Carlos Germán Maldonado Torres, a father of two and agricultural laborer, and Luis René Lobos Gutiérrez, a married father of two and agricultural laborer, were detained by civilians and military personnel on October 21, 1973, in the town of Santa Ana de Chena. Since that date, they have remained in the status of forcibly disappeared.

That afternoon, after a soccer match ended at a field located in the vicinity of Santa Ana de Chena—in which the victims participated—all members of the team went to a nearby restaurant; Luis Lobos and Carlos Maldonado were in the group.

Both went to the location accompanied by their mutual friend Juan Leyton Contreras, a Corporal in the FACH (Chilean Air Force), who was carrying a weapon. On the way, the three friends, who were intoxicated, encountered a pickup truck driving in the opposite direction.

At that moment, Juan Leyton signaled the driver of the vehicle to stop. The driver, identified as Sergio Raúl Carvajal Arrieta, who was traveling with a local girl named Fanny Arenas, later stated before the Judge of the 7th Criminal Court of Santiago that: "When I was returning home from the plot of Ernesto de la Fuente... on the road between the 'La Estrella' restaurant owned by Roberto Correa and a soccer field that no longer exists, a group of three subjects was coming, and I could also see that another group of people was coming further behind.

One of the first group signaled me to stop and told me verbatim 'why are you driving with your high beams on,' adding something to the effect that I was blinding him. I replied that that was my problem.

It seems this subject was bothered by my response and made me get out of the car. I had to do this because he pulled out a pistol and held me at gunpoint. He then proceeded to search me and told me to continue.

These people continued on their way... The subject said he was a member of the FACH. I must even add that one of his companions told him not to do anything, since he apparently recognized me. He also told him to keep going, but despite this, the soldier always did what I have already indicated."

In his statement, he notes that he knew Juan Leyton Contreras by sight and that he did not know the other two people, "and it was the only time I saw them when they were detained by a military patrol, after the events I have recounted."

The witness continues his account by noting that from there he went back to the house of Ernesto de la Fuente. Carlos Diethelm was also there. After recounting the events to them, they decided to report what had happened to the military personnel who were stationed at the time at the Padre Hurtado Carabineros station.

Accompanied by two uniformed officers and a civilian who was their superior, the three smallholders went in Carlos Diethelm's Ford Falcon to the "La Estrella" restaurant. On the way, Ernesto de la Fuente stopped at his house to pick up his vehicle, a Fiat 125, at the request of the military.

Once at the restaurant, the uniformed officers forced all the employees to go out into the street, "among whom I recognized the one who had held me at gunpoint," Sergio Carvajal Arrieta told the Investigating Judge of the case, "plus the two subjects who were accompanying him when I was intercepted. (From there) ...we went in the vehicles to the Padre Hurtado checkpoint, which was occupied by only military personnel.

The three subjects were taken in there by a soldier who was apparently an officer. He ordered us to leave because the curfew was approaching."

Ernesto de la Fuente Gandarillas recounted that: "When we arrived at the Padre Hurtado post, they took the three detainees out, and later the military requested that I provide my vehicle to transport Leyton to the Regimental Headquarters located at FISA.

After quite a while... upon returning to Padre Hurtado... out of curiosity I asked about the other two detainees, and a soldier who was on guard duty replied that they had been transferred to the Carabineros, without telling me which station or precinct."

Regarding these events, the Carabineros Captain Juan Fernando Ibacache González, Chief of the Malloco Precinct at the time the events occurred, was summoned to testify before the 7th Criminal Court of the capital.

On that occasion, he stated that: "On October 21, 1973, at approximately 10:30 PM, Ernesto Lebreda Lueje arrived... (at the Malloco Precinct)... driving a military patrol in a car composed of two conscripts and two civilians, the latter in the capacity of detainees, who appeared drunk and were identified as Luis René Lobos Gutiérrez and Carlos Germán Maldonado Torres, who, according to the arresting conscripts, had participated in an incident with a member of the Chilean Air Force.

Because I had no jurisdiction over the place where the incident had allegedly occurred and considering there was no merit to keep the named individuals detained, I proceeded to return them to their captors... All those mentioned left the place in the same vehicle."

Ernesto Lebreda Lueje, owner of a local champagne factory, had been providing his vehicles to military personnel for patrol duties since September 11, 1973, as he himself acknowledged, and as confirmed by an Official Letter from Army Colonel René E. Pérez Negrete, Commander of the No. 18 "Guardia Vieja" Mountain Infantry Regiment.

