Luis Fernando Fuentes Riquelme, single, a Biology student at the Universidad de Chile and a militant of the MIR, was detained on September 20, 1974, around 4:00 PM by four agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA): Osvaldo Romo Mena, Basclay Humberto Zapata (alias "El Troglo"), Marcia Alejandra Merino (alias "La Flaca Alejandra"), and Alicia Gómez (alias "La Chica Carola").

They were heavily armed and traveling in a yellow Falcon automobile. At the moment of the detention, they fired upon the victim, wounding him in the gluteal region. Luis Fernando Fuentes was seen by witnesses in November 1974 at two secret DINA detention and torture centers: the house located on Calle José Domingo Cañas in Ñuñoa and the facility known as "Venda Sexy" or "La Discoteque" at the intersection of Calle Irán and Los Plátanos in the commune of Macul.

He was also reportedly held at the Military Hospital, where he underwent surgery for the gunshot wounds inflicted by his captors.

That day, at 4:00 PM, Luis Fernando Fuentes was at the corner of Calle Bilbao and Calle Amapolas in Santiago, where he was to meet a friend who was waiting on the opposite corner. Suddenly, the victim was struck by the aforementioned Falcon automobile and fell to the ground.

He quickly stood up and attempted to flee the scene, but at that moment, his captors fired two shots that struck him in the gluteal region. According to witnesses who requested anonymity out of fear, Luis Fernando was forced into the vehicle, which then sped away from the scene.

The following day, September 21, the victim's mother, Fresia Rosa Riquelme Castillo, received an anonymous phone call from a woman. She informed her of her son's detention and told her that he had been taken, wounded, to the Military Hospital.

Subsequently, in November 1974, the victim was seen at the facility known as "Venda Sexy" or "La Discoteque" (so named because of the constant sexual abuse suffered by the detainees held there and because DINA agents played music at full volume so that the screams of the tortured could not be heard from neighboring houses).

On November 19, 1974, María de la Luz Soto Urbina was detained along with her entire family by DINA agents and soldiers from the Regimiento Tacna. On November 20, the witness was transferred to "Venda Sexy," an old two-story house with a basement, a round living room with no corners, and large windows.

The second floor was accessed via a spiral staircase, where there were four rooms of varying sizes used to torture detainees. According to another witness who lived through the experience, violent torture was also practiced in the basement, where a trained dog was kept to rape female detainees, who were placed naked and tied to a type of iron cot.

The room where the detainees were held was on the first floor; it was a room measuring approximately 3 by 4 meters with frosted windows, parquet flooring, concrete walls, and benches around the perimeter for the prisoners to sit on.

María de la Luz Soto remained in that place until November 23, and during that time, she saw the victim. Luis Fernando Fuentes was handcuffed and severely tortured; he asked the witness for bread, and she also gave him her own coat because she found him to be very cold. The victim appeared frightened and was constantly taken out of the room to be tortured and interrogated.

Sergio Patricio Manríquez Zamorano, the husband of María de la Luz Soto, was also held at "Venda Sexy" between November 20 and 23, 1974. Interrogated and tortured at this facility, he recalls that the guards continuously called the victim by his name to take him for interrogation.

They pressured him constantly to speak; one day, the guards took Luis Fernando out of the room, and the witness never saw him again.

For her part, Luz Arce Sandoval, a Socialist militant who became a DINA collaborator as a result of the torture and threats suffered during her detention, testified in 1990 before the Rettig Report. In her testimony, among many other matters, she stated that at the time Lumi Videla (a MIR militant whose body was thrown by her captors into the interior of the Italian Embassy) was being held at the DINA house on Calle José Domingo Cañas (November 1974), she had told her that Luis Fernando Fuentes, "El Tacho," had arrived as a detainee.

Luz Arce learned that the victim had arrived with a gunshot wound to the gluteus. Furthermore, the witness stated that from September 1974 to October of the same year, Carabineros Captain Ciro Torré was in charge of said facility, assisted by Fernando Adrián Laureani Maturana, "El Teniente Pablo." At the end of October, Ciro Torré was replaced by Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, alias "Max Lenou" or "El Teniente Max," a nickname he had taken from a spy novel.

Months later, in July 1975, the victim's name appeared on the list of 119 Chileans who had allegedly died in clashes abroad. His name was included in the list published by the magazine "Lea" in Buenos Aires, a publication that circulated only once without a responsible editor or printer's imprint.

