On October 16, 1973, the following individuals were killed aboard the steamship "Laja" by personnel from the Maritime Governorate of Valdivia, which operated under the Chilean Navy. Their bodies were thrown into the waters of Lake Ranco:

• Cardenio ANCACURA MANQUIAN, peasant farmer, Socialist militant;
• Teófilo GONZALEZ CALFULEF, 24 years old, truck driver, Socialist militant;
• Manuel Jesús HERNANDEZ INOSTROZA, 42 years old, tailor, former candidate for Councilman for Lago Ranco and militant of the Socialist Party;
• Arturo VEGA GONZALEZ, 20 years old, bakery worker, also a Socialist.

All were arrested on October 16, 1973, at their homes in Lago Ranco and taken to the Carabineros station in that town. On the night of that day, they were brought aboard the steamship "Laja," where they were executed.

Their bodies were thrown into the lake and have not been found to this day. This Commission is convinced that Cardenio Ancacura, Teófilo González, Manuel Hernández, and Arturo Vega were arrested, executed, and their bodies forcibly disappeared by State agents in a grave violation of human rights. The circumstances supporting this include, among others, the following:

• It is duly accredited before this Commission that the victims were detained at the Lago Ranco station on the day of their disappearance. Likewise, it is established that they were all previously arrested at their respective homes;
• The deaths of all the victims were registered by order of the Military Prosecutor's Office of Valdivia, in case file 1634/73. Despite requests for these records from the Fourth Military Court of Valdivia, the Military Prosecutor's Office of that city, and the Army's General Auditor's Office, the file was not submitted to the Commission;
• The death certificates confirm the fact of the victims' deaths. It should be noted that the deaths were registered in 1974, meaning that many of the family members did not learn of what had occurred until long after the events took place;
• In an official communication issued by the Military Prosecutor's Office of Valdivia on November 2, 1973, information was requested from the Carabineros of Lago Ranco regarding Manuel Jesús Hernández Inostroza, who was missing at the time, treating his detention as a confirmed fact;
• None of the victims have been able to receive a burial, as their bodies have not been found. It is contradictory that death certificates were issued for all of them without this fact having been materially verified.

Source: Rettig Report

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) will put the State of Chile on trial for applying "half-prescription" (a legal reduction of sentences) to perpetrators of crimes against humanity committed during the dictatorship and sentenced between 2007 and 2010.

On February 1, 2023, a hearing for the case of Vega González and others vs. Chile will be held at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights located in San José, Costa Rica. This is being held with the intention of judging the international responsibility of the State of Chile in the reduction of criminal sentences for dictatorship-era crimes.

In particular, this concerns 14 criminal proceedings regarding political executions and forced disappearances perpetrated against 49 victims. In these cases, the Supreme Court of Justice of Chile applied "half-prescription" between 2007 and 2010, which allowed it to drastically reduce sentences and permit the majority of the perpetrators to be released.

Thus, the IACHR must determine whether the State of Chile fulfilled its duty to provide justice with adequate and proportional sentences for criminals against humanity. "We ask for and demand the penalty that corresponds to crimes that continue to affect us to this day, which meant the loss of our loved ones," expressed Gaby Rivera Sánchez, president of the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared (AFDD). "Next year will be 50 years since the military coup in Chile.

It is time for the families of the victims to have full justice," added Alicia Lira Matus, president of the Association of Relatives of Political Executions (AFEP), both quoted in a statement from the Association of Relatives of Political Executions (AFEP). "A proportional and just penalty is essential for the non-repetition of crimes against humanity in Chile and the region," highlighted Jimena Reyes, Director for the Americas of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

According to information provided by the AFEP, the 14 cases in question left the following victims: JUAN LUIS RIVERA MATUS: A Communist and union leader, he had a wife and seven children. At 52 years old at the time of his kidnapping and subsequent disappearance on November 6, 1975, his body was found on March 13, 2001.

CARDENIO ANCACURA MANQUIÁN: Cardenio Ancacura was married and had four children. He was a farmer and also worked as a boatman. He was a militant of the Socialist Party and participated actively in the Agrarian Reform process.

TEOFILO ZARAGOZO GONZÁLEZ CALFULEF: Teófilo González was 24 years old and married. He was a transport worker and a militant of the Socialist Party. MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ INOSTROZA: Manuel Hernández was 42 years old, married, and had four children.

He was a tailor. He was a militant of the Socialist Party and had been a candidate for councilman for Lago Ranco. ARTURO BENITO VEGA GONZÁLEZ: Arturo Vega was 20 years old and single. He worked as a bakery worker and transport worker.

He was a militant of the Socialist Party. LUIS EVANGELISTA AGUAYO FERNANDEZ: Luis Aguayo, 21 years old, single. He worked as an inspector at the Parral Night School. He was a leader of the Socialist Youth.

He was arrested on September 14, 1973, and taken to the Parral Public Jail. On the 26th of the same month, along with three other detainees, he was removed from that place to testify at the Military Prosecutor's Office.

His whereabouts have been unknown since that date. MANUEL EDUARDO BASCUÑAN ARAVENA: Manuel Bascuñán, 23 years old, single. He was a student and a militant of the Socialist Party of Parral. Arrested on September 22, 1973, by Carabineros, he was taken to the Parral Public Jail, where he remained imprisoned.

On October 23, 1973, by order of the Military Governor of Parral, he was transferred from this facility, along with other people, to the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.

JOSÉ IGNACIO BUSTOS FUENTES: José Bustos was 52 years old, single. He was a merchant and carried out social activities in the rural community; he was a militant of the Communist Party. On September 13, 1973, he presented himself voluntarily at the Parral Carabineros Station and was detained.

He was transferred to the Parral Public Jail that same day. On October 23, 1973, he was removed by a military patrol along with seven other detainees from that facility to testify at the Military Prosecutor's Office.

His whereabouts have been unknown since that date. ENRIQUE DEL ANGEL CARREÑO GONZÁLEZ: Enrique Carreño was 22 years old, single. An Agronomy student at the University of Concepción. A Socialist Party militant.

Arrested by Carabineros on September 20, 1973, at his home in Parral. From there, he was sent to the Parral Public Jail, where he was released on January 9, 1974. He was arrested again by State agents and taken to the Linares Artillery School.

There is no information regarding his whereabouts since that date. RAFAEL ALONSO DIAZ MEZA: Rafael Díaz was 23 years old, single. A laborer. Arrested by Carabineros on September 22, 1973, on a public street, he was taken to the Public Jail.

On October 23, 1973, by order of the Military Governor of Parral, he was transferred from this facility, along with other people, to the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.

CLAUDIO JESUS ESCANILLA ESCOBAR: Claudio Escanilla was 16 years old. He was a student and worked as a shoeshine boy. On September 13, 1973, he was arrested in the Parral plaza by a military patrol and handed over to the Parral Carabineros Station.

That same day, he entered the Public Jail. On October 23, 1973, he was removed by a military patrol along with seven other detainees from the Parral Public Jail to testify at the Military Prosecutor's Office.

His whereabouts have been unknown since that date. ROLANDO ANTONIO IBARRA LOPEZ: Rolando Ibarra was 32 years old, married. No known political affiliation. He was a farmer. He was arrested by the Parral Carabineros on October 25, 1974, when he presented himself at the station in compliance with a summons.

Another person was arrested with him, who is also forcibly disappeared. Rolando Ibarra's whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his arrest. AROLDO VIVIAN LAURIE LUENGO: Aroldo Laurie, 30 years old, single.

He worked as a traveling salesman. Apparently, he was linked to the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). He was arrested by the Parral Carabineros, along with a friend who is also forcibly disappeared, on July 28, 1974.

They were seen being taken into custody at the local station. He was reportedly transferred to the detention center at Londres N° 38, in Santiago. Aroldo Laurie's whereabouts have been unknown since then.

IRENEO ALBERTO MENDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Ireneo Méndez was 22 years old, single. A Socialist Party militant, he was unemployed. Arrested at his home on September 20, 1973, by Carabineros from the Copihue station, who took him to the Parral Public Jail.

