The DINA Lautaro Brigade was an extermination unit assembled by Manuel Contreras and directed by Army Major Juan Morales Salgado. This brigade operated from the clandestine barracks at Calle Simón Bolívar 8630.

The actions of this group of DINA agents known to date include the capture of the Communist Party leadership in 1976. The brigade functioned with a contingent of more than 70 members, whose operational members carried out the gathering of information, arrests, interrogations/torture, execution, and the disappearance of the bodies of the detainees.

For these purposes, they had access to a large infrastructure; in addition to the barracks themselves, they had a varied number of vehicles at their disposal, as well as access to Puma helicopters from the Army Aviation Command (CAE), which operated from Peldehue.

The members of the Lautaro Brigade came from the four branches of the Armed Forces, in addition to having some civilian agents attached to the various branches; its composition was mostly non-commissioned officers.

The fact that there were at least seven agents from the Navy in this brigade makes it clear that the institution lied when it declared that the Navy had withdrawn all its personnel from the DINA in 1975.

Another characteristic of the Lautaro Brigade is that it had a large number of women, who, as has been discovered, were characterized by their coldness and cruelty in the face of crimes. Several of them, due to their knowledge of medicine and nursing, cooperated in the experiments carried out in the chemical laboratory at Michael Townley's house in Lo Curro.

Townley constantly attended the Calle Simón Bolívar barracks to experiment on detainees with the gas manufactured by the chemist Eugenio Berrios. The information that has been recovered as of August 2007 appears after the investigation of the “Calle Conferencia” case carried out by Judge Víctor Montiglio, who has managed to establish the fate of a number of detainees from the Communist Party leadership, among them the general secretary of the PC in hiding, Víctor Manuel Díaz López, as well as Bernardo Araya Zuleta, María Olga Flores Barraza, Mario Zamorano Donoso, Onofre Jorge Muñoz Poutays, Uldarico Donaire Cortés, Jaime Patricio Donato Avendaño, Elisa Escobar Cepeda, Lenín Adán Díaz Silva, Eliana Espinoza Fernández, and Marta Lidia Ugarte Román. To date, it has been established that Víctor Manuel Díaz López was arrested in the early hours of May 12, 1976, at the house located at Calle Bello Horizonte No. 979, in the Las Condes district, days after the arrest of several PC leaders detained in the operation known as the “Ratonera” at Calle Conferencia No. 1587. Víctor Díaz was taken to the Villa Grimaldi torture center and subsequently transferred to “Casa de Piedra,” another DINA torture center located in the Cajón del Maipo, a place where it is known that Augusto Pinochet visited Víctor Díaz and other PC leaders detained there. At the beginning of 1977, Manuel Contreras gave the order to Juan Morales Salgado to eliminate Víctor Díaz, and in compliance with that order, agents Sergio Escalona Acuña and Bernardo Daza Navarro took Díaz out of a cell and tied a plastic bag over his head, suffocating him, while Army Lieutenant (nurse) Gladys de las Mercedes Calderón Carreño injected him with cyanide. Subsequently, they proceeded to place the body in plastic bags, tie it up, attach a piece of rail to it, and put it into potato sacks, then tie it with wire to ensure the bindings would not open. The body was transported in vehicles to the Army regiment in Peldehue, where they had other executed victims brought from Villa Grimaldi and tied in the same way as Víctor Díaz. They loaded the bodies into the Army Aviation Command's Puma helicopter and set off toward the coast of the Fifth Region to throw the bodies into the sea. This mode of operation by the Lautaro Brigade agents demonstrates the brutality and dehumanization of all its members. Below is the list of some of the Lautaro Brigade agents. 1 Acevedo Acevedo, Heriberto del Carmen Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 2 Ahumada Despouy, Joyce Ana Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 3 Altamirano Sanhueza, Orlando del Tránsito Navy Non-commissioned Officer (R) 4 Alvarez Droguett, Victor Manuel Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 5 Alvarez Vega, Hiro Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 6 Arriagada Mora, Jorge Hugo FACH Civilian employee (R) 7 Aspe Rojas, Celinda Angélica Navy Non-commissioned Officer (R) 8 Benavides Escobar, César Raúl Army General (R) 9 Bermúdez Méndez, Carlos Justo Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 10 Bitterlich Jaramillo, Pedro Segundo Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 11 Cabezas Mardones, Eduardo Patricio FACH Non-commissioned Officer (R) 12 Calderón Carreño, Gladys de las Mercedes Army Officer (R) and nurse 13 Castro Andrade, Sergio Hernán Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 14 Chaigneau Sepúlveda, Federico Humberto Army Lieutenant Colonel (R) 15 Daza Navarro, Bernardo del Rosario Navy Non-commissioned Officer (R) 16 Díaz Radulovich, Jorge Iván FACH Non-commissioned Officer (R) 17 Díaz Ramírez, Guillermo Eduardo FACH Non-commissioned Officer (R) 18 Escalona Acuña, Sergio Orlando Navy Non-commissioned Officer (R) 19 Escobar Fuentes, Jorge Marcelo Army Brigadier (R) 20 Ferrán Martínez, Guillermo Jesús Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 21 Garea Guzmán, Eduardo Army Civilian employee (R) 22 Guerrero Aguilera, Gustavo Enrique Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 23 Guerrero Soto, María Angélica Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 24 Gutiérrez Valdés, Pedro Antonio Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 25 Jaime Astorga, Rufino Eduardo Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 26 Jímenez Escobar, Berta Yolanda Navy Non-commissioned Officer (R) 27 Krassnoff Martchenko, Miguel Army Brigadier (R) 28 Lagos Yañez, Luis Alberto FACH Civilian employee (R) 29 Lawrence Mires, Ricardo Víctor Carabineros Lieutenant Colonel (R) 30 López Tapia, Carlos José Army Colonel (R) and Army Prof. 31 Magna Astudillo, Elisa del Carmen Army Officer (R) 32 Manríquez Manterola, Jorge Lientur Navy Non-commissioned Officer (R) 33 Marcos Muñoz, Carlos Segundo Civilian attached to the Army 34 Meza Serrano, José Miguel Navy Non-commissioned Officer (R) 35 Montre Méndez, Manuel Antonio Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 36 Morales Salgado, Juan Hernán Army Colonel (R) and Army Prof. 37 Navarro Navarro, Teresa del Carmen Navy Non-commissioned Officer (R) 38 Obreque Henríquez, Manuel Jesús Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 39 Ojeda Obando, José Alfonso Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 40 Orellana de la Pinta, Claudio Orlando Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 41 Oyarce Riquelme, Eduardo Alejandro Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 42 Pacheco Fernández, Claudio Enrique Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 43 Pichunmán Curiqueo, Jorge Segundo Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 44 Piña Garrido, Juvenal Alfonso Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 45 Reyes Lagos, Eduardo Antonio Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 46 Rinaldi Suárez, Carlos Ramón Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 47 Rivas González, Adriana Elcira FACH Non-commissioned Officer (R) 48 Riveros Valderrama, René Miguel Army Officer (R) 49 Saavedra Vásquez, Orfa Yolanda Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 50 Sagardía Monje, Jorge Laureano Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 51 Sarmiento Sotelo, José Manuel Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 52 Silva Vergara, Marilin Melahani Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 53 Sovino Maturana, Hernán Luis Army Captain (R) 54 Torrejón Gatica, Orlando Jesús Army Non-commissioned Officer (R) 55 Troncoso Vivallos, Emilio Hernán Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 56 Urrutia Acuña, Luis Arturo Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 57 Vacarella Gilio, Italia Donata Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 58 Valdebenito Araya, Héctor Manuel Carabineros Non-commissioned Officer (R) 59 Vilches Muñoz, Ana del Carmen FACH Civilian employee (R)