The veracity of this fact could never be proven. Moreover, no government, not even the Chilean one, officially ratified it. Army Major Enrique Cid Coubles, then Head of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed the various courts that requested information that he lacked any records regarding the matter.

He added that there was no evidence that the named persons, supposedly dead abroad, had ever left the country.

Furthermore, the victim had been sought by security services since January 1974. On that date, his home was raided by military personnel. Subsequently, in June of the same year, two civilians arrived at his home again, demanding that his mother reveal Luis Fernando's whereabouts; they took a photograph of him and issued threats against him.

He was no longer living with his family, given the events described and the strange phone calls he was receiving continuously.

Luis Fernando Fuentes was a friend and fellow militant of Agustín Reyes González and Ramón Hugo Martínez González, "El Tano." The former was detained on May 25, 1974, by DINA agents and taken to Londres 38.

He is currently a forcibly disappeared person, just like the victim. For his part, Ramón Hugo Martínez was detained on January 13, 1975, and taken, wounded, to the secret detention center known as Villa Grimaldi, where he was subjected to barbaric torture.

His body appeared at the Legal Medical Institute, where it had been sent by a Military Prosecutor's Office. Prior to September 11, 1973, all three friends had contact and a friendship with Osvaldo Romo Mena, who at the time was a community leader in Lo Hermida.

After the military coup, as previously noted, he began to be sought by DINA agents. On one occasion, Luis Fernando was at the home of Ramón Hugo Martínez when it was raided. The friends managed to escape with the help of neighbors. The agents then detained two of the victim's cousins, María Consuelo and Rosa Clara Zúñiga Riquelme, who were interrogated regarding Luis Fernando.

While her son was already in the power of the DINA, Mrs. Fresia Riquelme continued to receive anonymous calls informing her that Luis Fernando was being constantly moved from the detention center to different locations.

Judicial and/or Administrative Actions

On September 26, 1974, a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) was filed for the victim before the Santiago Court of Appeals, registered under N°1146 74. The filing stated that Luis Fernando Fuentes had been detained by civilians who identified themselves as belonging to the Air Force.

Without carrying out any proceedings, the Court declared itself incompetent and referred the records to the Military Court on September 27, 1974. On December 5, 1974, the first and only response was obtained from the Minister of the Interior and Division General, Raúl Benavides Escobar, informing that the victim was not being held by order of that Ministry of State.

On April 21, 1975, the Military Court, because the gathered evidence did not show that the victim "had been detained or arrested by virtue of an order from a military jurisdiction authority," declared itself incompetent and returned the files to the Santiago Court of Appeals, which accepted jurisdiction on April 30, 1975.

Along with accepting jurisdiction, the Court rejected the amparo that same day, without conducting any proceedings and seven months after it had been filed. The only information the courts collected during that time was that provided by Minister Benavides. The records were sent to the 8th Criminal Court of Santiago, where case file N°12.069 was opened on May 6, 1975.

During the processing of this case, Colonel Jorge Espinoza Ulloa, Executive Secretary of the National Executive Secretariat of Detainees (SENDET), responded to an inquiry from the Court, informing that the victim was not among the detainees registered with that agency.

For its part, following a judicial order, the Investigations police stated they had made inquiries at the Legal Medical Institute, healthcare facilities, Carabineros stations, penal institutions, and SENDET, without obtaining results that would allow for the establishment of Luis Fernando Fuentes's whereabouts (June 25, 1975).

In a document addressed to the Court, Fresia Riquelme requested the appearance of Jorge Dagoberto Alarcón Ramírez, a friend of her son who was then being held at Tres Alamos and who was a hearsay witness to the circumstances surrounding the victim's detention.

On July 22, 1975, this case was consolidated with case file N°11.895 2, which had been initiated on March 20, 1975, for the victim's alleged disappearance.

In the filing, Fresia Riquelme told the Court that through an anonymous call, she had learned of her son's detention by agents of the DINA. She also stated that she had been informed that Luis Fernando Fuentes had remained at the Military Hospital, adding that the victim was being permanently moved by his captors from one place to another, being seen by witnesses who did not want to identify themselves for fear, and that she herself was certain she had seen her son on two occasions while he was being transported in a vehicle.

On April 25, 1975, the Minister of the Interior and Division General, Raúl Benavides Escobar, reported that the victim was not being held by order of that Ministry of State. Furthermore, Ramón Ortega Jiménez, Chief of Medical Statistics at the Military Hospital, issued an official statement saying that Luis Fernando Fuentes Riquelme had not been admitted to that hospital center (April 7, 1975).