On October 23, 1973, by order of the Military Governor of Parral, he was transferred from this facility, along with other people, to the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.

ARMANDO EDELMIRO MORALES MORALES: Armando Morales was 19 years old, single. He was in his fourth year of high school at the Parral Lyceum. A Socialist Party militant. On October 4, 1973, he went voluntarily to the Parral Station and was detained.

He was transferred to the Parral Public Jail. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date. JOSÉ LUIS MORALES RUIZ: José Morales was 21 years old, married, with one child. His spouse was eight months pregnant.

He worked as an itinerant street market vendor. A Communist Party militant. He was arrested by the Parral Carabineros on August 1, 1974. José Morales's whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his arrest.

AURELIO CLODOMIRO PEÑAILILLO SEPULVEDA: Aurelio Peñailillo was 32 years old, single. He was retired due to disability. Arrested on September 16, 1973, in Copihue by Carabineros from the local station. Transferred to Parral, where he entered the Public Jail.

On the 26th of the same month, along with three other detainees, he was removed from that place to testify at the Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date. LUIS ALCIDES PEREIRA HERNANDEZ: Luis Pereira was 31 years old and married.

No known political affiliation. He worked as an agricultural laborer. Arrested by Carabineros on October 25, 1974, when he presented himself voluntarily at the Parral Station. His whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his arrest.

AROLDO ARMANDO PEREIRA MERIÑO: Aroldo Pereira was 49 years old, married. No known political affiliation. He worked as a farmer. He was arrested by Carabineros on October 25, 1974, when he presented himself voluntarily at the Parral Station.

His whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his arrest. OSCAR ABDON RETAMAL PEREZ: Oscar Retamal was 19 years old, single. A high school student and Socialist Party militant. Arrested on September 25, 1973, in Retiro by Carabineros from the local station.

The next day, he entered the Parral Public Jail. On October 23, 1973, by order of the Military Governor of Parral, he was transferred from this facility, along with other people, to the Military Prosecutor's Office.

His whereabouts have been unknown since that date. LUIS ENRIQUE RIVERA COFRE: Luis Rivera, 21 years old, married, two children, one of them posthumous. A Socialist Party militant. Arrested by soldiers from the Linares Artillery School on October 5, 1973, at his home.

They took him to the Parral Carabineros Station to give a statement. There is no information regarding his whereabouts since that date. JOSE HERNÁN RIVEROS CHÁVEZ: José Riveros, 27 years old at the time of his disappearance, single.

He worked as a construction laborer. Arrested at his home by the Parral Carabineros on October 12, 1973, and taken to the local station. There is no information regarding his whereabouts since that date.

ROBERTO DEL CARMEN ROMERO MUÑOZ: Roberto Romero, 23 years old. He was single and worked as a laborer. In October 1973, he presented himself voluntarily at the Parral Carabineros Station and was detained.

He was transferred to the Public Jail. On October 23, 1973, he was removed from the jail along with six other detainees to the Military Prosecutor's Office, by order of the Military Governor of Parral.

There is no information regarding his whereabouts since that date. OSCAR ELADIO SALDIAS DAZA: Oscar Saldías was 22 years old, single. He worked as a carpenter. A Socialist Party militant. He was arrested at a relative's house on September 20, 1973, by Carabineros and taken to the Public Jail.

On September 26, 1973, he left with other detainees to testify at the Parral Military Prosecutor's Office. Only one of the detainees returned. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date. HERNÁN SARMIENTO SABATER: Hernán Sarmiento, 26 years old, single.

A medical student at the University of Chile. A militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). He was arrested by the Parral Carabineros on July 28, 1974, along with a friend who was accompanying him, who is also forcibly disappeared.

They were seen being taken into custody at the Parral Station. He was reportedly transferred to the Londres 38 facility in Santiago. Hernán Sarmiento's whereabouts have been unknown since then. HUGO ENRIQUE SOTO CAMPOS: Hugo Soto, 18 years old, single.

A third-year high school student at the Parral Night School. He worked during the day at a lumber yard. He was arrested by the Parral Carabineros on a public street on September 13, 1973, and taken to the Public Jail.

On the 26th of the same month, he was removed from that facility, along with three other detainees, to be placed at the disposal of the Parral Prosecutor's Office. He has been missing since that date. RUPERTO ORIOL TORRES ARAVENA: Ruperto Torres was 58 years old at the time of the events, married, and had three children.

A chemical engineer by profession, he worked as a farmer. He was arrested by Carabineros from the Catillo station on October 13, 1973, when he went to sign in, an obligation he had had since his first arrest.

His whereabouts have been unknown since that date. EDELMIRO ANTONIO VALDEZ SEPULVEDA: Edelmiro Valdez was 42 years old, married. No known political affiliation. He worked as an agricultural laborer. He was arrested by the Parral Carabineros on October 25, 1974, when he presented himself voluntarily, complying with a summons he had received the day before.

Another person was arrested at that time, who is also forcibly disappeared. Edelmiro Valdez's whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his arrest. VICTOR JULIO VIVANCO VASQUEZ: Víctor Vivanco was 19 years old, single, a fourth-year high school student at a Parral Lyceum.

He was a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). On October 8, 1973, he was arrested by a military patrol at his home and taken to the Investigations Barracks, from where he was taken to the Parral Carabineros Station.

Víctor Vivanco's whereabouts have been unknown since that date. NELSON CRISTIÁN ALMENDRAS ALMENDRAS: Nelson Almendras, 22 years old, married. He had worked as an agricultural laborer at the Canteras estate, Quilleco commune.

He was a militant of the Communist Party. JOSÉ RICARDO LOPEZ LOPEZ: José López, 32 years old, father of one child. He worked as an agricultural laborer at the Canteras estate, Quilleco commune. No known political affiliation.

JUAN DE LA CRUZ BRIONES PÉREZ: Juan Briones, 28 years old, married and had four children. He worked as an agricultural laborer at the Canteras estate. No known political affiliation. VICTORIANO LAGOS LAGOS: Victoriano Lagos, 35 years old, married and had six children.

He worked as an agricultural laborer at the Canteras estate. No known political affiliation. CARMEN MARGARITA DÍAZ DARRICARRERE: Carmen Díaz, 24 years old, single. She was studying Nursing at the University of Chile, Temuco branch, and was a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).

EUGENIO IVÁN MONTTI CORDERO: Eugenio Montti, 29 years old, married and had one child, was a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), and was a Mechanical Engineering graduate from the State Technical University.

LUCIANO AEDO HIDALGO: Luciano, 37 years old, married and father of four children. He was a shoemaker and president of the Rural Supply Center. On October 11, 1973, in the early hours of the morning, a patrol from the Cunco station, moving in a police van, arrived at his home, where he was sleeping in the company of his wife and young daughter, and took him away as a detainee, without an order from a competent authority to justify it, moving him to an unknown location.

His whereabouts remain unknown to this day. FELIPE SEGUNDO RIVERA GAJARDO: Felipe Rivera, 42 years old, was married. An electrician. He worked at the General Treasury of the Republic. A militant of the Communist Party of Chile (PC).

On September 8, 1986, at two in the morning, a group of heavily armed men surrounded his house in the Pudahuel commune, kidnapped him, and put him in a taxi headed for an unknown destination. His body was found hours later in a vacant lot in a sector of Route 70, with multiple bullet wounds in his body.

GASTON FERNANDO VIDAURRÁZAGA MANRÍQUEZ: Gastón Vidaurrázaga, 30 years old, was married and father of a daughter. A State teacher in General Basic Education and a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).

On September 8, 1986, at four o'clock, six heavily armed individuals broke into his home in the San Bernardo commune, kidnapping him and taking him to an unknown destination. His body was found with multiple bullet wounds at kilometer 15 of Route 5 South.

JOSÉ HUMBERTO CARRASCO TAPIA: José "Pepe" Carrasco, 43 years old, was married and father of two children. A prominent journalist, international editor of the magazine Análisis, and national leader of the Journalists' Association.

A militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). On September 8, 1986, near five in the morning, three armed civilians arrived at his home and proceeded to take him away by force in the presence of his family.

