Luis Alfredo Díaz Jeria, single, 20 years old at the time of the events, a merchant, was detained on September 20, 1973, by officers from the Curacaví Carabineros Station while he was leaving a commercial establishment accompanied by his girlfriend.

He was taken to that police unit, from where he disappeared on September 27. His mother, Mrs. Ana María Jeria Zúñiga, stated in the respective judicial proceeding regarding her son's disappearance that the arrest was carried out by 3 Carabineros officers who were traveling in an institutional jeep, and that one of the captors had the surname "Espinoza" and another was named "Cirio." She added that the act of detention was extremely violent, the victim was punished from the very moment of his apprehension, and that when she went to the police station, she was ordered to remain silent; nevertheless, she brought him clothes and food, and at one point, she managed to see her son through the opening of a gate. On another occasion, she saw him outside the police station when, in the company of other detainees, they were taken out in a grey pickup truck and forced to dismantle prefabricated wooden houses that were then moved to the station. On September 26 or 27, when she went to the police station, Mrs. Ana María Jeria was informed by Lieutenant Aravena that her son was no longer there and had been transferred to the Estadio Nacional. Days later, at three in the morning, 4 Carabineros with the surnames Valenzuela, Espinoza, Valdebenito, and a Sergeant they called Exequiel, raided her home and claimed to be looking for the victim; when she pointed out the absurdity of the situation, they left, stating that they did not know where Luis Alfredo could be.

The victim's time at the Curacaví police station is confirmed by the testimonies of people who were held there during those same days. Mr. Vicente Rubio Gálvez stated in his judicial testimony that he was indeed detained in late September 1973 by officers from the Curacaví Station and taken to that police unit; his captors were Sergeant Espinoza and a Carabinero with the surname Valdebenito.

He was in the same cell as Luis Díaz Jeria, who was taken out one Thursday morning and never heard from again. The victim told him that the Carabinero with the surname Donoso beat him every time he took him out of the cell, which caused him severe pain in his testicles.

Mr. Juan Guillermo Segura Díaz stated in his judicial testimony that he was detained at the Curacaví Station from September 26 to 28, 1973. Luis Alfredo Díaz Jeria, whom he knew from before, was also being held at the police unit.

He told him that he had been beaten and showed him bruises he had on his stomach. Mr. Segundo Salvador Valdebenito Barrera declared in his appearance before the court that he had been detained at the Curacaví Station for 4 days in September 1973.

There, he saw Luis Alfredo Díaz, whom he knew because they were from the same town. Finally, Mr. Juan Núñez Oyarzún stated in his judicial declaration that he was indeed detained by Sergeant Espinoza and taken to the Curacaví Station in the days following September 11, 1973; Núñez added that the day after his own detention, Luis Alfredo Díaz Jeria arrived at the station as a detainee.

Every night they were taken out of their cells and punished. The witness saw one of the police officers beat Díaz Jeria and force him to eat horse excrement; the victim was in very poor condition as a result of the torture to which he had been subjected. On one occasion, he was taken out of the unit to dismantle prefabricated houses in the company of other detainees, among whom was the victim.

For her part, Mrs. Nancy de las Mercedes Nataly Castillo, Luis Díaz's girlfriend, stated in her judicial testimony that she was indeed with the victim when he was detained by the Carabineros, among whom she recognized the officer with the surname Espinoza.

On the same day of the detention, she went to the Curacaví Station, where she managed to see him. She saw him again the following day, and they also gave her some clothes that were stained with blood. That same day, she saw Luis Alfredo unloading houses in front of the station. After the arrest, the Carabineros at the station called her "The Widow."

His family carried out numerous efforts and inquiries to find his whereabouts, but all were fruitless. In the first days of his disappearance, she even went to Cuesta Barriga, where it was known that several political prisoners had been executed.

Mrs. Ana María Jeria says in the criminal complaint filed for her son's kidnapping that "even though road workers were 'cleaning' the Cuesta and we saw a corpse, remains of clothing, blood, and a persistent and penetrating smell of human remains, I could not find my son."