Air Force Colonel Alberto Spoerer Covarrubias, Director of the Chilean Air Force Hospital, reported in similar terms, and an identical response was obtained from the Carabineros Hospital. Following a judicial order, the Investigations police also made inquiries at the Military, Air Force, and Carabineros hospitals, establishing that his admission did not appear in the respective logs.

Inquiries were also made at private clinics, sanatoriums, and community health centers, without success.

On July 31, 1975, the plaintiff reported to the Court the appearance of the victim's name on a list of 119 Chileans allegedly killed abroad. In this regard, it was requested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs be officially notified to report whether the bodies had been identified; whether it was possible to repatriate the victim's remains; whether his death was registered with the respective Consular Agency; and what the source of information was for such press publications.

A letter that Fresia Riquelme sent to the President of the Court of Appeals, Rubén Galecio Gómez, was also attached, in which she presented the situation of her son's detention and disappearance.

Regarding the above points, the Minister of the Interior and Division General, Raúl Benavides Escobar, responded to a letter from Mrs. Fresia Riquelme on September 4, 1975, telling her that "after conducting the necessary inquiries, it has not been possible to establish the whereabouts of Luis Fuentes Riquelme." Minister Benavides added, "there is also no record that said person has left the country." This response was attached to the case file.

After Jorge Alarcón Ramírez testified before the Court, and without further proceedings, the summary was closed on December 10, 1975, and the case was temporarily dismissed because the "perpetration of the crime was not completely justified." On January 16, 1976, the Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed the resolution.

On May 7, 1991, a criminal complaint was filed before the 8th Criminal Court for the crime of aggravated kidnapping committed against Luis Fernando Fuentes. Among other proceedings, it was requested that Osvaldo Romo Mena and Marcia Merino be summoned to testify; that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs be ordered to send all documentation it possessed regarding the inquiries made concerning the list of 119 Chileans allegedly killed abroad; and that María de la Luz Soto, who had been with the victim at the facility known as "Venda Sexy," be summoned to testify.

On November 16, 1992, former DINA agent Osvaldo Romo Mena was detained upon his arrival in Chile after being expelled from Brazil. His expulsion and previous detention in that country resulted from his having been located living in Brazil under a false identity.

Once detained in Chile, by December 1992, he had testified in several cases involving forcibly disappeared persons, and in 6 of them, he had been charged as a defendant.

His location was the result of a series of proceedings ordered by the 3rd Criminal Court in the case regarding the disappearance of Alfonso Chanfreau Oyarce. He had been living in Brazil since late 1975 under the name Osvaldo Andrés Henríquez Mena, an identity that had been granted to him by the DINA at the time it was decided he should leave the country.

At that time, he had been summoned by several courts processing cases of forcibly disappeared persons.

Additionally, the family carried out a series of administrative actions aimed at finding the victim's whereabouts. Letters were sent to various authorities—the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Justice, the President of the Supreme Court, etc.—without achieving positive responses.

They also visited hospitals, Tres Alamos, the jail, the penitentiary, and military regiments. Mrs. Fresia Riquelme has never been able to learn the fate of her son.

Source: (Rettig Report)

The Second Chamber of the Supreme Court rejected a cassation appeal and confirmed the sentence for six former DINA agents for the crime of qualified kidnapping of university student Luis Fernando Fuentes Riquelme, perpetrated in 1974.

The convicted individuals are César Manríquez Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, and the late Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez. All were sentenced to 10 years and one day of effective imprisonment as authors of the crime.

The ruling, which was unanimous, is classified as a crime against humanity; therefore, the statute of limitations does not apply.

The magistrates in charge of the sentence were Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, and attorney Gonzalo Ruz.

The ruling states that "the classification of a crime against humanity given to the illicit act committed compels the consideration of International Human Rights Law regulations, which exclude the application of both the total statute of limitations and the so-called partial statute of limitations, as these institutes are understood to be closely linked in their foundations and, consequently, contrary to the jus cogens regulations originating from that sphere of International Criminal Law, which reject impunity and the imposition of penalties not proportional to the intrinsic gravity of the crimes, based on the passage of time," adding that, "under such conditions, the aforementioned appeals must be dismissed."

