The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced 13 retired military personnel who were part of the Húsares Regiment of Angol at the time of the events for their responsibility in the crimes against humanity of qualified homicide of university student Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya and secondary school student Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez, crimes perpetrated in the commune of Angol on October 4, 1973.

In the ruling (case file 63.534), the visiting minister sentenced the then-lieutenant Germán Eduardo Ojeda Bennett; sub-lieutenants Carlos Patricio Bunster Medina, Alejo César Tisi Gómez, Jorge Alberto Lagos Robles, Alessandro Ernesto Cartoni Pruzzo, Manuel Arturo Montero Souper, Eduardo Humberto Carrasco Hauenstein; and corporal José Omar Correa Martínez to 19 years in prison as perpetrators of the crimes.

Meanwhile, the former conscript soldier Luis Alejandro Toledo Osses must serve 15 years and one day in prison.

Sub-lieutenant Gabriel Enrique Fuentes Campusano and conscript soldier José Liborio Lavín Leiva must serve 13 years in prison as accomplices; and first corporal Mario Hernán Tapia Sepúlveda and lieutenant Carlos Alberto Campusano Osorio must serve 5 years of effective prison time for their responsibility as accessories after the fact.

In the civil aspect, the magistrate ordered the state to pay, with costs, an indemnity of $300,000,000 for moral damages to the relatives of the victim Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez.

The ruling by Minister Mesa Latorre clearly establishes the facts that led to these convictions:

Carlos Horacio Guitart Olhagaray, a retired captain of the Chilean Army, presented himself at the "Húsares" Regiment of Angol to support the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office that operated within the unit under the direction of the second-in-command, León Rivera González.

On the night of October 4, 1973, two conscript soldiers performing guard duty at the so-called south sentry box of the Húsares Regiment of Angol heard shots inside and outside the regiment. Subsequently, corporal José Correa Martínez ordered them to go to a warehouse located in front of the military unit.

In the warehouse located at 15 Los Confines Street, that is, in front of the guard post, were the young men Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez and Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya, without bindings or weapons. Despite the lack of any threat, Major León Rivera González gave the order to fire on the young men, who at that moment were standing next to a brick wall, complying with the superior's order and executing the boys, at which moment one of the youths shouted "cowards" at them.

This execution order was carried out, among others, by conscript soldier Luis Alejandro Toledo Osses, who was performing surveillance duties at the south sentry box, and corporal José Omar Correa Martínez, who ordered him to go to that location.

Furthermore, several officers, including captain Armando Staeding Schaffer; sub-lieutenants Carlos Bunster Medina, Alessandro Cartoni Pruzzo, Manuel Montero Souper; corporal Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo, who was patrolling the neighborhood, and other conscripts who accompanied him in those duties that night, witnessed the execution at the scene.

The victims' bodies were subsequently transported and thrown into the Malleco River. The whereabouts of the bodies remain unknown to this date.

Days later, the Húsares Regiment of Angol was notified that the youths' bodies had been seen in the river, so personnel from that unit proceeded to remove them from that location, transporting them to different points inside the regiment.

The corpses were seen by various people, including captain Carlos Horacio Guitart Olhagaray, who was cooperating with the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office, and Luis Fernando Montanares Morales, who at that time was working inside the barracks.

The latter person witnessed how three members of the unit, including first corporal Mario Hernán Tapia Sepúlveda, who worked as a tractor driver, drove the corpses in a vehicle to an area of the regiment where they were buried, with no certainty to this date of the exact location of that burial.

The youths, Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya, a 22-year-old university student and sympathizer of the Communist Youth, and Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez, a 14-year-old secondary school student with no political affiliation, were arrested separately, without evidence of their participation in the shots fired against the regiment.

To this date, the whereabouts of Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez and Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya remain unknown. No official from the Húsares Regiment of Angol has provided information regarding the events.

Source: piensaprensa.com, October 26, 2023

Temuco Court sentences retired military personnel to 15 years and one day for the qualified homicide of Angol students in 1973

In the civil sphere, the appellate court confirmed the appealed sentence, that is, the payment of an indemnity of $300,000,000 for moral damages to the relatives of the victim Cotal Álvarez, modifying the ruling regarding court costs to the state, an aspect in which it is revoked and the state is instead absolved of said burden.

The Temuco Court of Appeals confirmed, with a declaration, the convictions handed down by the minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, against the then-lieutenant Germán Eduardo Ojeda Bennett; sub-lieutenants Carlos Patricio Bunster Medina, Alejo César Tisi Gómez, Jorge Alberto Lagos Robles, Alessandro Ernesto Cartoni Pruzzo, Manuel Arturo Montero Souper, Eduardo Humberto Carrasco Hauenstein; and corporal José Omar Correa Martínez, reducing the sentences from 19 years to 15 years and one day in prison for their responsibility in the qualified homicides, as crimes against humanity, of Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez and Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya. Crimes perpetrated in the commune of Angol on October 4, 1973.

