José Bernardino Cuevas Cifuentes
Obrero Agrícola — 47 years old.
Background
José Bernardino Cuevas Cifuentes
Obrero Agrícola — 47 years old.
Case summary
José Bernardino Cuevas Cifuentes, a 47-year-old contractor and farmer and a member of the Partido Comunista, was detained on November 15, 1973, in Lautaro by state agents. Following his capture during the military dictatorship, he became a victim of forced disappearance whose whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
Image AI-colorized. This is not an original photograph.
Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos[1]
Another episode consists of the detention and subsequent disappearance of seven peasants from the Lautaro area. Most of them had records of having been prosecuted by the ordinary justice system for the commission of common crimes:
On October 4, 1973, José Andrés MELIQUEN AGUILERA, 45 years old, an agricultural worker, was detained before witnesses at the Manuel Levinao Reservation by personnel from the Lautaro Police Station.
His relatives state that his detention was subsequently denied to them. That same day, October 4, Sergio del Carmen NAVARRO SCHIFFERLI, 37 years old, a farmer, was detained by carabineros from the Yuyinco Outpost and transferred to the Lautaro Police Station. His family was reportedly told that he had been released; however, he has remained disappeared since that date.
On October 15, 1973, José Ignacio BELTRAN MELIQUEO, 46 years old, a farmer from the Manuel Levinao Community, was detained before witnesses in the Plaza of Lautaro by carabineros personnel and taken to the local Police Station. His relatives assert that his detention was denied to them; he has remained disappeared since that date.
The following day, October 16, 1973, Julio Manuel PAINE LIPIN, 27 years old, a peasant from the Tres Luces Settlement in the town of Muco Bajo, was detained. He was arrested by Carabineros when he voluntarily presented himself at the Pillanlelbún Outpost.
From there, he was transferred to the Lautaro Police Station, a facility from which, according to witness accounts, he was taken out at the end of October. He has remained disappeared since that date.
On November 8, 1973, Juan MILLA MONTUY, 40 years old, a farmer, was detained in Lautaro. Carabineros reportedly denied the detention to his relatives. To this date, he remains disappeared.
Also apprehended on this date by carabineros and transferred to the Pillanlelbún Outpost was Manuel LIZAMA CARIQUEO, 29 years old, Secretary of the Central Unica de Trabajadores (CUT) of Temuco and President of the El Cardal Settlement in the aforementioned locality. To this date, he remains disappeared.
Finally, in the month of November 1973, José Bernardino CUEVAS CIFUENTES, married, a farmer, was detained along with his son by Carabineros personnel at the Animal Fair in Lautaro and taken to the Police Station in that town. He remained detained at that facility, and all traces of José Cuevas were lost, while his son was released.
Having verified their detentions before this Commission, and given that none of them have returned to make contact with their families nor carried out any official action before the State of Chile, the Commission has formed the conviction that José Andrés Meliquén, José Ignacio Beltrán, Juan Milla, Julio Paine, Manuel Lizama, Sergio Navarro, and José Cuevas were victims of grave human rights violations, having been detained and forcibly disappeared by agents of the State.
MemoriaViva[2]
Relatos de los Hechos
On October 4, 1973, José Andrés MELIQUEN AGUILERA, 45, an agricultural worker, was arrested before witnesses at the "Manuel Levinao" Reducción by personnel from the Lautaro Police Station. His relatives state that his detention was subsequently denied to them.
On that same day, October 4, Sergio del Carmen NAVARRO SCHIFFERLI, 37, a farmer, was arrested by Carabineros from the Yuyinco Police Post and transferred to the Lautaro Police Station. His family was reportedly told that he had been released; however, he has remained forcibly disappeared since that date.
On October 15, 1973, José Ignacio BELTRAN MELIQUEO, 46, a farmer from the "Manuel Levinao" Community, was arrested before witnesses in the Plaza de Lautaro by Carabineros personnel and taken to the local police station.
His relatives assert that his detention was denied to them, and he has remained forcibly disappeared since that date. The following day, October 16, 1973, Julio Manuel PAINE LIPIN, 27, a peasant farmer from the "Tres Luces" Settlement in the town of Muco Bajo, was arrested.
He was detained by Carabineros when he voluntarily presented himself at the Pillanlelbún Police Post. From there, he was transferred to the Lautaro Police Station, a facility from which, according to witness accounts, he was removed at the end of October.
He has remained forcibly disappeared since that date. On November 8, 1973, Juan MILLA MONTUY, 40, a farmer, was arrested in Lautaro. Carabineros reportedly denied the detention to his relatives. To this date, he remains forcibly disappeared.
On this same date, Manuel LIZAMA CARIQUEO, 29, Secretary of the Central Unica de Trabajadores (CUT) of Temuco and President of the El Cardal Settlement in the aforementioned town, was also apprehended by Carabineros and transferred to the Pillanlelbún Police Post.
To this date, he remains forcibly disappeared. Finally, in the month of November 1973, José Bernardino CUEVAS CIFUENTES, married, a farmer, was arrested along with his son by Carabineros personnel at the Lautaro Animal Fair and taken to the police station in that town.
He remained detained at that facility, and all traces of José Cuevas were lost, while his son was released. Having verified their detentions before this Commission, and noting that none of them have returned to make contact with their families nor performed any official action before the State of Chile, the Commission has formed the conviction that José Andrés Meliquén, José Ignacio Beltrán, Juan Milla, Julio Paine, Manuel Lizama, Sergio Navarro, and José Cuevas were victims of grave human rights violations, having been arrested and forcibly disappeared by State agents.
Source: (Rettig Report)
Relatos de los Hechos
Two retired officers and one retired non-commissioned officer of the Carabineros are sentenced for the aggravated kidnapping of a peasant farmer in La Araucanía during the dictatorship. Two retired Carabineros officers and a retired corporal were sentenced to serve 12 years in prison as perpetrators of the aggravated kidnapping of the worker José Bernardino Cuevas Cifuentes, committed in the commune of Lautaro in November 1973.
The state, meanwhile, was ordered to pay a multi-million peso indemnity to the victim's children. The sentence was handed down by the judge assigned to human rights violation cases for the Courts of Appeal of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa, regarding retired Carabineros commanders Jorge Enrique Schweizer Gómez and Marcial Edmundo Vera Ríos, and retired corporal Domingo Antonio Campos Collao.
The judge established that the victim, José Bernardino Cuevas Cifuentes, a tractor driver residing at the "El Mirador" farm in the commune of Lautaro, traveled one day in November 1973 to the commune's animal fair, accompanied by the farm's cashier, for the purpose of selling livestock.
At that location, he met with his son, and after completing the business, they went to eat lunch at a restaurant. At that location, they were intercepted by a patrol of Carabineros from the First Lautaro Police Station, who, "without apparently carrying a judicial order authorizing them" to perform such an act, proceeded to arrest them.
Subsequently, only José Bernardino Cuevas Cifuentes remained in custody, "and his whereabouts remain unknown to this day."
Source: biobio.cl 8/4/2019
Date: 04-08-2019
References
- 1Museum of Memoryhttps://interactivos.museodelamemoria.cl/victims/?p=1008
- 2