Regarding the specific case, Luis Fernando Fuentes Riquelme, 23, was kidnapped on September 20, 1974, at the intersection of Calle Bilbao and Calle Amapolas in Santiago. Luis was a Biology student at the Universidad de Chile and was abducted by agents of the DINA's Brigada Caupolicán.

After resisting the detention, DINA personnel shot him and transported him to a torture center. His trail was lost on November 23, 1974, and he has been missing since then.

Source: iniciaradio.cl 15/12/2022 Date: 12-15-2022

Former LMS students who were victims of the military dictatorship receive posthumous degrees at the Universidad de Chile

Last Wednesday, April 11, at the institution's Main House, a symbolic graduation and delivery of professional degrees owed to 100 students of the U. de Chile who were forcibly disappeared or political executions during the dictatorship took place. Four of them were from Manuel de Salas.

The Universidad de Chile delivered posthumous and symbolic degrees to its students who were forcibly disappeared or political executions during the civil-military dictatorship commanded by Augusto Pinochet Ugarte.

Relatives of 100 students received their owed degrees this April 11 at the institution's Main House: four of them were former students of the Liceo Experimental Manuel de Salas.

They are

Martín Elgueta Pinto, forcibly disappeared, graduated from the Liceo in 1970, who received the degree of Commercial Engineer; Luis Fernando Fuentes Riquelme, forcibly disappeared, graduated in 1969, the degree of State Professor in Biology and Science; Luis Julio Guajardo Zamorano, forcibly disappeared, graduated in 1968, the degree of Civil Mechanical Engineer; and Eugenio Robotham Bravo, forcibly disappeared, graduated in 1968, the degree of Sociologist.

The highest authority of the University, Rector Ennio Vivaldi, presented the recognitions and addressed each of the relatives and attendees. "The U. de Chile is making a gesture of moral autonomy today. The military dictatorship told us they had died, and today we feel entitled to say otherwise and present them with this diploma," he highlighted.

According to the Director of the LMS, "today, the names of the four recognized students, in addition to 11 other forcibly disappeared and political executions from the Liceo, are honored in our Memorial, which pays tribute to these fighters who dignified us with their sacrifice."

On September 11 of this year, the U. de Chile will distinguish the new names revealed by the investigation, and the process will continue until all students who were victims of political violence during the civil-military dictatorship are recognized.

The Memorial Every morning, at the start of the school day, students of the Liceo Manuel de Salas enter through the main entrance of the institution and are greeted by a sculpture of two youths made by Sergio Castillo Amunategui, which commemorates the 15 former students who were disappeared or executed during Pinochet's civil-military dictatorship.

The Memorial was inaugurated in 1991 in the establishment's park, and at the end of 2013, the LMS Alumni Center proposed to the Liceo's administration to move the sculpture to a more visible location. After the development of a project, the Memorial was repositioned in September 2015 to this daily space of entry into a new day of experiences and learning.

Thus, day by day, students can see and remember the names of our fallen:

María Inés Alvarado Börgel, Jaime Buzio Lorca, Arnoldo Camú Veloso, Luis Alberto Corvalán Castillo, Alejandro de la Barra Villaroel, Martín Elgueta Pinto, Sergio Gabriel Flores Durán, Luis Fernando Fuentes Riquelme, Carlos Enrique Godoy Lagarrigue, Luis Julio Guajardo Zamorano, Jorge Mario Jordán Domic, Hugo Martínez González, Littré Quiroga Carvajal, Jaime Eugenio Robotham Bravo, and Edwin Van Yuric Altamirano.

Source: IMS.CL 13/4/2018 Date: 04-13-2018

Memory and reparation 45 years after the Civil-Military Coup: U. de Chile delivers posthumous degrees to State Professors who were former students of the Faculty

Within the framework of the commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the coup d'état in our country and as part of the reparation gestures made by the Universidad de Chile, in an emotional ceremony, Rector Prof.

Ennio Vivaldi Véjar and our Dean Prof. Carlos Ruiz Schneider delivered posthumous degrees to students of our Faculty who belonged to the Pedagogical Institute and were forcibly disappeared or political executions.

They are José Modesto Amigo Latorre, State Professor in Philosophy; Jorge Enrique Espinosa Méndez, State Professor in Mathematics; José Fernando Romero Lagos, State Professor in Spanish; and Juan Aniceto Meneses Reyes, State Professor in History and Geography, who join the 100 posthumous degrees delivered on April 11.

