On May 16, 1975, Jorge Isaac FUENTES ALARCON crossed the Argentine-Paraguayan border by bus. Sitting next to him was Amílcar Santucho, brother of the top Argentine leader of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP).

Both were detained by the Paraguayan police and transferred to Asunción. Documents confirm that Chilean intelligence services were highly interested in the capture of the sociologist Jorge Fuentes, as he worked as a courier for the MIR in the Southern Cone, working directly with Edgardo Enríquez and Jean Claudet in the formation of the Junta Coordinadora Revolucionaria (JCR), a form of collaboration between different movements that advocated for armed insurgency in the subregion.

The interest of Chilean agents in Jorge Fuentes led them to transfer him from the Paraguayan capital to Villa Grimaldi in Santiago, Chile.

Numerous testimonies confirm that Jorge Fuentes arrived with scabies over his entire body, severely wounded from torture.

The evidence indicates that the capture of the MIR leader involved Argentine intelligence services, who provided the details of Jorge Fuentes's false passport; officials from the United States Embassy in Buenos Aires, who kept the Chilean Investigaciones Police informed of the results of the interrogations; and the Paraguayan police, who permitted the clandestine transfer of the detainee.

There are multiple and consistent testimonies regarding Jorge Fuentes's time at Villa Grimaldi, where he received some medical treatment for his scabies while simultaneously being subjected to continued torture and degrading treatment. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of State agents, who thereby violated his human rights.

Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón, married, one child, sociologist, former student leader, and member of the Central Committee of the MIR, was detained by Paraguayan security forces on May 17, 1975, along with Argentine citizen Amílcar Santucho, brother of the leader of the Workers' Revolutionary Party (PRT), Mario Roberto Santucho.

The arrest took place in Enramada as they were entering Paraguay; they were taken to the Department of Investigations of that country. Jorge Fuentes, who was carrying documentation under the name Ariel Monarde Ledesma, remained detained in Paraguay until mid-September 1975, when he was handed over to DINA agents and clandestinely brought into Chile.

Once in the country, he was held at 4 Alamos, and at the end of September, he was transferred to Villa Grimaldi, where he was last seen in the second half of January 1976. At the time he was brought from Paraguay, Jorge Fuentes was suffering from various infections, including scabies and lice.

Mr. Amílcar Santucho, four and a half years after his arrest and once released, stated in an interview with the North American magazine "Denuncia" in November 1979 that the Chilean Jorge Fuentes Alarcón was detained with him, "whom Ceballos took to Chile" (referring to Edgardo Ceballos Jones), without any legal requirement.

Mr. Héctor Hernán González Osorio, a former DINA and Villa Grimaldi detainee, recounts in his testimony that he was detained on December 6, 1974, and while at that facility, he learned from comments made by DINA agents that an international contact of the MIR had fallen and that a trap was being set abroad for "Trosko" Fuentes, in conjunction with Argentine repressive services.

Numerous testimonies from former prisoners of the DINA security agency account for Jorge Fuentes Alarcón's time at the 4 Alamos and Villa Grimaldi facilities. The vast majority of these testimonies were provided judicially in the respective case investigating his disappearance.

Ms. Georgina Ocaranza Muñoz stated in her judicial testimony given in February 1976, while she was still being held at Tres Alamos, that she had been detained on September 9, 1975, and taken first to 4 Alamos, where she was held incommunicado for 45 days.

In that facility, there was a prisoner in the adjacent cell whom she heard singing. Later, they began to communicate, and she learned that his name was Jorge Fuentes Alarcón and that he had been detained in Paraguay with Santucho's brother.

Later, she saw him in the bathroom; he was shorn, she saw him being slapped, and she heard them telling him "answer properly, you idiot," calling him "Trosko"; the guards spoke among themselves about him being the famous "Trosko" Fuentes.

Days later, he was taken away, and through other detainees who arrived, she learned he was at Villa Grimaldi; he had scabies, was shorn, and was kept in a dog kennel, and they called him "pichicho" (puppy).

Ms. Lidia de las Mercedes Bravo Riffo stated in her testimony that she was detained on September 12, 1975, and transferred to Villa Grimaldi, where she remained until the 28th of that month, when she was taken to 4 Alamos.

In the latter facility, on that same day, she heard a detainee in the room next to hers, whom her cellmate, Gina Ocaranza, identified as Jorge Fuentes Alarcón. She only heard him that day; later, she learned he had been transferred to Villa Grimaldi.

Mr. Roberto Gómez Donoso stated in a sworn declaration that he was detained on September 11, 1975, and taken to Villa Grimaldi, where he was brutally tortured. On September 17, he was moved to another facility, being taken to 4 Alamos after an agent called "El brujo" (The Sorcerer) tried to hypnotize him, attempting to make him forget his stay at Villa Grimaldi.