Moments later, they riddled him with bullets. His body was found on the side of the Parque del Recuerdo Cemetery. ABRAHAM MUSKATBLIT EIDELSTEIN: Abraham Muskatblit, 45 years old, was married and father of two children.

An advertising executive by profession, he was a militant of the Communist Party of Chile (PC). On September 9, 1986, 12 armed individuals arrived at his home on a plot of land in the Casas Viejas sector of Las Vizcachas and took him away by force; moments later, they riddled him with bullets.

His body was found hours later in an irrigation canal on the road leading to Lonquén. FÉLIX SANTIAGO DE LA JARA GOYENECHE: Félix was a MIR militant, a History and Geography student at the University of Chile.

He was kidnapped at 24 years of age on a public street in the city of Santiago on November 27, 1974, by a DINA commando unit. He was taken to the clandestine detention center known as "Venda Sexy," where he was tortured.

Witnesses report that between December 18 and 24, 1974, he was removed by his captors from the center, and his whereabouts remain unknown. CECILIA MIGUELINA BOJANIC ABAD: Cecilia Bojanic, 23 years old, was married, had one child, and was four months pregnant when she was kidnapped.

She worked as a secretary at a pharmaceutical company. A militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). FLAVIO ARQUÍMIDES OYARZÚN SOTO: Flavio Oyarzún, 27 years old, was married and had one child.

He was a salesperson for a company. A militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). JOSÉ FÉLIX GARCÍA FRANCO: He was a medical student of Ecuadorian nationality. He presented himself voluntarily to the Carabineros unit in Temuco on September 13, 1973; his house had been previously raided by Carabineros.

His wife brought him clothes and food to this facility daily until September 19 of that year, when authorities informed her that they had released him at 6 a.m. at a border crossing. His whereabouts remain unknown to this date.

MARÍA ARRIAGADA JEREZ: María Arriagada, 25 years old, was married, had 6 children, was a rural teacher, and a militant of the Communist Party. She was kidnapped on September 27, 1973, by officials of the Chilean Air Force (FACH) who arrived at her home, located at the Chilpaco rural school, in a helicopter.

She was later taken to Lonquimay, where she was held for three days at the Carabineros station, subsequently transferred to the Curacautín Carabineros Barracks, and then to the Maquehue Air Base in the city of Temuco, from where she disappeared.

JORGE AILLON LARA: Jorge Aillón was married, had three children, and was an employee of the Agricultural Commerce Company. He lived in Lonquimay and was a militant of the Communist Party. He was kidnapped by the Lonquimay Carabineros on September 11, 1973, taken to the police barracks, and then to the Victoria jail, where he remained until September 27, 1973, the date on which he was released.

That same day, upon arriving at the train station on his way home, he was arrested by military personnel from the Lautaro Regiment, who handed him over to FACH personnel. He was taken to the Maquehue Air Base in Temuco, from where he disappeared.

MARCELO EDUARDO SALINAS EYTEL: Marcelo was 31 years old at the date of his disappearance at the hands of state agents. He was an electronics technician and was married to Jacqueline Paulette Drouilly Yurich, who was also a forcibly disappeared person.

Marcelo was kidnapped on October 31, 1974, in the city of Santiago, under circumstances where he had coordinated to pick up his wife that day. Security agents had arrived at the property of the meeting on October 30 and kidnapped his wife; the following day, they kidnapped Marcelo and took him to the clandestine DINA facility known as "José Domingo Cañas" and subsequently took him to the "Villa Grimaldi" barracks, where he was interrogated and tortured.

Later, he was transferred along with his wife to the "Cuatro Álamos" center, from where his trail is lost. GERARDO ANTONIO ENCINA PÉREZ: Gerardo was 33 years old at the date of his arrest, married, two children, a militant of the Socialist Party, and an inhabitant of the town of Melozal, located in the San Javier province.

In September 1973, he had been arrested and placed at the disposal of the Military Prosecutor's Office, remaining under supervised release, when in the first days of October 1973, a police patrol arrived at his house looking for him.

Upon not finding him, they left a summons for him to appear at the 5th Carabineros Station of San Javier. Upon receiving the message, he decided to go with his wife to the police unit, where he was arrested.

His wife waited for him all day and returned the next day without being given a satisfactory explanation. His trail has been lost since then. There are accounts that maintain that, ten or fifteen days later, relatives of other disappeared persons from the same locality requested permission from the military authority of the area to search the Loncomilla River in order to find the remains of their relatives.

In that search, they found the lifeless body of Gerardo Antonio Encina Pérez, bearing signs of gunshot wounds, which they had to return to the waters for fear of reprisals, as they only had authorization to recover the bodies of their own relatives.

MIGUEL ANTONIO FIGUEROA MERCADO: He was 46 years old at the date of his arrest, married, five children, and a militant of the Communist Party. On September 29, 1973, during the night, while he was at his home, which he occupied as a union leader of the Peñuelas settlement, Villa Alegre commune, a patrol composed of about ten or twelve soldiers and a Carabinero who was the chief of the sector's station arrived and kidnapped him.

He has remained disappeared since that moment.

Source: resumen.cl 31/1/2023

Date: 01-31-2023

Civil Court of Santiago orders the Treasury to compensate the family of a man executed at Lake Ranco in 1973.

Magistrate Claudia Donoso Niemeyer established that the arrest and subsequent disappearance of Ancacura Maquián constitutes a crime against humanity and, therefore, is imprescriptible in both the criminal and civil spheres.

The Eighteenth Civil Court of Santiago condemned the State of Chile to pay a total compensation of $240,000,000 to the spouse and children of Cardenio Ancacura Maquián, who was arrested on October 16, 1973, executed aboard the steamship "Laja," and his body thrown into Lake Ranco.

Magistrate Claudia Donoso Niemeyer established that the arrest and subsequent disappearance of Ancacura Maquián constitutes a crime against humanity and, therefore, is imprescriptible in both the criminal and civil spheres.

The ruling maintains that in order to analyze the exception of prescription (statute of limitations) deduced in these files, it is pertinent to point out that the compensatory action being deduced is supported by the arrest and subsequent disappearance of Mr.

Cardenio Ancacura Manquián at the hands of State Agents, which occurred on October 16, 1973, who was executed aboard the steamship "Laja" and his body thrown into Lake Ranco, without having been found to date.

This fact constitutes, as already expressed in the tenth motivation, a crime against humanity and a violation of human rights, which must not be lost sight of. The resolution adds that the fact in question violates the provisions of Article 5.2 of the American Convention on Human Rights, a norm that establishes that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

Thus, although the compensatory action has a patrimonial content, it obeys a humanitarian nature stemming from the rights of every human being recognized in the indicated International Treaty, which takes precedence over internal law norms, especially Article 2497 of the Civil Code.

Likewise, the ruling establishes that, given the reasoning above and the provisions of Articles 160, 170, 748, and following of the Code of Civil Procedure; Article 48 of the Organic Code of Courts; Articles 2332 and 2497 of the Civil Code; Law N° 19.992, Law N° 19.123; Article 2.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Article 14.1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Articles 1.1, 2, and 63.1 of the American Convention on Human Rights; and Principles 15, 18, and 20 of the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, it is declared: I.- That the exceptions of payment and prescription are rejected. II.- That the lawsuit is accepted regarding the moral damage suffered, damage that this judge prudentially estimates in the sum of $60,000,000 for each of the plaintiffs. III.- That the defendant is condemned to pay costs.

Source: diarioconstitucional.cl, April 26, 2018

Date: 04-26-2018

DINA and CNI agent implicated in Operation Colombo commits suicide

Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena was a Carabineros non-commissioned officer who was part of the sinister National Intelligence Directorate (DINA). Convicted of various crimes during the dictatorship, he committed suicide today with a gunshot to the mouth.

Héctor Lira was one more of the dictatorship's agents, a member of the Carabineros, who carried out repression duties during the dictatorship. He was implicated and convicted in several human rights violation cases, among them the sinister Operation Colombo and the surveillance of Tucapel Jiménez.

