernández Puga, the son of the female victim. Likewise, the State and the convicted individuals must jointly pay $50,000,000 (fifty million pesos) to Álvaro de la Barra Puga, the son of both victims.

Source: publimetro.cl, August 7, 2014

Miguel Enríquez returned to fight the henchmen of the DINA

Miguel, his partner Carmen Castillo, and Humberto Sotomayor faced the hitmen led by the criminal Krassnoff Martchenko again. The event took place on the morning of this Tuesday, July 26, in the house that used to be light blue at Calle Santa Fe 725, San Miguel commune, in the midst of a reconstruction of the scene ordered by the minister on special assignment of the Supreme Court, Mario Carroza.

The proceeding was aimed at confirming or ruling out the fact that Miguel had been murdered or finished off without further ado after the confrontation he had with a horde of assassins from the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), the Carabineros, the investigative police, and the army.

Since before 9:00, actions began to carry out the reconstruction of the armed clash—which occurred on Saturday, October 5, 1974—and to clarify the ultimate cause of death of the then-secretary general of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), who fell with weapons in hand, facing the same scoundrels who had seized power—by means of a coup d’état—almost 13 months earlier.

On behalf of the members of the MIR and the Popular Resistance who were present that Saturday, October 5, at the scene of the event, Carmen Castillo Echeverría participated; at that time, the partner of the revolutionary leader, she traveled to Chile from France to relate her testimony.

Humberto Sotomayor, a high-ranking leader of the MIR who managed to escape after the confrontation, also did so. Cecilia Jarpa also did the same, who attended in sad conditions that time, as she had been taken to the place in the condition of a detainee by the DINA and had been savagely tortured so that she would denounce the house where Miguel and his partner were hiding clandestinely, in addition to some members of the leadership of the revolutionary organization.

On behalf of the henchmen of the civic-military dictatorship’s political police, the man who was the head of two DINA operational groups (Halcón 1 and 2), Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, participated in the legal proceeding, a heartless assassin who is sentenced for human rights violations for almost 400 years.

Teresa Osorio Navarro, a former DINA agent, also attended; the driver of one of the DINA vehicles, Rodolfo Concha Rodríguez; and due to his poor state of health, another of the living DINA shooters, Rufino Jaime Astorga, did not attend the proceeding, but his statement was read.

The other involved “Dinos”—and very well known—Marcelo Moren Brito and Osvaldo Romo, are dead. PDI officials impersonated the remaining characters. Minister Carroza assured that the objective of the proceeding was achieved.

However, he stressed that one should not draw hasty conclusions, but rather evaluate the background of the case in process. “We are in a summary, I have to make the determination, know if there are effectively responsibilities, and if not, I will have to make another decision, but it must be adopted with calm and sufficient prudence,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, the president of the Association of Political Executed Persons (AFEP), Alicia Lira, pointed out that if there were shots fired by Miguel and his companions, they were in self-defense before the immense and deadly operation mounted by the DINA.

In addition, she commented that, in her opinion, the attitude adopted by Krassnoff during this morning would reflect the lack of repentance for the crimes committed during the dictatorship. “The apparatus to reach the sector is being demonstrated, even kidnapping a woman, putting her in a house to extract information from her (…) Krassnoff, during his entire statement, was almost enjoying a spectacle again.

So, it is seen that they do not have any degree of repentance and they see it as something normal,” she pointed out. The truth of the confrontation of October 5, 1974 Although Minister Carroza stated that there is background information regarding the fact that Miguel could have been detained and then executed at the scene by DINA agents, the truth is that the leader of the MIR fought without lowering his guard and until death against his enemies, since he had the certainty that—if he fell into the clutches of the dictatorial forces—he would be murdered anyway.

But let us point out the real facts that were experienced that tragic October 4, which led to the loss of a valuable leader of the popular and revolutionary cause in Chile under dictatorship. Around 13:00 on October 5, 1974, Carmen Castillo arrived at the house where they had been taking refuge together with Enríquez and Humberto Sotomayor for less than a year, located at Calle Santa Fe 725, San Miguel.

The leaders of the MIR, who were accompanied on the occasion by José Bordas Paz, “el Coño” Molina, were burning documents and had their weapons at hand: suspicious cars had been prowling around the house during the morning.

Indeed, three vehicles arrived at the sector. In one of them, they were carrying Cecilia Jarpa, Miguel Enríquez’s liaison, tortured and tied up. In the other cars were, among others, Moren Brito, Lieutenant Miguel Krassnoff, and the civilian agent Osvaldo Romo.

Over time, the three would be registered among the cruelest agents, even though the first two always tried to show themselves as mere “analysts” of the DINA. Minutes later, the troop of “dinos” opened heavy fire against the resistors who were inside the dwelling on Calle Santa Fe.

However, the hitmen encountered a tough armed response from inside, so they had to request reinforcements (which arrived at 14:00): more agents, from the same DINA, from the Carabineros, uniformed personnel, more vehicles, a tank, and the participation of a helicopter.

After about twenty minutes from the start of the armed exchange, shrapnel from a grenade wounded Carmen Castillo in several parts of her body—who was left semi-conscious and with profuse hemorrhaging—and one also reached Miguel.

A helicopter was flying overhead. The exchange of shots continued. The skirmish lasted almost two hours. Around three in the afternoon, Miguel Enríquez left the house to try to climb a wall of the neighboring house on Calle San Francisco 5959.

That was the moment of his death, reached by a dozen shots. Carmen Castillo remembers that some neighbors heard Miguel shout: “Stop the fire, there is a wounded pregnant woman here!” Of course, the repressors ignored the call and kept shooting.

From the infernal shootout, only Sotomayor and Bordas were saved alive, who escaped through the back of the house and then through the neighboring roofs. Carmen was left wounded, lying on the floor inside the house.

Upon entering, Moren Brito kicked her. She does not explain why they left her lying there and did not take her away. She had lost a lot of blood. The DINA and the reinforcements withdrew. Romo took a souvenir that he later began to show to the prisoners in the clandestine centers: Miguel Enríquez’s watch. “Guatón” Romo was one of those who stole the most from the victims who were falling.

A neighbor in the sector, Manuel Díaz, looked for an ambulance and took Carmen Castillo to the Barros Luco Hospital; that saved her life. From there, the DINA took her by force to the Military Hospital, where Manuel Contreras himself—head of the DINA—and Krassnoff arrived.

Carmen would leave the country some time later heading to Great Britain, where her son, Miguel Ángel, was born, who died shortly after birth due to the aftermath of what happened to his mother that day in October.

His fall in combat found Miguel Enríquez very young, at 30 years of age, committed to a task that he had begun with the founding of the MIR, on August 15, 1965: to make the social revolution in Chile, fighting without quarter against the enemies of the people who had enthroned themselves in power by means of a bloody military coup d’état and who were subjecting the country by force and horror.

As his partner, Carmen Castillo, pointed out, Miguel fell in an “act of resistance of the free man who fights and dies.” Only Struggle and Unity Will Make Us Free! May History Clarify Our Thinking! Colectivo Acción Directa CAD – Chile

Source: carlosagaton.blogspot.com, July 27, 2016