At 4 Alamos, at the end of September, he heard a prisoner shouting, "I am Jorge Fuentes Alarcón, a militant of the MIR," and he narrated aloud that he had been detained in Paraguay and transferred to Bolivia, then to Arica, and from there to Santiago, to 4 Alamos. After this, he heard his cell being opened and him being taken from the place. He never heard him again.

Ms. Delia Susana Veraguas Segura stated in her judicial testimony that she was detained on September 22, 1975, and taken to Villa Grimaldi. On the 29th, she saw a tall, dark-skinned prisoner in that facility with a shorn head and scabies; he was shouting that he was Jorge Fuentes Alarcón, alias "El Trosko," a sociologist from Concepción, a member of the MIR, and asking them to notify his relatives that he was alive, because he feared they would make him disappear.

Later, on October 19, the guard on duty ordered her to take lunch to "Trosko Fuentes," who was sitting in a room resembling a wooden crate, with his legs bent, blindfolded, and his feet chained, the chain tangled around his ankles; he looked pale, very thin, and had a depressing appearance.

On this occasion, he told her his story again, and she noticed he was infected with scabies all over his body and was being treated with gamexane. The guards had nicknamed him "Pichichus," comparing him to a dog on television.

She saw him for the last time on October 22, the date she was transferred to 4 Alamos. Ms. Gladys Angélica Ledezma Maturana stated in her testimony that she was detained at Villa Grimaldi from October 3 to 18.

Every day she saw the detainee Jorge Fuentes, whom the agents mocked by calling him "Bicho" (Bug); he always went to the bathroom jumping, as his feet were shackled. Every day he sang in the bathroom and asked for Linol for his scabies.

Ms. Carmen Lucía Elvira Vergara Morales stated in her testimony that she was detained twice in September 1975. The second time, which occurred on September 22, she was taken to Villa Grimaldi, where she was tortured by Osvaldo Romo and Marcelo Moren Brito.

During her stay of about a month in that facility, she periodically saw Jorge Fuentes Alarcón, who remained isolated from the rest of the prisoners, locked in a kennel in the courtyard, and was constantly tortured; he screamed constantly, so all the detainees at Grimaldi knew of his presence.

Ms. Lelia Matilde Pérez Valdés was detained by the DINA on October 24, 1975, and taken by her captors to Villa Grimaldi, where she was intensely interrogated and tortured, as was her spouse, Víctor Hugo Miranda, who was detained that same day.

During her stay there, she was able to speak on several occasions with the prisoner Jorge Fuentes Alarcón, who told her he had been detained in Paraguay. On the night of November 18 to 19, long interrogations and the moans of people being tortured were heard; the names Ganga, Catalina, Mónica, and Roberto were heard.

One of the women being interrogated was told that her husband had gone "pata de laucha" (a slang term used by agents meaning he was dead); she recognized the voice of Marcelo Moren, who was shouting and giving orders, requesting boiling water and oil.

The next day, she was able to see several bodies lying on the ground covered with dirty cloths from her cell window. On the same night of November 19, the agents were euphoric, reading almost in unison with the news anchor on a television channel the facts and names of the people who had died in Rinconada de Maipú in an alleged confrontation.

On November 20, Jorge Fuentes assured her he had seen several of these people who were tortured and killed at Villa Grimaldi. On November 28, the witness was transferred to 4 Alamos. Mr. Dagoberto Trincado Olivera, a DINA survivor, recounts in his testimony that he remained at Villa Grimaldi from November 4 to December 30, 1975, being brutally tortured with electricity, as a result of which he suffered 3 cardiac arrests, having to be taken by his captors to the Clínica Santa Lucía, where he remained for 4 days before returning to Grimaldi to the torture regime.

During his entire stay at Grimaldi, he was able to see and interact with Jorge Fuentes Alarcón, who told him the circumstances of his arrest. Mr. Martín Humberto Hernández Vásquez was detained on November 2, 1975, and remained held at Villa Grimaldi until the 18th of that month.

For 3 days, he remained in the same cell as "Trosko Fuentes," who told him his repressive history, which originated in Uruguay. Mr. Sergio Ruiz Lazo states in his testimony that while he was detained at Grimaldi on November 17, there was a malfunction in a padlock on the door of a special area where prisoners of some importance were kept; the respective guard asked him for help, and while performing that task, he noticed the presence of two detainees, one of whom said his name was "Trosko Fuentes," and with him was Martín Hernández; both were shackled.