The case of Operation Colombo, or the 119, is also part of Operation Condor, the coordination between the different Latin American dictatorships to confront the opposition. In this case, the goal was to invent that these people had killed each other in confrontations, when in reality they had been arrested, murdered, or disappeared by agents of the Chilean dictatorship.

The website Memoria Viva indicates that he is also related to the case of Tucapel Jiménez, a Christian Democratic union leader murdered in 1982. According to reports, Lira committed suicide with a gunshot to the mouth in a park, being found by passersby.

He had been sentenced to several years in prison for his participation in dictatorship crimes. Among the cases he reportedly participated in is that of Miguel Acuña Castillo, a young man of only 19, a MIR militant who was arrested in July 1974 and taken to the Londres 38 detention site, as well as that of Héctor Garay Hermosilla, also a MIR militant who was disappeared.

As has happened in other cases, he preferred to commit suicide rather than pay for his brutal crimes in prison. Justice rejects benefits for Punta Peuco prisoners The justice system rejected benefits that José Cáceres González, Sergio Rivera Bozzo, Gerardo Aravena Longa, and Carlos Herrera Jiménez sought to obtain.

According to human rights organizations, José Cáceres was one of the cruelest torturers who was at the Fuerte Borgoño in Talcahuano and was implicated in the case of the disappearance of the worker Rudy Cárcamo in Concepción.

Sergio Rivera Bozzo was a Navy lieutenant, convicted in several cases, among them participation in the qualified homicides of CARDENIO ANCACURA MANQUIAN, Teófilo Zaragozo González Calfulef, Manuel Hernández Inostroza, and Arturo Benito Vega González, and in the case of José Matías Ñanco.

Gerardo Alejandro Aravena Longa was a Carabineros officer; Memoria Viva indicates that "he is involved in the execution of five political prisoners in Cuesta Barriga and in the disappearance of José Guillermo Barrera.

Subsequently, he became part of the DINA as an Operational Agent. When the DINA ended, he moved to the CNI, and in 1985 he returned to the Carabineros, retiring as a commander." Carlos Herrera Jiménez, a CNI agent implicated in the assassination of Tucapel Jiménez, Mario Fernández López, and other cases.

Source: laizquierdadiario.cl 5/02/2016

Date: 02-05-2016

Proposal for communal mourning for the death of a former Los Lagos councilman rejected

A week ago, the death of former Los Lagos councilman Javier Vera Jünemann became known; he was an authority in the commune in the 1990-1994 period and was currently serving as vice-rector of the Universidad San Sebastián in Concepción.

Councilman George Harcha presented the request to the municipal council to decree communal mourning in his name, an idea that was supported by councilmen Hugo Silva and Patricio Espinoza and rejected by councilmen Miguel Moya, Pedro Muñoz, Aldo Retamal, and Mayor Simón Mansilla.

Faced with this rejection, Aldo Retamal stated that "we do not deserve a tribute just for being a councilman. One must look at the actions and what people have been throughout their lives, and in the case of Javier Vera, we have his implication in human rights violations, and that will never be grounds for any recognition, but rather the opposite," he said.

It should be remembered that Javier Vera Jünemann has been implicated, in his capacity as a former marine, in the deaths of Arturo Vega González, Teófilo González Calfulef, Manuel Jesús Hernández Inostroza, and CARDENIO ANCACURA MANQUIAN, who in October 1973 were arrested in Lago Ranco and subsequently murdered aboard the steamship Laja. Their bodies were thrown into the waters of Lake Ranco.

Source: diariolagoranco.cl 8/03/2015

Date: 03-08-2015

An investigation ordered by General Augusto Pinochet and conducted between March and April 1976 by his Minister of Defense, General Herman Brady, regarding "trials instructed against Army personnel for abuse of their functions" reveals unknown episodes of indiscriminate violence after the Coup, adds numerous victims who do not appear in the Rettig Report, and demonstrates that the regime's authorities were aware of the crimes and buried the evidence.

In March 1976, Augusto Pinochet ordered an investigation into the human rights violations committed by his troops. Just like that. The announcement of a visit by a delegation of American Democratic parliamentarians, the imminent OAS meeting (in June) in Santiago, and the growing condemnations of Chile for human rights violations prompted this unusual decision.

He ordered a report, and his subordinates complied. An extensive document details 93 cases of murders, rapes of women, and torture. What the military prosecutor's offices returned was not to the liking of the then-president of the Military Junta. It was not presentable. The report ordered by Pinochet disappeared. No one else knew of its existence.

The general requested it as soon as he learned of the visit to Chile by U.S. congressmen Toby Moffett, George Miller, and Tom Harkin. And worse: the foreigners were requesting an audience with Pinochet to raise the issue of the serious human rights violations being committed in Chile.

Pinochet was frantic. The echoes of the report published just days earlier by The New York Times were still reverberating, revealing, for the first time, the discrepancies within the Military Junta regarding the power of Pinochet and the DINA, as well as the major conflict: the deadlines for the so-called "normalization" of the country.

The influential American newspaper did not invent the story. Its reporters obtained detailed information about what occurred in the Military Junta session of January 5, 1976. It was General Gustavo Leigh who opened fire.

With a sharper tone than usual in those days of underground conflict with the president of the Junta, he asked him to lift the State of Siege and issue a Constitutional Act safeguarding citizens' rights.

But he did not stop there. He paused and, with a louder and more energetic voice, demanded that Colonel Manuel Contreras be removed from the leadership of the DINA. Mendoza, as was his custom, remained silent and looked down. And Pinochet, red with rage, opted for the most convenient exit: he declared the session over. The national press reported nothing.

In those precise days, the battle between the DINA and the DIFA (Air Force Intelligence Directorate) had intensified. With a display of weapons, men from both departments fought in the streets for their spoils of war: the prisoners who would later appear on the list of the forcibly disappeared. And in that very month of March, Contreras was beginning his most ambitious plan.

On the quiet Calle Doctor Charlin (No. 1475) in Providencia, the DINA was installing a headquarters as secret as its prisons.

From there, the financing system for the "Operation Condor" battalions would be structured, the coordination plan with the security services of the other dictatorships of the Southern Cone. In that same month of March, General Jorge Rafael Videla assumed the leadership of the dictatorship in Argentina.

Days later, Contreras would have himself anointed in a public deed—with the signatures of the Minister of Economy and the executive director of Corfo—as president of Pesquera Chile. More than 30 companies and millions of dollars from the national budget—which came out in secret allocations—would fuel international terrorism.

Pinochet was not willing to cede power or dismiss Manuel Contreras. Nor could he defy the American parliamentarians, much less the delegates to the crucial OAS meeting that would take place in Santiago. Both things, plus the internal denunciation of the crimes, could cause him to lose the 25 million dollars that the IMF had just granted him and the 150 million more that the IDB was announcing.

For this reason, one of his closest allies, General Raúl Benavides, Minister of the Interior, organized an unusual and surprising "act of reparation" for his boss. On January 27, 1976, eight thousand soldiers paraded, defying the "affront of the enemy." A whole display designed to show the "doubters" of the regime the iron unity around their sole leader: Pinochet.

But the only war that Pinochet's men were waging was against Chileans. While some wrapped themselves in a bubble, enjoying Unión Española as the only leader of local soccer and packing cinemas to be moved by the sufferings of Papillon, in those precise hours, dozens of citizens lay tortured and dying in the secret prisons of the DINA.

What was being experienced in many sectors of the country were the effects of an army of occupation.

March 9, 1976. That day, Pinochet sent a "secret" official letter—see facsimile—to his Minister of Defense, General Herman Brady, asking with extreme urgency for "complete information from the Prosecutor's Offices, War Councils, and/or Institutional Courts" regarding the proceedings initiated against military personnel "in the face of complaints made by private individuals for possible infractions of articles 150 of the Penal Code or 330 of the Code of Military Justice, as appropriate; or in accordance with the provisions of the general legislation of the country and especially article 1 of Decree Law No. 1.009 of May 8, 1975."