Source: AFDD, La Nacion, El mostrador, Punto Final

This is the second time that someone implicated in the Calle Conferencia case has taken their own life, following the 2005 suicide of Colonel (R) Germán Barriga—also a former DINA agent—who threw himself from a building in Las Condes.

Marco Muñoz left a letter in which he asks his wife for forgiveness and blames Judge Víctor Montiglio and President Bachelet. Two events marked the final hours of the former DINA civilian agent Carlos Marco Muñoz, 72, before he committed suicide at the Peñalolén Military Police Battalion.

The first was the statement he gave on Wednesday to the investigating judge Alejandro Madrid, within the framework of the proceedings regarding the homicide of the Spanish diplomat Carmelo Soria, which occurred in 1976.

And the second, the handwritten letter in which he asks his wife for forgiveness for his tragic decision; he blames Judge Víctor Montiglio, the instructor of the Conferencia case, where he was being prosecuted for qualified homicide, as well as President Michelle Bachelet, for the human rights policy that the Concertación has had.

The former agent served as a butler at the Simón Bolívar barracks that the DINA managed after the 1973 military coup, but he eventually ended up being involved in the torture and disappearance of political prisoners.

Among others, the former general secretary of the Communist Party (PC) Víctor Díaz, father of the leader Viviana Díaz, and Jorge Muñoz, former partner of Gladys Marín, remained detained at the aforementioned facility.

Judge Madrid summoned the now-deceased former agent, as he has been digging into the statements that Montiglio has obtained in his investigation regarding the death of Soria, mainly to configure the actions of the Mulchén Brigade of the repressive organization.