José Modesto Amigo Latorre, a MIR militant, died in 1986 after the "Operation Return" in a clash in Peñaflor. He was a Philosophy student until his detention and subsequent expulsion from the country.

Jorge Enrique Espinosa Méndez, a MIR militant, was detained in June 1974 by DINA agents. He was seen by witnesses at Londres 38. He is in the status of forcibly disappeared and is one of the 119 victims of Operation Colombo.

José Fernando Romero Lagos, a MIR militant, was 22 years old when he was detained by Carabineros and was executed on September 15, 1973, at the Niblinto police station, Bío-Bío Region. To this day, he remains a forcibly disappeared person.

Juan Aniceto Meneses Reyes, a militant of the Radical Youth, was detained in August 1974 by DINA agents and taken to Londres 38 and subsequently to Cuatro Álamos. He remains in the status of forcibly disappeared.

State Professors

The Public Instruction Law of April 1889 accounted for the characteristics of the training received by students of the Pedagogical Institute, an institution of the Universidad de Chile intended to train secondary education teachers.

Common to all courses were the philosophy of science, theoretical and practical pedagogy, theoretical and practical gymnastics, and general principles of constitutional law, administration, and political economy.

Students were required to frequently perform pedagogical exercises to become accustomed to the art of teaching. They were also required, at least once a month, to present original work related to the subjects studied, as well as to prepare lessons for their colleagues and for State high schools.

Courses were not to exceed ten students.

Stimulus was provided for frequent visits to museums, theaters, exhibitions, the astronomical observatory, and study trips.

A student who passes the general examination will receive a diploma from the Supreme Government certifying their title of State Professor.

First ceremony On April 11, posthumous degrees were delivered to 100 students who were forcibly disappeared or political executions.

On that occasion, Dean Prof. María Eugenia Góngora, accompanied by Rector Prof. Ennio Vivaldi Véjar, delivered the following posthumous and symbolic degrees: Gabriela Edelweiss Arredondo Andrade, Primary Education Teacher.

Álvaro Miguel Barrios Duque, State Professor in English. Alfonso René Chanfreau Oyarce, State Professor in Philosophy. Bernardo del Tránsito Cortés Castro, State Professor in Spanish. Félix Santiago de la Jara Goyenechea, State Professor in History and Geography.

Luis Enrique Elgueta Díaz, Primary Education Teacher. Ruth María Escobar Salinas, State Professor in History and Geography. Héctor Manuel Garay Hermosilla, State Professor in Primary Education with a minor in Natural Sciences.

Carlos Eduardo Guerrero Gutiérrez, State Professor in History and Geography and Licentiate in Plastic Arts. Guillermo Hernán Herrera Manríquez, State Professor in History and Geography. Nelson Adrián Herrera Riveros, Bachelor in Philosophy.

Carlos Eduardo Lagos Salinas, State Professor in English. Sergio Arturo Flores Ponce, State Professor in Philosophy. Alonso Lazo Rojas, State Professor in Spanish. María Cristina López Stewart, State Professor in History and Geography.

Rodrigo Alejandro Medina Hernández, State Professor in Philosophy. Jécar Antonio Neghme Cristi, State Professor in History and Geography. Luis Hernán Núñez Rojas, Licentiate in Philosophy. Rosetta Gianna Pallini González, Primary Education Teacher.

Mireya de Lourdes Pérez Vargas, State Professor in Spanish. Patricia Angélica Quiroz Nilo, Bachelor in Classical Languages. Agustín Eduardo Reyes González, State Professor in Philosophy. Sergio Alfonso Reyes Navarrete, State Professor in History and Geography and Commercial Engineer.

Herbit Guillermo Ríos Soto, State Professor in History and Geography. Ernesto Guillermo Salamanca Morales, State Professor in Philosophy. Marcela Soledad Sepúlveda Troncoso, Specialist in Special Education.

Ismael Darío Chávez Lobos, State Professor in Music Education and Public Administrator. Jacqueline Paulette Drouilly Yurich, State Professor in Music Education, Social Worker, and Master in Theater Direction.

Luis Fernando Fuentes Riquelme, State Professor in Biology and Science. Mario Ernesto Mujica Barros, Mathematics Teacher. Héctor Avelino Orellana Rojas, State Professor in Mathematics. Clara Luz Rubilar Ocampo, State Professor in Mathematics.

Source: uchile.cl 21/12/2017 Date: 12-21-2017