Under the heading "numerous personalities have requested an audience with the President of the Republic to raise, among other matters, their concerns about the practical application of the protection of human rights," a summary was requested with precise items of cases whose breakdown could be used by Pinochet to show the Democrats of the United States the exemplary punishments that the Army had carried out throughout the country to control any abuse of power.

In his own handwriting, Pinochet crossed out—in another document, a draft—that the information was required in view of the "upcoming visit of three congressmen from the United States House of Representatives." He changed it to "necessity of knowing the status of proceedings and investigations into officials who have overstepped their authority."

The Chief of the Army General Staff, General Gustavo Álvarez, had to convey Pinochet's urgency to Brady.

Brady responded to Pinochet on April 30. The heading of the document—also labeled "SECRET"—indicated the true objectives of the report: "Submits background information requested by the President of the Republic and others requested by the Delegation of Chile to the OAS Conference."

The Chilean commission to the OAS had requested information about five cases, in addition to statistics. Among them were the shooting of Dr. Sheila Cassidy and the death of Dagoberto Pérez.

The content of the investigation developed by the Army—which provides information and details the content of 93 proceedings in the Military Justice system—reached the hands of General Pinochet. Reading it is almost like reading the reports of an army of occupation that commits all kinds of atrocities without limit: murders, torture, robberies, disappearances, and rapes of girls only 12 or 14 years old.

Most of the victims in the report are not included in the official document of the Rettig Report. Also, on Brady's lists appear "N.N." (unidentified) citizens who were executed and whose disappearance was never reported.

Brady's list contains the details of 93 trials that the Military Justice system had in its hands for crimes committed by uniformed personnel, and which in the vast majority of cases ended without a conviction. A report that was buried in Pinochet's desk one day in April 1976.

Killed for opening the door.

Among the "homicide" cases reported by the Military Court of Santiago to Brady, several deserve to be transcribed.

Under ROL No. 502-73 is the case initiated on October 24, 1973: "On October 23, 1973, around 11:15 p.m., Miguel Estol Mery was killed inside his home located at Avenida Manquehue Sur No. 600, by a burst of SIG rifle fire that struck him in the upper outer right mammary region and the right flank of the abdomen.

The author of the shots was Corporal Víctor Muñoz, a member of a patrol composed of personnel from the Military Polytechnic Academy, which, in compliance with superior orders, was locating Miguel Estol Jr. at that address, who days earlier had had an altercation with a second lieutenant of that unit.

Mr. Estol, upon hearing noises outside, went out and, upon seeing the military, became paralyzed and ran back inside his house, being struck by the aforementioned corporal at the moment he was trying to close the door of his dwelling."

The complaint was filed by lawyer Álvaro Larraín. The court's ruling: a sentence of 5 years and one day for the crime of unnecessary violence causing death. But the final sentence was different: "Acquits due to lack of conviction that a criminal act was committed." Ruling approved by the commander-in-chief of the II Army Division.

Miguel Estol does not appear in the Rettig Report.

Marijuana kills.

Also not appearing in the Rettig Report is the case of Orlando Zambrano Sepúlveda, killed by a gunshot on April 28, 1974, at the hands of a patrol from the Buin Regiment, when—according to the same investigation recorded in the report—he was at the corner of Calle Muñoz Gamero and Andrés Olivar, at 3:30 p.m., in the company of nine other young people.

The report recording trial ROL No. 474-74 says: "At that time, a phone call to the Buin Regiment reported that a group of more than 10 people was smoking marijuana" at the aforementioned corner. The young Zambrano died during the pursuit.

The case was dismissed. The military justice system ruled that the act did not constitute a crime.

Scalping. There are scenes of savagery. On April 3, 1974, an investigation (ROL No. 514-74) was initiated based on a report sent by the 5th Carabineros Precinct on March 25 of that year. The police had found the lifeless bodies of Jorge Sandoval Astorga and Carlos Estay Miranda in a vacant lot at Américo Vespucio Norte and Recoleta.

The police report is concise but terrifying: "The day before, the subjects had been intercepted at General Gamboa and Cardenal Caro by a patrol of soldiers traveling in an E.T.C. bus, who cut their hair and tore the scalp off the deceased Estay."

The complaint was focused—formally—against an Air Force patrol and was temporarily dismissed "due to lack of evidence to accuse a specific person as the author." The dismissal was later confirmed. Neither of the two murdered men appears in the Rettig Report as victims of violence.

Singing was a crime.

Another victim who does not appear in the Rettig Report is Manuel Segundo Palma Henríquez. His homicide trial bears ROL No. 756-74 and was initiated on August 8, 1974.

The report sent by the Roosevelt Precinct on December 30, 1973, indicates that on that day at 9:30 a.m., following a phone call, Corporal José S.S. and Carabineros officer Luis J.O. arrived at the north bank of the Mapocho River, in front of the Tania Camp.

At the site was the corpse of Palma Henríquez, with bullet wounds in different parts of his body. The police report states: "The mother of the deceased points out that the day before, Segundo Palma was taken from inside his house by military personnel because he was singing loudly and saying swear words. The military personnel were not identified."

The case was also dismissed.

THE CRAZY SECOND LIEUTENANT

Madness as a cause for being unfit to be judged is not Pinochet's monopoly. It was also the case a year after the military coup. This was established by the military justice system in the case filed under ROL No. 890-74, initiated on November 12, 1974, following the arrest of Agustín Contreras Santander and Manuel Jesús Valencia Cáceres "for alleged insults uttered against the Armed Forces and the Honorable Government Junta."

Both detainees were taken to the "Yungay" Sub-Group Barracks, where they remained detained. The next day, the report says, "the reserve second lieutenant Juan Martínez Oyaneder assumed duty as Officer of the Guard, who, informed of the existence of the two detainees, ordered them to be brought into his presence and, without any apparent rational motive, caused them injuries that ultimately caused their death.

Immediately thereafter, he proceeded to bury them in a pit he had dug himself. It is established that the officer was advised by reserve sergeant 2nd class Gustavo Marambio Olmos and conscript soldiers Arcadio Lobos Cisterna and Luis Castro Guajardo, who physically assaulted the detainees, causing them—in the opinion of the Investigating Prosecutor—minor injuries." The War Council sentenced Martínez to 15 years and one day for qualified homicide.

His subordinates received 60 days of military arrest as accomplices.

The sentence, however, ended up ordering new proceedings "regarding the psychic state of the accused Martínez" and ended without convictions.

MILITARY PERSONNEL WHO REPORT.

The aberrations are not exclusive to Santiago. In the Military Court of Concepción, the death of José Tiznado Aguayo on June 16, 1974, reported by an Army corporal 2nd class, was also dismissed. The trial bears ROL No. 858-74 and has no further details, except for the identification of the "author." Tiznado also does not appear in the Rettig Report.

And there is another, stranger process. Initiated by the head of the 2nd Carabineros Precinct of Chanco on duty on November 21, 1973. The police officer reported the homicide of Juan Villaseñor Jara (trial ROL No. 11-73) and identified soldiers José Sepúlveda Vergara and Raúl Aguilar Oyarce as the authors.

The prosecutor in the case, judging by the sentence he proposed, was in favor of punishing the acts, even if only tepidly:

"Requests that the soldiers be sentenced to 5 years and one day of major imprisonment in its minimum degree, as authors of the death of Juan Villaseñor Jara, in circumstances where the soldiers surprised him driving a vehicle with the lights off and throwing it at the soldiers." But the War Council acquitted the soldiers.

Years had to pass for the Rettig Report to do justice to Villaseñor: "He was 37 years old, married, and had two children. He was a scuba diver, a small industrialist in the area, and a member of the Christian Democratic Party.

On November 21, 1973, he was driving his vehicle in poor condition; he had had an altercation. These people fired at the cabin, resulting in the driver receiving a bullet impact to the head with no exit wound, which caused his instant death, this act constituting an abuse of power."

SANCTION IN ESCUDOS.

In Talca, a trial took place that draws attention. Under ROL No. 024-74, the process followed by the Army Prosecutor's Office of that city is recorded, which had as a complainant the Acting Commissioner of the 3rd Precinct of Talca.