The death of the former DINA agent is being investigated by the Second Military Prosecutor's Office, led by Roberto Reveco, to confirm or rule out whether there was the involvement of third parties. The forensic examinations are being carried out by specialized units of the Investigative Police.

Before being detained at the military facility, Muñoz was in the High Security Prison (CAS) and was later transferred to the eastern sector of the capital, a fact that will also have to be investigated by Reveco.

This is the second time that someone implicated in the case has taken their own life, following the January 2005 suicide of Colonel (R) Germán Barriga—also a former DINA agent—who threw himself from the roof of a building in the Las Condes district.

The Conferencia case is a proceeding conducted by Judge Montiglio, where it has been uncovered how the DINA murdered the clandestine leadership of the PC. Currently, there are more than 60 agents being prosecuted for various crimes.

Suicide of former DINA agent reactivates concern among those prosecuted for human rights violations As occurred in January 2005, when Colonel (R) Germán Barriga Muñoz took his own life, the lawyers and relatives of prosecuted military personnel have raised the possibility of seeking a political solution that would once again apply the provisions of the Amnesty Law and the statute of limitations.

The suicide of the DINA civilian agent Carlos Marco Muñoz, prosecuted for the so-called Calle Conferencia case, reactivated the “campaign” of those accused of human rights violations to close the investigations into the crimes that occurred during the dictatorship and find a political solution to an issue they still consider pending.

Just as happened in January 2005, when Colonel (R) Germán Barriga Muñoz took his own life, the defense teams of the prosecuted military personnel and their relatives began to argue that the Supreme Court should put an end to the criterion of accepting International Treaties on human rights violations and begin to close the cases through the application of provisions such as the Amnesty Law and the statute of limitations.

Retired General Guillermo Garín was clear in summarizing the feeling of frustration felt by the former agents who participated in some cases of human rights violations and who feel defenseless due to the Supreme Court's criterion, which has recognized that the Geneva Conventions declare these types of acts as imprescriptible. “Before September 11 (1973), they were not considered criminals.

When they acted, they did not do so on their own account; that is why they feel that provisions such as the Amnesty Law and the statute of limitations, which should be considered in Chile, are not being applied,” said the retired military officer, who was also a spokesperson for the family of the former dictator Augusto Pinochet Ugarte.

In fact, in the circles of military lawyers, the possibility of reactivating the true campaign of “lobbying and awareness” that they have been deploying in recent weeks, and which began after the massive indictments issued by investigating judge Víctor Montiglio in the Calle Conferencia case, has resurfaced.

Within the framework of this campaign, the lawyer for General (R) Manuel Contreras, Fidel Reyes, met with the president of the Supreme Court, Enrique Tapia Witting, to propose the possibility of closing the cases for human rights violations and putting an end to what they define as “the legal fiction of permanent kidnapping.” The meeting took place a few days ago, and although Judge Tapia only listened to the defender of the former DINA director, upon leaving the meeting, Reyes was clear in stating that these types of proceedings must be ended. "There is unease and irritation among the officers who are being prosecuted for the issue of human rights violations, since certain fully valid institutions such as the statute of limitations and the Amnesty Law have not been considered,” said the professional who defends the former director, who has been sentenced to a total of 159 years in prison for various cases of human rights violations. Reyes argued that the judges investigating these types of proceedings are harming the former uniformed officers, as they are forced to prove that the kidnappings of the forcibly disappeared do not exist. “The burden of proof has been reversed. The judges are investigating and asking the accused to prove that the disappeared persons are dead or alive, and that is the responsibility of the judge, who must investigate everything, not just what blames a person. International Treaties are understood to be incorporated into our law when they are ratified, and there have been rulings where it is applied anyway, and that causes irritation,” Reyes stated. The relatives of the former military personnel and the lawyers linked to the issue are convinced that the only way to reverse this situation is to put an end to the passivity with which they have acted in recent years and act in the same way as the relatives of the victims do, by raising awareness among the general population and the political world about their reality. For this reason, they have begun to attend the hearings of the cases when they are analyzed by the Supreme Court and the Santiago Court of Appeals, just as happened a few weeks ago when the release of 40 DINA agents prosecuted for the Calle Conferencia case was analyzed, and subsequently when the highest court analyzed the conviction for the case of the forcibly disappeared Luis San Martín Vergara. On those occasions, along with the relatives of the victims, Generals (R) Raúl Iturriaga Neumann, Hernán Núñez, and others were seen “making an appearance.” Plaintiff considers former agent's death ''extraordinarily suspicious'' Lawyer Eduardo Contreras indicated that Carlos Marco Muñoz had become a “key witness” in the investigation of the Calle Conferencia case. Lawyer Eduardo Contreras, one of the plaintiffs in the investigation into the crime of the Calle Conferencia case, described the death of the former agent of the dissolved DINA, Carlos Marco Muñoz, as “extraordinarily suspicious.” He indicated that the deceased had become a “key witness” in the investigation being carried out by the investigating judge, Víctor Montiglio, providing important background information to reconstruct the dictatorship's repression of the Communist Party (PC) leadership in 1976. The former employee had been in prison since last January, after being prosecuted by Judge Montiglio as a co-author of kidnappings and qualified homicides of PC leaders. According to the case file, Carlos Marcos Muñoz claimed after being arrested that he only worked as a butler and cook at the Simón Bolívar barracks, but the judge managed to prove that he had active participation in the crimes. According to Contreras, among the relevant data provided by Marco Muñoz is having recognized the former deputy general secretary of the PC, Víctor Díaz, even giving details of the way in which the repression was exercised against the disappeared leftist leader. "He denounced another military officer who used a blowtorch to burn the fingerprints of Víctor Díaz and those of other detainees on Calle Conferencia, just as their faces were burned,” the professional stated, demanding a thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the former DINA agent. "He has made a valuable contribution as a key witness in the process; this suicide seems extraordinarily strange to me,” said the professional.