On the other hand, the then-Army Sergeant 2nd Class, stationed in Padre Hurtado at the time of the events, indicated to Mrs. Mercedes Castillo, Carlos Maldonado's partner, that he did not participate in the transfer of the detainees to the Malloco Precinct, but rather that it had been his duty to take charge of the FACH Corporal, Juan Leyton Contreras.

In her statement, Mrs. Mercedes Castillo, in addition to noting that she visited various detention centers without positive results, adds that: "In Padre Hurtado... I spoke with a Sergeant who was on guard duty, and he showed me a book in which it appeared that both Lobos and Maldonado had been arrested at 6:00 PM and released at 9:00 PM on the same day, October 21, 1973...

In the part where my partner should have signed, there appeared a signature that does not correspond to his, as he was almost illiterate." In her account, she continues by noting that "the then-Lieutenant Ibacache told me verbatim that he had not located our relatives, and that 'they had gone to drop them off at the Las Brisas bridge.' When I told him that we would go look for them at that place, he said we should not do it, because we would not find them there either." Indeed, they went to the place and were unable to locate their relatives, who remain disappeared after being seen for the last time at the Malloco Precinct by the then-Carabineros Lieutenant Juan Ibacache.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On June 7, 1974, a Writ of Amparo (Habeas Corpus), case file No. 559-74, was filed on behalf of Luis Lobos Gutiérrez before the Santiago Court of Appeals, which was rejected on September 23, 1974, based on the reports from the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Defense stating that they had no records of the victim's detention.

On September 30, 1974, the Supreme Court confirmed the resolution denying the appeal.

On August 13, 1974, the families filed another Writ of Amparo, which was registered as No. 915-74 on behalf of the victims, before the Santiago Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals requested reports on the individuals from the Ministry of the Interior and the Carabineros, who reported nearly three months later that they had no record of the detainees. Based on the cited information, the appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeals on December 9, 1974, and it was ordered that the records be sent to the competent Criminal Judge so that the corresponding summary investigation could be initiated.

On December 11, 1974, the process regarding the alleged disappearance of the victims, case file No. 76.543, was initiated in the 7th Criminal Court of the capital.

In said case, various witnesses to the investigated events testified before the Judge.

On October 10, 1974, the families filed a complaint for the alleged disappearance of the victims before the Talagante Court. The case was registered as No. 22.851-2. On January 16, 1975, a criminal complaint for the homicide of Luis Lobos Gutiérrez was filed before the same Court, which the Judge would later consolidate with case file No. 76.543.

On January 17, 1975, the Judge declared himself incompetent to continue hearing the case, because the place where the events occurred was under the jurisdiction of the 7th Criminal Court of Santiago.

On January 27, 1975, the Judge of the 7th Criminal Court, while accepting jurisdiction, consolidated the case with No. 76.543 because "it concerns the same events and the same people." Witnesses and individuals who participated in or knew about the investigated events also testified in this process.

In June 1975, Army Colonel Jorge Espinoza, representing the National Executive Secretariat for Detainees, informed the Judge that he had no information regarding the victims.

A similar response was sent on June 25, 1975, by the then-Minister of the Interior, Division General Raúl Benavides E.

On April 22, 1976, the summary investigation was closed and the case was temporarily dismissed on the grounds that "with the information gathered in the case files, the existence of any punishable act is not sufficiently proven."

After the resolution was appealed, on June 29, 1976, the Court of Appeals deemed that the investigation was not exhausted, returning the case to the summary stage and indicating a series of investigative steps.

Once the steps were carried out, the Court resolved on August 26, 1977, to temporarily dismiss the case again, given that "the commission of any crime or punishable act is not proven."

On October 13, 1977, the Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed the Court's ruling.

The anthropometric data of Carlos Germán Maldonado Torres and Luis René Lobos Gutiérrez were attached to case 4449-AF of the 22nd Criminal Court of Santiago, regarding 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. 125 bodies were exhumed from there and sent to the Legal Medical Institute. Currently (late 1992), the forensic identification reports are pending.

Source: (Corporation Report)

A heartfelt tribute to the victims of the civil-military dictatorship and their families was held by Mayor Felipe Muñoz, together with Deputy Raúl Leiva, CORE (Regional Council member) Felipe Berríos, and the councilors of our commune.

During the ceremony, which took place this morning at the memorial located at the Santa Rosa de Chena stadium, the authorities unveiled a commemorative plaque that highlights historical memory and calls for peace and justice. Subsequently, our mayor placed a floral arrangement at the memorial, and candles were lit as a tribute to all those who suffered abuses starting on September 11, 1973.

Source: portal.mph.cl 13/9/2021