The prosecutor requested the conviction of Jaime Puebla, at the time an Army captain, as the author of the crime of serious injuries to Jaime Achurra García; and to a sentence of three years of minor imprisonment in its medium degree as the author of the crime of homicide of Francisco Silva Parot."

The War Council sentenced Puebla to "a fine of E° 600 (escudos) for injuries and 3 years of imprisonment for homicide. The sentence is not suspended. Resolution of the commander-in-chief of the III Army Division."

Silva Parot also does not appear on the list of victims of political violence in the Rettig Report.

STRANGE FULFILLMENT OF DUTY.

The commander-in-chief of the III Division did not act in the same way in another trial whose victim is not included in the Rettig Report. This is the case that appears under ROL No. 232/74, initiated on March 20, 1974, in which the complainant is the second lieutenant of the Silva Renard Artillery Group No. 3, Marcelo Palma Fontana.

The prosecutor requested the final dismissal of the case "regarding the bullet death caused to Hugo Gómez H. by Army corporal 2nd class José Romero Fuentes, for having acted in acts proper to the service in fulfillment of duty." The resolution of the commander-in-chief of the III Army Division was to temporarily dismiss the case.

FALSIFYING HISTORY.

One of the trials that illustrates how the military justice system of the time acted is the one that accounts for the homicide of Oscar Arros Yáñez, of Concepción. Under ROL No. 797/75, and dated November 30, 1975, the prosecutor's summary indicates: "Reports the accident that occurred in an operation carried out by personnel of the CIRE of Concepción (which was directed in an acting capacity by frigate captain Hugo González D’Arcangeli), causing the death of Oscar Arros Yáñez when the latter tried to snatch the weapon carried by Arturo Calderón Passalacqua.

In the struggle, a shot was fired, striking Arros. It is requested to dismiss the case totally and definitively in favor of the official Arturo Calderón on the grounds that the author is exempt from criminal responsibility."

And so the commander-in-chief of the III Army Division did. But the Rettig Report tells another story: "Arros, 27 years old, married, one daughter, was a student at the State Technical University and worked as a turner at the National Coal Company (ENACAR).

A member of the MIR, he was arrested at his workplace on September 26, 1975, by DINA agents and taken to the El Morro Stadium in Talcahuano. On September 28, his body was found in the morgue of the Lota Bajo Hospital with evidence of having been tortured and with bullet impacts."

KILLED IN THE DARKNESS IN VALDIVIA.

In Valdivia, the situation was no different. In case ROL No. 1.601/73, initiated on November 30, 1973, it is stated in the summary of the prosecutor's hearing:

"On November 28, 1973, Second Lieutenant Marcos Aguirre led the patrol under his command, composed of an SG and an SLC, to the home of Domingo Pérez San Martín, whom they took from his house, being beaten and dying the following day as a result of the injuries described in the medical reports.

The Prosecutor's Office requests that the accused be sentenced to 541 days of minor imprisonment in its medium degree."

The War Council dismissed Aguirre "in consideration of the fact that he (the civilian) adopted a rebellious and aggressive attitude against the military personnel, and as he fled into the darkness, the patrol personnel lunged at him and subdued him by hitting him with the butts of their rifles."

Pérez San Martín also does not appear in the Rettig Report.

DISAPPEARED.

Already in February 1975, the Military Court of Valdivia used the word "disappeared" to initiate a process for the "presumed death of Cardenio Ancura Manquean and other disappeared persons during the Military Operations carried out during the month of October 1973 in Lago Ranco."

The trial bears ROL No. 27-75 and has María Marian as the complainant. The prosecutor's summary concluded that, once the investigation was exhausted, "it has not been possible to establish the commission of any crime nor to hold any specific person responsible." The commander of the IV Division endorsed the ruling.

In the Rettig Report, Cardenio Ancura Manquean had his space. "Married and with 4 children, he was a farmer and also worked as a boatman. A member of the PS, he participated actively in the Agrarian Reform process. He was arrested by Carabineros of Lago Ranco and transferred to the local precinct.

From there he was taken on October 16 along with three other people by personnel of the Maritime Governorate of Valdivia, dependent on the Navy. They put him on board the steamer Laja and executed him, throwing his body into the lake with two of his companions. The bodies were never found."

DEADLY SYNTHESIS.

One of the smallest references in the "secret" report—only 8 lines—is related to trial ROL No. 27-74. Textual:

"Start date: January 23, 1974. Instructing Court: Legal Prosecutor's Office of Valdivia. Sentencing Court: IV Military Court Valdivia. Individualization of complainant: Chief of Staff of the IV Division.

Individualization of the accused: N.N. Summary (view) of the facts: In an operation ordered by the superior authority, the extremists were discharged: Victoriano Matus Hermosilla, N.N., Manuel Paillán, and N.N."

Neither Paillán nor Matus appear in the Rettig Report. The other two "extremist" N.N.s do not either.

THE TRACE OF CHENA.

In 1974, Rosa Silva Veliz reported to the II Military Court the arrest of her husband, Franklin Antonio Valdés Valdés, an accountant administrator at the El Pino Sanitarium. The complaint formed case ROL No. 274-74.

Valdés was arrested at the hospital by a military patrol from the San Bernardo Infantry School, commanded by Lieutenant Pedro Pablo Montobane, and taken to the Chena Camp, where he was allegedly killed days later, according to the complainant based on the testimony of other detainees.

The corpse was taken to the Legal Medical Institute, where an autopsy was performed, which concluded the cause of death as "asphyxiated state." The events allegedly occurred between September 28 and October 4, 1973."

The court's ruling...

The military prosecutor decreed the temporary dismissal of the case due to a lack of conviction that the crime had been committed. In the Rettig Report, Franklin Valdés does appear: “He died of an asphyxiated state caused by State agents.”

A CAPTAIN WITHOUT A TRIAL.

Army Captain Sergio Valenzuela González retired in June 1988 without ever having to answer for the deaths of Eliseo Segundo Jara Ríos and Pedro Muñoz Apablaza. This was ordered by the Army Prosecutor's Office of Valdivia.

The prosecutor in the case established that Jara Ríos and Muñoz Apablaza died “as a consequence of projectiles fired by military personnel, in circumstances where they were being interrogated by Captain Valenzuela and fled.” He requested a definitive dismissal.

And so it was done. But the investigation by the Rettig Commission established otherwise: both were executed on October 27 at the California estate.

THE PIECE MISSING FROM THE RETTIG REPORT.

The death of Víctor Hugo Carreño Zúñiga does not occupy more than ten lines in this official report. But it provides the information missing from what the Rettig Report records for this 21-year-old, single man who was the regional president of the Socialist Youth of Valdivia.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that Carreño “was detained on October 4, 1973, at his home by Army personnel. He was executed on October 5 during curfew hours.” In the trial that opened in Valdivia, which bears ROL No. 1.480/73 and has an initiation date of October 5, 1973, the prosecutor's summary concludes: “The death of Víctor Hugo Carreño was due to his attempt to flee from the military vehicle commanded by Second Lieutenant Alejandro Kraemer Pinochet, for which the patrol fired at him.

His dismissal is requested.” The military chief of the zone approved his dismissal.

WITHOUT SENTENCES OR TRACES.

The first trial in the registry with a mention of the crime of homicide is recorded in the Military Prosecutor's Office of Calama. The victim is Raimundo Bello S., and the accused is Army Corporal 2nd Class Martín Salamanca, of the Calama Regiment No. 15. There is no sentence and Bello does not appear in the Rettig Report.

THE NAMES THAT ARE ADDED.

On November 17, 1975, the legal prosecutor's office of Antofagasta initiated a trial for the homicide of Óscar Armando Leiva Jiménez. The complaint was filed by the CIRE of Antofagasta against Army Captain Luis Besamat Morales.

But in 1976 there was no resolution. The Rettig Report established that Leiva, 27, a photographer, was a member of the MIR and was executed at the home of relatives by “a Carabineros official.” Among the victims of other homicide cases that appear recorded in these trials and that do not appear in the Rettig Report, is Luis Humberto Ferrada Piña, who died on December 4, 1973, at the corner of Buenaventura and Azteca streets, in Punta Arenas.