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On May 12, 1979, a criminal complaint was filed for the crime of kidnapping against the Carabineros officers who carried out his detention. The lawsuit was filed before the Casablanca Court of Letters and was assigned case number 20.103.

During the proceedings, the Carabineros submitted a list of the institution's personnel who were serving at the Curacaví Station on the date of the events, which includes the officers whose surnames have already been identified.

Likewise, an order to investigate was issued to the Valparaíso Investigative Police and the Curacaví Carabineros Station. On May 30, 1979, Carabineros Captain Gerardo Alejandro Aravena Longa appeared before the court and stated that he was in charge of the indicated station from 1972 until the beginning of 1974, and during that period, he never had news of a kidnapping and did not remember knowing any individual named Luis Alfredo Díaz Jeria.

On June 8, 1979, the Casablanca Court of Letters declared itself incompetent to continue hearing the case and sent the records to the II Military Court, which accepted jurisdiction and ordered the Second Prosecutor's Office of Santiago to investigate case 437-79.

In case 437-79, the previously issued investigation orders were returned, yielding no results. In both, the complainant was interviewed and ratified her statements. Gerardo Aravena Longa appeared again before the Military Prosecutor, stating that the people who were detained from September 20 onwards in Curacaví were held on suspicion and subsequently released due to a lack of evidence against them in the town of Curacaví itself; of all those detained in Curacaví from September 20 onwards, none were sent to the Estadio Nacional.

Subsequently, Carabineros Second Sergeant César Valenzuela Sepúlveda appeared and stated that he did indeed know Luis Alfredo Díaz Jeria and his mother when he served at the Curacaví Station; he added that Díaz Jeria had arrived at the station as a detainee on several occasions prior to September 11, 1973, but that it is completely false that he was detained by station personnel in the days following September 11 and taken to the unit, as he would remember him perfectly since he knew him, and it is false that he went to Luis Jeria's home.

For his part, retired Carabineros Sub-officer Manuel del Carmen Espinoza Aguilera stated in his appearance before the court that he was indeed serving at the Curacaví unit on the indicated date and that he knew Luis Díaz Jeria, who had been detained on several occasions for different crimes; however, he claimed it is absolutely false that he was detained subsequently.

The Sub-officer recalled that in the days after September 11, 1973, he commented to the station's officers about why "Cabeza de Chuzo"—Díaz Jeria's nickname—had not appeared. The declarant also said it is false that he went to Díaz Jeria's home to ask about him after September 11.

Carabineros Corporal 1st Class Arnoldo Alfredo Valdebenito Sanhueza stated in his judicial declaration that they were indeed serving at the Curacaví Station on the indicated date, but he does not remember participating in any detention of Luis Díaz Jeria, whom he did not know, much less his family.

Other Carabineros who were serving at the Curacaví Station at the time of the events appeared before the Prosecutor's Office but did not provide new information to the case. Likewise, the witnesses of the detention, Vicente Rubio Gálvez, Nancy Nataly Castillo, Juan Guillermo Segura Díaz, and Juan Muñoz Oyarzún, testified and ratified their statements.

On the other hand, negative reports were received from the International Police, the Ministry of the Interior, the Investigative Service, and the CNI, and the victim's affiliation record was received. On December 10, 1982, the Military Judge dismissed the case temporarily and totally on the grounds that, although the investigation was exhausted, the perpetration of the reported facts was not fully justified.

The anthropomorphic records of Luis Alfredo Díaz Jeria were attached to case 4449 AF of the 22nd Criminal Court of Santiago for the crime of illegal burial in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery of unidentified persons who died between September and December 1973.

The investigating judge of the case ordered the excavation of 108 graves in September 1991. From there, 125 bodies were exhumed and sent to the Legal Medical Institute. Currently (late 1992), the forensic identification reports are pending.

Source: (Corporation Report)

Minister Mariela Cifuentes commissioned the work to the PDI Human Rights Brigade and the SML.

