On October 19, 1973, at 01:20 hours, the following individuals were executed by Army personnel near Antofagasta: Luis Eduardo ALANIZ ALVAREZ […] Dinator Segundo AVILA ROCCO […] Guillermo Nelson CUELLO ALVAREZ […] Segundo Norton FLORES ANTIVILO […] Darío Armando GODOY MANSILLA […] José Boeslindo GARCIA BERRIOS […] Miguel Hernán MANRIQUEZ DIAZ […] Danilo MORENO ACEVEDO […] Washington Radomil MUÑOZ DONOSO […] Eugenio RUIZ TAGLE ORREGO […] Héctor Mario SILVA IRIARTE […] Alexis VALENZUELA FLORES […] Marco Felipe DE LA VEGA RIVERA, 46 years old, engineer, Mayor of Tocopilla, communist militant; detained on September 15 by personnel from the Investigaciones police and Carabineros, taken to the Tocopilla Police Station, and on October 15, to the Antofagasta Jail. Mario del Carmen ARQUEROS SILVA […]

On October 21, 1973, an official statement was published in the Antofagasta press reporting the execution of Mario Silva, Eugenio Ruiz Tagle, Washington Muñoz, and Miguel Manríquez, noting that "the executions were ordered by the Junta Militar of Government…".

On October 24, a second public statement appeared reporting the executions of Luis Alaniz, Danilo Moreno, and Nelson Cuello, indicating that by "resolution of the Honorable Government Junta, on the dawn of the 20th, the execution by firing squad of three people was carried out…", those already mentioned.

There was no official version regarding the remaining seven individuals executed on October 19.

Subsequent official statements, from both provincial and national authorities, refer to these executions as if they were the consequence of carrying out sentences handed down by War Councils. In reports submitted by the government of the time to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was stated that Eugenio Ruiz Tagle and Héctor Silva, among others, had been prosecuted in case 349 73 before the First Military Court of Antofagasta, with Ruiz Tagle's "participation in the crime of embezzlement of public funds… and the diversion of funds to acquire armaments for the Partido Socialista and the Movimiento de Acción Popular" being proven. "Furthermore, his responsibility was established in the organization of a terrorist plan prepared for September 18 and 19, 1973… the corresponding court imposed the death penalty, which was carried out by firing squad on October 19, 1973." Regarding Héctor Silva, according to that version, various crimes had been proven against him, including embezzlement of public funds, crimes against State Security, and illegal possession of armaments and explosives, adding that "his participation in these acts was irrefutably proven. In the case, he confessed to his participation as a promoter, organizer, and main leader of a paramilitary organization… In the respective trial… he was sentenced to the death penalty, which was carried out by firing squad on October 19, 1973."

After carefully analyzing the information received and the testimonies collected from various sources, the Commission formed the conviction that the deaths of the fourteen individuals identified above were executions for which State agents were responsible, acting outside all legality, which constituted a violation of their human rights, especially to physical integrity, due process, and life.

It bases its conviction on the following considerations:

• Regarding the majority of those executed, there are credible testimonies that while they were deprived of liberty and before being killed, they were atrociously tortured. This, of course, would invalidate any confession provided.
• The official version that reported the existence of a judicial process that would have concluded in the death sentences of the fourteen affected individuals is contradictory to the first information that reported a decision by the Honorable Government Junta;
• That despite the requests made by the Commission, it was not possible to obtain the documents of the trial that would have been substantiated against those executed, which, together with the other evidence, leads it to conclude that it never existed;
• That, furthermore, the first version regarding the decision of the Government Junta is consistent with the fact that at the time of the executions, a military delegation from Santiago was present in Antofagasta with delegated authority precisely from the highest national authorities;
• That in this last regard, the versions provided by the protagonists are contradictory regarding the origin of the execution orders, but none alleges that a Consejo de Guerra existed;
• That in the event that some kind of trial of the executed individuals had taken place, it occurred without the knowledge of their families and lawyers, which meant that the affected individuals lacked the right to a defense;
• That, whatever the origin of the order to execute the fourteen detainees may have been, military officers and personnel from the Antofagasta Regiment and officers belonging to the delegation from Santiago participated in their executions.