Mr. Oscar Patricio Orellana Figueroa stated in his testimony that he was detained on November 28, 1975, and taken by the DINA to Villa Grimaldi. There, from the first days, he was able to have contact with another prisoner named Jorge Fuentes Alarcón, who advised him to be careful with the detainees, as they were collaborating with the DINA; he gave him information about the operation of Villa Grimaldi and the people who worked there.

It was characteristic of him to help other detainees by giving them encouragement; he had a very high morale and joy. The agents called him "el Bicho." Mr. Cristián Esteban Van Yurick Altamirano stated in his testimony that he was detained on July 12, 1974, and remained held in several DINA facilities.

Near Christmas 1975, he was at Villa Grimaldi, in a sector called "Casas Chile"; there, in a crate in front of a bathroom exit, was "Trosko Fuentes." Among the agents who interrogated him were "Moren," "Max," "Troglo," "El cachete," and "Lawrence." Mr.

Renán Gregorio Castillo Urtubia stated in his testimony that he was detained on November 26, 1975, and remained held on 3 occasions at Villa Grimaldi, the last time being from December 26 to January 13, 1976.

During all 3 occasions, he was able to see and talk to Jorge Fuentes Alarcón. In one of these conversations, he told him to try to do something because they were going to kill him; the Trosko was very upright despite the treatment he was subjected to, as he was punished by having to remain in a dog kennel.

The other prisoners commented that he had had scabies. When the witness saw him, he had already recovered from that infection. Mr. Juan Ernesto Segura Aguilar stated in his testimony that after his arrest on December 5, 1975, he was taken to Villa Grimaldi, where he saw Jorge Fuentes until January 6, 1976.

Mr. Raúl Fernando Villouta Rattoli stated in his testimony that he was detained by the DINA on December 3, 1975, and taken to Villa Grimaldi, where he was violently tortured with electricity in a sector of the facility called "La Torre." After the first torture session, he was assigned the number 1,123; this number was assigned consecutively to detainees as they arrived at that place.

On December 6, after dark, two or three guards took the prisoners out of their cells and made them sit in a semicircle on the floor. The guards stood behind the detainees and forced them to go out one by one to an imaginary stage to perform "favors," tell jokes, or sing to entertain them.

A prisoner was brought to this "evening" from another part of the facility and made to perform; this prisoner was called "Trosko," and it was Jorge Fuentes Alarcón, who was kept chained in a kind of large wooden crate located near the bathrooms.

Jorge Fuentes told one or two jokes, and it caught his attention that he did so with quite a bit of ease and good spirits. On one occasion, he was able to see the wooden construction where "Trosko" Fuentes was kept; it was an unpainted wooden crate, 1.70 meters high by 2 meters long and about 60 cm wide.

It was a kind of matchbox placed on its side, longer than it was high; it had no window, only a small flap at one of its ends. On another occasion, when he was sent to sweep, he ran into some guards sitting on chairs in the courtyard, near the bathroom, who were talking to Fuentes; he did not participate in the conversation, but he was able to hear it; it was about the DINA.

Mr. Carlos Raúl González Anjari stated in his testimony that he was detained by the DINA on December 26, 1975, and taken to Villa Grimaldi. In that facility, on January 6, 1976, he saw Jorge Fuentes around 06:00 in the morning sweeping the Grimaldi courtyard.

Mr. Sergio Requena Rivera was detained by the DINA on December 12 at his boss's office at the State Railways, where he worked; after his arrest, he was taken to Villa Grimaldi, where he was interrogated by Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko.

On December 19, he was transferred to 4 Alamos, and on January 2, 1976, he was taken back to Grimaldi, where he remained until January 19. During this second stay at that facility, he noticed the presence of Jorge Fuentes Alarcón, who was held in a kennel and whom the guards referred to as "El bicho." He saw him until January 12, the date on which Fuentes Alarcón was taken out of Villa Grimaldi in a pickup truck along with other detainees.

Renato Arias Rozas, Silva Mazella Muñoz, Raúl Ismael Garrido Cantillana and his son Raúl Garrido, Carlos Ortiz Gajardo, José Miguel Moya Raurich, Selva Hidalgo Fuentes, Edwin Bustos Streeter, and Guillermina Ester Ibarra Donoso are other DINA survivors whose testimonies state they saw Jorge Fuentes Alarcón held at Villa Grimaldi.

Finally, Luz Arce, a former DINA prisoner who, after being subjected to brutal torture, collaborated with that agency, stated in her testimony given to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was published by the press, that regarding the detainee known by the nickname "Trosko Fuentes," who was also called "El pichicho," he had been "shorn" and was in very poor physical condition, infected with various diseases, and that at Villa Grimaldi, the person responsible for him was Marcelo Moren Brito, as head of the barracks.

On another occasion, she heard that a detainee was eliminated by injecting him with the rabies virus; the witness believes that this detainee could have been "Trosko Fuentes."