The trials account for new victims and abuses, but they also reveal that in those days of terror there were military and Carabineros personnel who dared to denounce the violence and its perpetrators and who asked for justice. All of this was buried one day in April 1976.

Source: ciper.cl, September 10, 2013

Date: 10-09-2013

SUPREME COURT CONVICTS FORMER NAVY OFFICER FOR CRIMES IN LAGO RANCO

The Second Chamber of the Supreme Court convicted, while reducing the sentence, a former Navy officer to five years and one day in prison as the author of four qualified homicides, recorded within the framework of the episode of human rights violations known as Lago Ranco.

In a split decision, the highest court decided to reduce the 15-year sentence that the Third Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals had applied on November 8 of last year against retired Navy Colonel Sergio Rivera Bozzo.

The former Navy colonel Rivera Bozzo is charged with the homicides of Cardenio Ancacura Manquián, Teófilo González Calfulef, Manuel Jesús Hernández Inostroza, and Arturo Vega González, recorded on October 16, 1973, in the locality of the Los Lagos Region.

WHAT THE RETTIG REPORT SAYS ABOUT THE LAGO RANCO CASE

According to the Report, it is noted that “on October 16, 1973, the victims were murdered aboard the steamship 'Laja' by personnel of the Maritime Governorate of Valdivia, dependent on the Chilean Navy, and their bodies were thrown into Lago Ranco.” The victims are: Cardenio Ancacura Manquian, a peasant and Socialist militant; Teófilo González Calfulef, 24, a truck driver and Socialist militant; Manuel Jesús Hernández Inostroza, 42, a tailor, former candidate for Councilman for Lago Ranco and a militant of the Socialist Party; and Arturo Vega González, 20, a bread factory worker, also a Socialist. The victims were detained on October 16, 1973, at their homes in Lago Ranco and taken to the Carabineros station of that town. On the night of that day, they were taken aboard the steamship “Laja,” where they were executed. Their bodies were thrown into the lake, and have not been found to date. This Commission, the Report adds, has the conviction that Cardenio Ancacura, Teófilo González, Manuel Hernández, and Arturo Vega were detained, executed, and their bodies forcibly disappeared by State agents in a grave violation of human rights. The circumstances that support the conviction of the human rights violation are as follows: It is duly accredited before this Commission that the affected parties were detained at the Lago Ranco station on the day of their disappearance. Likewise, all of them were previously detained in their respective homes. The death certificates of all the victims are registered by order of the Military Prosecutor's Office of Valdivia, in case file 1634 73. Despite having requested said process from both the Fourth Military Court of Valdivia and the Military Prosecutor's Office of that city, and the General Auditor of the Army, it was not sent to the Commission, the sentence states. The death certificates certify the fact of the victims' deaths. It is worth noting that the deaths were registered in 1974, so several of the relatives did not find out what happened until a long time after the events occurred, the Rettig report adds. It also indicates that by an official letter issued by the Military Prosecutor's Office of Valdivia, dated November 2, 1973, information was requested from the Carabineros of Lago Ranco regarding Manuel Jesús Hernández Inostroza, who was disappeared at the time, stating the detention as a certain fact. It concludes that “None of the victims has been able to have a burial, as their bodies have not been found. It is contradictory that death certificates were granted for all of them without this fact having been materially proven.”

Source: cronicadigital.cl, September 5, 2007

Date: 05-09-2007

Former naval officer sentenced to 15 years for the kidnapping of four peasants

In an unprecedented ruling, the Third Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals applied this high sentence, the highest issued by an appellate court in cases supposedly protected by the Amnesty Law, after accepting the arguments of the plaintiffs to modify the charge of qualified homicide that weighed against Héctor Rivera Bozzo to that of qualified kidnapping.

Retired Navy officer Héctor Sergio Rivera Bozzo was sentenced to 15 years and one day in its maximum degree as the author of the qualified kidnapping of four peasants from the Lago Ranco commune, in the Tenth Region, which occurred on October 16, 1973.

The decision was adopted, in a split ruling, by the Third Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals, with the votes of Minister Mario Rojas and member lawyer Nelson Pozo, and with the minority opinion of Magistrate Jorge Zepeda.

In this way, the court revoked a ruling by Minister Joaquín Billard, who last February had sentenced Rivera Bozzo to five years and one day in prison for the qualified homicides of Cardenio Ancacura Manquián, Teofilo González Calfulef, Manuel Jesús Hernández Inostroza, and Arturo Vega González, all without known political affiliation.

This is the highest sentence issued by an appellate court for human rights violations recorded during the military dictatorship and which, supposedly, are protected by the Amnesty Law—that is, those perpetrated between September 11, 1973, and March 11, 1978.

In fact, it is only surpassed by a first-instance ruling issued in January by Judge Alejandro Solís, who sentenced Army Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Guerra Jorquera to 18 years in prison for 11 qualified kidnappings of peasants in the Tenth Region in October 1973.

The appellate court also considered that the investigation of the case is incomplete, so it resolved to reopen the summary so that Billard can investigate the responsibility that civilians Javier Vera Jumemann, Rodolfo Mondión Romo, Christián Borquez Bernucci, and Julio Vera Arraigada, identified as members of the far-right group Patria y Libertad, might have had.

Thus, a consultative resolution of June 25, 2002, which had favored them with the partial dismissal of the case, was revoked.

From homicide to kidnapping

In its ruling, the magistrates accepted the arguments of plaintiff lawyer Hugo Gutiérrez, who had raised the need to modify the charge of qualified homicide for which the former military officer had been convicted to that of qualified kidnapping.

In that line, the ruling expresses among its arguments that, in the case of a kidnapping of a permanent nature, “a state is originated in which the typical conduct is prolonged in time until the cessation of the coercive conduct, and in such circumstances, the prolongation of the coercion or attack against the freedom of another determines the permanence of the illicit act over time.” It adds that “the crime of kidnapping that affects the victims to the present day and which is framed within article 141 of the Penal Code, corresponds, furthermore, to the crime described in article II of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, signed in Belém do Pará, Brazil, on June 9, 1994,” which “points out the extreme gravity of this crime and its continued or permanent nature, as long as the destination or whereabouts of the victim are not established.”

The Lago Ranco case

The ruling bases its conviction on the fact that “on October 16, 1973, at dawn, in the town of Lago Ranco, Los Lagos Region, a group of subjects, led by the defendant Héctor Sergio Rivera Bozzo, proceeded to the detention of 4 people: Cardenio Ancacura Manquián; Teofilo González Calfulef; Manuel Jesús Hernández Inostroza; and Arturo Vega González.” It adds that all of them “were embarked aboard a vessel, which went into the waters of Lago Ranco, a place from which all trace of said persons was lost, with the current whereabouts of the aforementioned detainees being unknown.” Background information provided during the course of the investigation indicates that the victims were denounced by neighbors after the military coup of September 11 as supposed sympathizers of the government of Salvador Allende and, subsequently, detained by Carabineros. The first prosecutions had been issued by former judge Juan Guzmán Tapia, who in April 2002 ordered a reconstruction of the scene aboard a vessel on Lago Ranco, an occasion in which former uniformed personnel and witnesses participated.

Source: November 15, 2006 El Mostrador

Date: 15-11-2006

Judge Guzmán carries out proceedings in Río Bueno

The investigating judge Juan Guzmán Tapia took statements from relatives of the forcibly disappeared from the town of Río Bueno, in the Tenth Region, where he traveled to investigate the deaths of brothers Guido and Víctor Barría Basay.

In addition, the magistrate arrived at the La Barra sector accompanied by personnel from the Fifth Department of Investigations, who must verify the reports regarding the existence of a clandestine cemetery with bodies of detainees during the military government.

The Socialist militants have been missing since October 16, 1973, when they were detained by Carabineros of the area at their workplace, at the Los Riscos estate. In the area, the judge will advance the pending proceedings.

During his stay in the region, the magistrate will travel to the Lago Ranco commune, where he will carry out expert examinations regarding the case of four Socialist militants executed by Navy personnel.