Initial tests indicated that they could correspond to victims of the dictatorship. The San Miguel Court of Appeals confirmed this Friday that they are working on the discovery of human remains found in the Hacienda San José sector in Curacaví, after initial tests indicated that they could correspond to victims of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

Minister Mariela Cifuentes commissioned the work to the PDI Human Rights Brigade and the Legal Medical Service (SML) after locals found a tibia last March in an area where more skeletal remains have been found.

Although the range associated with the carbon-14 test goes from 1965 to 2014, the minister contacted relatives of political executions that occurred in the Curacaví sector between February and March 1974.

From the Association of Relatives of Political Executed, its president, Alicia Lira, said that they have not yet been contacted, but pointed out that this may be due to the secrecy with which the investigation is being carried out. "We do not have information about the excavation that Minister Mariela Cifuentes is carrying out, even though we have several complaints regarding political executions.

In fact, about two years ago we were at a farm near there, there were also excavations, and in everything that was searched, no remains were found, despite the fact that there were signs of bullets," she indicated.

Lira maintained that "we do not have (information) on what the minister is doing today. I think it must be a rigorous way for the minister not to alarm or worry the relatives, because the facts have shown that when a lot of information is given, it creates an expectation that is later very painful, especially for the relatives of the forcibly disappeared." "A drama still unresolved" Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Héctor Salazar stated that "the discovery of some bones is directly related to a still unresolved drama that affects hundreds of Chilean families, which has to do with a loved one who was kidnapped, executed, and whose body was hidden." "In Curacaví, immediately after the coup, a unit of the Curacaví Carabineros themselves executed several people at Cuesta Barriga, some of whom survived and had to go into hiding. There is someone convicted in Punta Peuco who, at that time, was a Carabineros officer in charge of the Curacaví police unit for these crimes. He has not provided any collaboration," he asserted. Various DNA tests will be carried out to identify the bones, and the site of the discovery remains closed to both neighbors and workers in the area.

Source: cooperativa.cl 7/12/2018 Date: 12-07-2018

Activity of the Body Sociology Research Nucleus: Memorial for the Forcibly Disappeared Inaugurated in Curacaví

The Human Rights Committee of this city and other groups, among which is the Body Sociology Research Nucleus of the Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Social Sciences, inaugurated the stone that will keep alive the memory of the day seven residents of Curacaví were murdered against a wall with point-blank shots.

On September 16, 1973, Segundo Nicolás Garate Torres (28), Jorge Gustavo Gómez Retamales (28), Justo Joaquín Mendoza Santibáñez (23), Gastón Reimundo Manzo Santibáñez (34), Juan Manuel Toro Toro (30), and Juan Guillermo Barrera Barrera were detained in Curacaví as political prisoners.

On April 2, 2011, the Memorial for the Forcibly Disappeared and Political Executed was erected, located at the former Curacaví Carabineros Station, so that the Chilean people do not forget what happened that day.

The initiative was carried out by the Human Rights Committee of this city and the Body Sociology Research Nucleus of the Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Social Sciences, among other groups. The former Carabineros Station was a place of political imprisonment and torture where several citizens were deprived of their liberty and most were executed.

Therefore, the installation of this memorial is a historical symbol since "it seeks not to forget what happened to those who were kidnapped and killed in that place," commented Kerly Fuentes Mucherl, a member of the Body Sociology Nucleus of the Department of Sociology of FACSO, University of Chile.

She added: "In the place where the station was located, it is intended to carry out activities for the Curacaví community, such as: educational and interactive workshops, the installation of a community library, and providing medical and legal attention." The implementation of the set of educational and cultural activities at the former Carabineros Station will be in charge of the Curacaví Human Rights Committee and the Leftist Youth Movement (MOJIC) of this city.

Simultaneously—the sociologist commented—the "Memories/Punished Bodies" research line of the Body Sociology Nucleus will conduct a study on the logic of punishment applied to those who were kidnapped in this station during the years 1973-1977. "This differentiates this place a lot from others," she noted.