In a majority ruling (case file 159-2024), the Second Chamber of the appellate court also modified the 15-year and one-day sentence for the former conscript soldier Luis Alejandro Toledo Osses to 5 years in prison for his responsibility in the crime.

Additionally, sub-lieutenants Eduardo Humberto Carrasco Hauenstein and Gabriel Enrique Fuentes Campusano, lieutenant Carlos Alberto Campusano Osorio, first corporal Mario Hernán Tapia Sepúlveda, and conscript soldier José Liborio Lavín Leiva must serve sentences of 3 years and one day in prison as accessories after the fact to the crimes.

In the civil sphere, the appellate court confirmed the appealed sentence, that is, the payment of an indemnity of $300,000,000 for moral damages to the relatives of the victim Cotal Álvarez, modifying the ruling regarding court costs to the state, an aspect in which it is revoked and the state is instead absolved of said burden.

In the ratified sentence, the visiting minister Mesa Latorre established the following facts:

“A.- That as a result of the events that occurred since September 11, 1973, Carlos Horacio Guitart Olhagaray, a retired captain of the Chilean Army who until that date had been residing in Bolivia, was called to collaborate with the new regime, presenting himself at the ‘Húsares’ Regiment of the commune of Angol to support the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office that functioned within the unit and was in charge of the second-in-command, León Rivera González (deceased, according to p. 6.163, Vol.

XVII).

B.- That on the night of October 4, 1973, two conscript soldiers were performing guard duty at the so-called south sentry box of the Húsares Regiment of Angol, located near the intersection of Los Confines and General Bonilla streets.

One of them, Luis Alejandro Toledo Osses, while gathering firewood to keep warm, heard a pistol shot outside the unit and others coming from inside it. A contingent immediately mobilized inside and outside the barracks, and at that moment, corporal José Correa Martínez ordered them to go outside, specifically to a warehouse located in front of the military unit.

Due to the situation, sub-lieutenant Eduardo Humberto Carrasco Hauenstein, who was sleeping in the bachelors' quarters of the officers' mess, was even awakened.

C.- That, as a result of the shots heard, a contingent from the Regiment left, separately and through different access points, heading toward a warehouse located at 15 Los Confines Street, that is, in front of the aforementioned guard post, specifically a warehouse that currently corresponds to a well-known vehicle dealership.

Said location was raided together with the adjacent house, both owned by Duberli Rodríguez Silva, and the individuals who allegedly fired the shots against the military unit were not found. The Regiment's Reaction Unit also arrived at the location, which was prepared 24 hours a day to repel possible attacks on the military barracks, composed of about 30 soldiers, and that night was in charge of one of the active-duty captains of the Regiment, who according to the officer roster of the time would correspond to Armando Staeding Schaffer (deceased, according to p. 7.590 Vol.

XIX) and Enrique Gómez Ibáñez (deceased, according to p. 6.162, Vol. XVII). Furthermore, as a result of the alleged shots heard that night, at least three sub-lieutenants, including Jorge Alberto Lagos Robles, Alejo Tisi Gómez, and Carlos Patricio Bunster Medina; lieutenant German Ojeda Bennett; and captains Armando Juan Emilio Staeding Schaffer and Enrique Gómez Ibáñez, gathered at the scene and cooperated in the initial investigations to search for and capture the authors of the alleged shots.

D.- That following the line of letter B), upon arriving at the scene, conscript Luis Alejandro Toledo Osses was able to observe the presence of a Toyota military vehicle, other conscript soldiers, Major León Rivera González, sub-lieutenants Carlos Bunster Medina and Alessandro Cartoni Pruzzo; corporal José Correa Martínez, who had given him the order to report to that warehouse; and corporal Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo (deceased, according to p. 6.574 Vol.

XVIII), who was patrolling the neighborhood that night. Furthermore, in that property, owned by Duberli Rodríguez, he observed two young men standing, without bindings, with their faces uncovered, without weapons in sight, of young age, and one of them was wearing a white shirt.

E.- That immediately thereafter, Major León Rivera González gave the order to fire on the young men, who at that moment were standing next to a brick wall, complying with the superior's order and executing the boys, at which moment one of the youths shouted ‘cowards’ at them.

This execution order was carried out, among others, by conscript soldier Luis Alejandro Toledo Osses, who was performing surveillance duties at the south sentry box, and corporal José Omar Correa Martínez, who ordered him to go to that location.