Judge Guzmán will take charge of this case, which is currently being investigated by a special judge of the Río Bueno courts. Teófilo González, Cardenio Ancacura, Manuel Hernández, and Arturo Vera were detained on October 16, 1973, at their homes in Lago Ranco and taken to the Carabineros station of that town.

At night they were taken aboard the steamship “Laja,” where they were executed. Their bodies were thrown into the lake, and have not been found to date. Tomorrow, Human Rights groups will meet with the judge in Osorno for the purpose of being informed about the progress of the investigations.

In addition, depending on the course of the proceedings, Judge Juan Guzmán would travel on Friday to Valdivia and Osorno to continue the investigation.

Source: El Mostrador April 17, 2002

Date: 17-04-2002

Judge Guzmán relegates cases and opens a new investigation

Fulfilling its basic mandate to assist judicial processes aimed at finding the forcibly disappeared, the Human Rights Program, formerly known as the National Reconciliation Corporation, will become a co-plaintiff in the 22 cases in which investigating judge Juan Guzmán Tapia declared himself incompetent.

The Program is also refining the strategy to become a party in the processes handled by Judge Guzmán regarding the forcibly disappeared or political executions whose remains have not yet been found. The point not yet resolved is whether they will present filings according to the episodes already established—Villa Grimaldi, Pisagua, Calle Conferencia, Liquiñe, Operation Condor, Operation Colombo—or only with respect to each of the victims the magistrate is investigating.

To date, Guzmán has only received the document signed by the Undersecretary of the Interior, Jorge Correa Sutil, for the Mapocho mine shaft case, and it is expected that the government-dependent body will soon request proceedings to hasten this case, which is not among Guzmán's priorities.

With this, the Program seeks for the processes to progress simultaneously and to fulfill the challenge of finding the greatest number of remains of the forcibly disappeared. Although the judge originally stated that he was incompetent in 27 processes, in recent days, at the request of the plaintiffs, he has decided to revoke some of his resolutions.

This is what happened in the case of Luis Alberto Gómez Cerda, Claudio Romulo Tognola Ríos, and Carlos Miguel Garay Benavides, whose investigation had been delegated to the Tocopilla Court of Letters, and today, together with the rest of the cases of the forcibly disappeared from that area, they will form a new investigation file titled Tocopilla, to which the investigating judge will dedicate himself in depth in the coming days.

Gómez Cerda was detained on September 13, 1973, while working at the Chuquicamata Division of the Copper Corporation (Codelco) of Tocopilla (Cobrechuqui); there are no reliable records establishing what happened to him as a Socialist militant.

The story is different for Tognola Ríos—an obstetrician (PS) who worked in the maternity ward of the Tocopilla hospital and at the Chemical Society of Chile (Soquimich), and whose trail was lost on September 16, 1973—and for Garay Benavides—a Cobrechuqui supervisor (PC), detained on September 12, 1973—since, according to the plaintiffs, their bodies would be in the “La Veleidosa” mine, where excavations have already been carried out, resulting in the discovery of a large number of skeletal remains that would correspond to them.

Another process that will return to Guzmán's hands is the case of Isidoro Carrillo Tornería and others, where Vasili Carrillo acts as a plaintiff, a case that had been rejected by the magistrate and handed over in August of this year to the duty court of Concepción.

But the most transcendental achievement for the plaintiffs was that the minister again accepted the disappearance of Cardenio Ancacura Manquian (PS) and Manuel Jesús Hernández Inostroza, since according to the report that the Armed Forces delivered at the conclusion of the Dialogue Table, their remains were thrown into Lago Ranco, Tenth Region.

Due to the background information provided by the Armed Forces, this case constitutes a significant contribution to human rights processes for the plaintiffs, so it should not be abandoned by the judge.

According to the head of the legal area of the Human Rights Program, lawyer Roberto Garretón, once they know the final list of cases in which Guzmán declared himself incompetent, the immediate step would be to request visiting ministers in the corresponding cases and, independent of that, the entity must participate in the investigation.

Cases that Guzmán will not review

Among the cases relegated by Guzmán so far, it was established that the investigation into the execution of Mario Alvarado Araya, Faruc Aguad Pérez, Wilfredo Sánchez Silva, and Artemio Pizarro Aranda, who lost their lives at the hands of Army personnel in the Las Coimas sector in San Felipe, will be seen by the visiting minister Gabriela Corti in Valparaíso.

For its part, the disappearance on November 17, 1975, of the Socialist militant Miguel Enrique Rodríguez Vergara will be investigated by the judge with exclusive dedication Raquel Lermanda, head of the Ninth Criminal Court of the capital.

The same will happen with the execution on public roads suffered on September 24, 1973, by Arnoldo Camu Veloso, legal advisor to President Salvador Allende, whose process will remain in the hands of the exclusive judge María Ines Collins, of the Eighth Criminal Court of Santiago. Other cases in which Guzmán declared himself incompetent:

• Luis Rodríguez Arancibia, Alfredo Moreno Neira, Luis Verdejo Contreras, and Jaime Max Bastián Leiva: will be sent to the Twentieth Criminal Court of Santiago.
• Hugo Riveros Gómez: will be in charge of the 18th Criminal Court of the capital.
• Juan Isaías Heredía Olivares: will be seen by the Court of Letters of Los Angeles.
• José Esaú Velásquez Velásquez and others: will remain in the hands of the Chaitén Court.
• Guillermo Vargas Gallardo: will be investigated by the duty Criminal Court of Copiapó.
• Humberto Salas Salas: will be reviewed in the duty Criminal Court of Osorno.
• Máximo Astolfo Bermúdez Ballón and Juan Rafael Bermúdez Gaete: will be analyzed by the 26th Criminal Court of Santiago.
• Tránsito Cabrera Ortiz: will be seen by the Criminal Court of Talcahuano.
• Máximo Segundo Neira Salas: will be investigated by the duty Court of Talcahuano.
• Salvador Cautivo Ahumada: will be investigated by the duty Court of Arica.
• Miguel Vega: will be analyzed by the duty Court of Curicó.
• José Alfonso Constanzo Vera: will be in charge of the duty Court of Talcahuano.
• Susana Estrella Obando: will be investigated by the duty Court of Punta Arenas.
• Lisandro Salvador Sandoval Fuentes: will be reviewed by the 14th Criminal Court of Santiago.
• Silvio Francisco Betancourt Bahamondes: will be analyzed by the duty Court of Punta Arenas.
• Ramón Luis Vivanco Díaz: in charge of the Second Court of Letters of San Bernardo.
• Guillermo Amador Alvarez Cañas: will remain in the hands of the duty Court of San Antonio.
• Ariel Monsalves Martínez: will be seen by the Second Court of Letters of San Bernardo.
• Bernardo Mario Lejderman and María del Rosario Avalos Castañeda: will be investigated by the Court of Letters of Vicuña.

Judge Sergio Muñoz interrogated former CNI chief Roberto Schmied regarding the Alegría Mundaca case;

Visiting minister Sergio Muñoz interrogated today the former official of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), Brigadier (R) Roberto Schmied Sanzi, to establish whether he bears responsibility as an author, accomplice, or accessory in the process for the homicide of the carpenter Juan Alegría Mundaca, a crime connected to that of Tucapel Jiménez.

Alegría Mundaca was murdered in 1983 by CNI agents to cover up the homicide of the union leader. On July 19 of last year, the Seventh Chamber of the Court of Appeals sentenced the former operational chief of the CNI, Alvaro Corbalán, and the former agents of that organization Carlos Herrera Jiménez and Armando Cabrera to life imprisonment as authors of the crime, while punishing Osvaldo Pincetti with ten years in prison.

In addition, Hugo Alarcón Vergara, former driver for Alvaro Corbalán, is under prosecution. At the time the crime was committed, Schmied was the deputy director of the dissolved CNI and is attributed the status of accomplice for being the superior officer in the chain of command of the agents of that organization who have already been convicted.

The version provided by Schmied in Muñoz's interrogation indicates that he never had knowledge of the operation because he was out of the country at that time, according to his passport which is included in the file.

Source: Primera Linea September 28, 2001

Date: 28-09-2001