In fact, Leopoldo Montenegro, of the Londres 38 Corporation, considered the possibility of thinking about recognition for other buildings where Chilean citizens were also tortured and killed during the dictatorship.

About 60 people were present at the site, among whom were relatives of the forcibly disappeared, who inaugurated the memorial, on which the names of their loved ones were inscribed. Also present was former political prisoner Juana Aguilera Jaramillo, who currently belongs to the Ethics Commission Against Torture.

Source: uchile.cl 11/4/2011 Date: 04-11-2011

Breaking the silence of children and adolescents who were political executions during the civil-military dictatorship 1973-1990 (BOOK)

Testimonies, photographs, letters, and other documents that families and friends provided or wrote especially to be published are incorporated into the book "Breaking the silence of children and adolescents who were political executions during the civil-military dictatorship 1973-1990," which was produced by the Association of Relatives of Political Executed (AFEP) with the support of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage, through the Culture, Memory, and Human Rights Unit, and the Human Rights Chair of the University of Chile.

The publication, based mainly on the Report of the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation (1991) and the Report of the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation (1996), seeks to reconstruct in a comprehensive and careful way each of the lives and stories of the victims.

During the research, the archive of the Association of Relatives of Political Executed was accessed, where documents that families have preserved over the years are kept. Illustrations by Álvaro Gómez were also included. The creation process was a complex challenge that involved combining delicacy, respect, and methodological rigor to state a painful and inescapable truth in this work.

Source: cultura.gob.cl 14/9/2023

COURT CONFIRMED SENTENCES FOR THREE CARABINEROS FOR THE EXECUTION OF OPPONENTS IN 1973

Former Lieutenant Gerardo Aravena Longa, former Sub-officer Gilberto Egaña García, and former First Sergeant Arnoldo Valdebenito Sanhueza were sentenced to 15 years and one day in prison. The crimes occurred at Cuesta Barriga, in Curacaví, a few days after the military coup.

The San Miguel Court of Appeals confirmed the sentences of three retired members of the Carabineros as authors of the executions of three political prisoners in the Cuesta Barriga sector, in the commune of Curacaví, west of Santiago, in September 1973, a few days after the military coup that began the dictatorship.

The V Chamber of the appellate court ratified the ruling of Judge Marianela Cifuentes, who sentenced former militarized police Lieutenant Gerardo Alejandro Aravena Longa, former Sub-officer Gilberto Arturo Santiago Egaña García, and former First Sergeant Arnoldo Alfredo Valdebenito Sanhueza to 15 years and one day in prison as authors of the aggravated kidnapping of Jorge Gustavo Gómez Retamales, Gastón Raimundo Manzo Santibáñez, and Enrique Patricio Venegas Santibáñez—the latter survived.

According to the case file, after being abducted from their homes on September 12, 1973, the men were taken to the Curacaví Carabineros Station, where they were kept locked up, along with other people, and subjected to interrogations and mistreatment.

On September 16, a patrol took them to Cuesta Barriga, where they were executed by the Carabineros, who subsequently abandoned the bodies at the site. "All very humble people, they were kidnapped and executed by police forces in charge of Carabineros Lieutenant Gerardo Aravena Longa, who directed the human rights violations in the area starting September 12, 1973," stressed lawyer Pablo Fuenzalida, of the Caucoto Abogados Law Firm, who represents the victims' families and expressed satisfaction with the ruling. "In an incredible story, Mr.

Venegas survived the execution and managed to escape wounded. Jorge Gómez and Gastón Manzo died on the spot in the horrendous massacres of Curacaví," he recounted. In the civil part, the Court ordered the State of Chile to pay compensation of 710 million pesos to the victims' families.

During the dictatorship (1973-1990), according to official data, some 2,300 people died at the hands of State agents, of whom 1,192 remain as forcibly disappeared and another 33,000 were tortured and imprisoned for political reasons.

Source: serpaj.cl (no date)