Furthermore, several officers, including captain Armando Staeding Schaffer; sub-lieutenants Carlos Bunster Medina, Alessandro Cartoni Pruzzo, Manuel Montero Souper; corporal Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo, who was patrolling the neighborhood, and other conscripts who accompanied him in those duties that night, witnessed the execution of those boys at the scene.

After the above, the conscript soldiers, including José Liborio Lavín Leiva, placed the bodies in sacks inside a military vehicle, observing the bloodstained white shirt of one of the youths, and transported the corpses to the La Arcadia bridge, throwing them into the Malleco River, losing sight of them in the darkness of the night.

F.- That subsequently the entire contingent returned to their previous posts, with Juan Abarca Briones, a non-commissioned officer on duty that night, observing the entry into the unit of military vehicles, with several officers on board who were performing active duties in the barracks that night.

Furthermore, said vehicles were driven by two people, one of them conscript Jorge Washington Aguilera Oñate (deceased, according to p. 6.575 Vol. XVIII), who worked as a driver in that unit and who, after entering the Regiment, proceeded to wash the vehicles that were bloodstained, asking them what had happened without receiving an answer.

G.- That days later, the Húsares Regiment of Angol was notified that the youths' bodies had been seen in the river, so personnel from that unit proceeded to remove them from that location, transporting them to different points inside the regiment.

The corpses were seen by various people, including captain Carlos Horacio Guitart Olhagaray, who was cooperating with the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office, and Luis Fernando Montanares Morales, who at that time was working inside the barracks.

The latter person witnessed how three members of the unit, including first corporal Mario Hernán Tapia Sepúlveda, who worked as a tractor driver, drove the corpses in a vehicle to an area of the regiment where they were buried, with no certainty to this date of the exact location of that burial.

H.- That the youths mentioned in the preceding letters correspond to Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya, a 22-year-old university student and sympathizer of the Communist Youth, and Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez, a 14-year-old secondary school student with no political affiliation, who were arrested separately by military patrols.

The former was arrested inside his father's home, located at the current 370 José Luis Osorio Street, and the latter on Artesanos Street, when he was heading to his home located on that street at the corner of Pedro de Oña, coming from the house of his paternal grandmother, María Arriagada Valdés, located at 190 Artesanos.

There is no evidence that they had any involvement in the execution of the alleged shot fired outside the Húsares Regiment of Angol, nor was any weapon found in the respective searches.

I.- That everything preceding regarding the execution of the youths Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez and Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya was observed by a 19-year-old woman, who upon hearing noises approached the wall adjacent to her home and the warehouse of Duberli Rodríguez, and saw when the military opened fire on the youths Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez and Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya, at which moment she heard when one of them said ‘uncle, it’s me, your nephew’.

Furthermore, the following day, she was a witness to how corporal Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo appeared at each of the neighboring houses to ask the neighbors if they had heard or seen anything the night before.

J.- That, as a result of the events related above, to this date the whereabouts of Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez and Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya remain unknown, with no action having been taken by the Military Prosecutor's Office of the time to instruct proceedings or investigate official responsibilities for the events of which the military authority became aware.

Furthermore, that same night, once the respective alarms were sounded in the barracks, the entire military contingent was mobilized, with even the Intendance lieutenant, lieutenant Carlos Alberto Campusano Osorio, participating, heading to the guard post for about 30 minutes to receive instructions from his superiors and collaborate in whatever was deemed necessary.

Subsequently, that same night, the regiment commander himself, Alejandro Morel Donoso (deceased, according to p. 6.164, Vol. XVII), arrived at the unit, making inquiries about what had happened, with the Officer of the Guard, sub-lieutenant Gabriel Enrique Fuentes Campusano, commenting on what had happened regarding the alleged attack on the Regiment.

As a result of this, Commander Morel ordered an immediate meeting with the officers of the military barracks, including captains Armando Staeding Schaffer and Enrique Gómez Ibáñez; lieutenant German Ojeda Bennett; and second-in-command León Rivera González (deceased, according to p. 6.163, Vol. XVII).

K.- That later, the following day, the father of Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya, who was being held in the commune's jail, was officially informed by Regiment Commander Alejandro Morel Donoso that his son had been executed by firing squad the night before.

Said information was provided to him in the presence of other officers, including sub-lieutenant Manuel Montero Souper, who had allegedly witnessed what happened to the youths.

L.- That, finally, to this date, no public official, whether soldier, non-commissioned officer, or officer, of the Húsares Regiment of Angol who was serving at the time of the events, has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to the bodies of the youths Luis Raúl Cotal Álvarez and Ricardo Gustavo Rioseco Montoya, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of information regarding their deaths.”

Source: pdju.cl, August 28, 2025