His family made numerous efforts to get the authorities to acknowledge his detention in a DINA facility, but like the efforts of international organizations, they were fruitless, and they still do not know the fate he met at the hands of the DINA. He was last seen on January 12, 1976, at the Villa Grimaldi facility.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On October 6, 1975, a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) was filed on his behalf before the Santiago Court of Appeals, case number 1281-75, in which 4 Alamos, the Ministry of the Interior, and the DINA were officially requested for information, receiving negative reports from the respective authorities.

Based on these records, the appeal was rejected on October 18, and the records were sent to the 1st Criminal Court of Major Quantities of the Presidente Aguirre Cerda Department, initiating case 42.942, for which there are no records of its processing.

On December 11, 1975, his mother, Ms. Elba Rosa Alarcón Muñoz, filed a complaint for illegal arrest before the 11th Criminal Court of Santiago, case number 4.648-9. During its long processing, the testimonies of witnesses who saw the victim at the 4 Alamos and, mainly, Villa Grimaldi facilities were accumulated.

Thus, the sworn statements of Delia Susana Veraguas Segura, Georgina Ocaranza Muñoz, Lelia Matilde Pérez Valdés, Guillermina Ester Ibarra Donoso, Silvia Evelina Mazzella Muñoz, Gladys Angélica Ledezma Maturana, Raúl Ismael Garrido, Martín Humberto Hernández Vásquez, Raúl Israel Garrido Cantillana, Renán Gregorio Castillo Urtubia, Juan Ernesto Segura Aguilar, Carlos Raúl González Anjari, Fernando Villouta Dattoli, and Alfonso Stephens Freire were successively declared and accompanied; that is, 14 testimonies from people who claim to have been detained along with Jorge Fuentes Alarcón after he was brought to Chile by the DINA from Paraguay, where his detention was verified. In addition, the press interview of the Argentine citizen Mario Roberto Santucho, who was detained along with the victim in Paraguay, was submitted to the Court.

On the other hand, the Acting Minister of the Interior, General Enrique Montero Marx, stated on February 12, 1976, that the affected person was not being held by order of that Ministry, but that there were records that he had been detained in May 1975 in Paraguay, carrying a Costa Rican passport under the name Ariel Monarde Ledesma.

On March 17, 1976, Mr. Montero reiterated that Fuentes Alarcón was not being held in the country under the name Ariel Monarde Ledesma either. The information referred to by the Minister was provided to him by the Investigative Police.

The case was temporarily dismissed for the first time on August 26, 1977, a resolution that was approved by the Court of Appeals despite pending proceedings, such as the constitution of the Court at Villa Grimaldi.

At the beginning of 1978, a Criminal Complaint was filed before the same Court, which was joined to the case, returning the case to the summary stage and leaving the dismissal order without effect. However, in November of that year, the case was definitively dismissed, a resolution that was rejected by the Court of Appeals, thus accepting an appeal against the dismissal order.

In May 1979, the case was referred to the Visiting Minister Servando Jordán López, who was investigating the cases of forcibly disappeared persons in the Santiago Department. Shortly after receiving the records, the Minister temporarily dismissed the case.

Subsequently, the aggrieved party requested the Minister to reopen the summary, which was denied; an appeal was then filed before the Court of Appeals, which ultimately accepted the appeal, ordered the reopening of the summary, and requested that an arrest warrant be issued against Osvaldo Romo Mena, who could not be found.

After adding new testimonies to the case, in July 1983, Minister Jordán dismissed the case again. In November of that year, the Court accepted an appeal against the dismissal order and ordered the reopening of the summary, while also requesting that Edgardo Ceballos Jones be summoned to appear and that the Court be constituted at the Interpol offices.

Upon appearing, General Ceballos denied any participation in the events. Of greater relevance was the constitution of the Court at Interpol, where the letter sent by the United States attaché in Buenos Aires, Mr.

Robert W. Scherrer, to the Director of Investigations of Chile, General Ernesto Baeza, was recorded, in which he confirms the detention of the aggrieved party on May 17, 1975, in Asunción; adding that according to information provided "by the subject during several interrogations by the capital police in Asunción, he admitted that he is a member of the Coordinating Board and was acting as a courier for said group." (Leftist Movement of the region).

Mr. Scherrer adds in his letter that in the address book, Fuentes Alarcón had addresses of three people in the U.S. and that "the FBI initiated an investigation in the United States concerning the people and addresses mentioned."

On March 18, 1991, a new complaint for illegal detention, torture, and disappearance of Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón was filed before the 11th Criminal Court of Santiago. Said case entered processing with case number 59046-5, and as of December 1992, it was in the summary stage with pending proceedings.

Source: Vicaría de la Solidaridad