Source: El Mostrador, May 25, 2007

Army ''deeply regrets'' death of person prosecuted for Calle Conferencia

The suicide of the former civilian agent of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Carlos Marcos Muñoz, 72, prompted a reaction from the Army, which “deeply regretted” the event and publicly expressed “its deepest condolences to his family.” Through a statement from the Military Police Regiment No. 1 “Santiago,” the institution provided background information on the way in which the events occurred, which are being investigated. “At approximately 08:40 hrs., Mr.

Carlos Segundo Marcos Muñoz, who was deprived of liberty at the Regiment's Detention Center by order of Judge Víctor Montiglio Rezzo, in case Roll No. 2.182-98, 'Conferencia' case, was found lifeless at said Center,” the text says.

It adds that the duty prosecutor of the II. Military Court arrived at the scene of the event and, together with the Homicide Brigade of the Investigative Police, is carrying out the corresponding forensic examinations to clarify this event.

Marcos hanged himself this morning in the facilities of the Santiago Military Police Battalion. According to reports, he left four letters, which were allegedly addressed to his relatives and the judge investigating the case.

He remained in detention at the aforementioned facility as a co-author of qualified homicide in the process known as Calle Conferencia, which is being instructed by Judge Montiglio. The magistrate is investigating the circumstances of the kidnappings and disappearances of the Communist Party leaders that occurred in 1976.

Source: Emol, May 24, 2007

Human Rights: Three former agents have died while serving sentences

The death of former agent Héctor Vallejos Birtiola, which occurred the night before last, became the third case of a human rights violator dying from a terminal illness while serving a sentence. He was hospitalized in Punta Peuco.

Before him, in 2007, the former repressors Osvaldo Romo and Osvaldo Pincetti died under similar circumstances. That same year, while serving preventive detention at the Peñalolén Military Police Battalion after being prosecuted in the Conferencia case, the former member of the Lautaro Brigade, Carlos Marcos Muñoz, died in a strange suicide.

Prosecuted but enjoying provisional release with trials in progress, more than a dozen former agents have died to date from various causes. In this capacity, the former vice-commander-in-chief of the Army, indicted for the crimes of Pisagua, General (R) Carlos Forestier Hänsgen, died in 2005.

Also prosecuted and on provisional release, the former chief of the Purén brigade and the Delfín group, Colonel (R) Germán Barriga, died in January 2005 by throwing himself from a building. Vallejos, who suffered from cancer, had requested a presidential pardon on March 2, 2010, but then-President Bachelet denied it.

However, Vallejos had received an important benefit in 2009 from the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court which, by applying the “Dolmetsch doctrine,” a compensatory measure named after its author and member of that chamber, Hugo Dolmetsch, reduced his sentence from ten years and one day to 5 years and one day.

At that time, Vallejos and the other two convicted men, Brigadier (R) Fernando Polanco and Non-commissioned Officer (R) Luis Fernández, to whom the same reduction was applied, were on the verge of being acquitted when two of the five members of that criminal chamber, Rubén Ballesteros and Nibaldo Segura, supporters of amnesty and the statute of limitations for crimes against humanity, voted for acquittal.

Vallejos was serving a sentence as a co-author of the 1973 crime, on the border with Argentina, in La Serena, of the Argentine-Mexican couple Bernardo Ledjerman and María Avalos. According to the case file, their two-year-old son, Ernesto, was placed in the custody of the Sisters of Providence in La Serena by then-Lieutenant Juan Emilio Cheyre, arguing that his parents “committed suicide.”

MINISTER

Yesterday, the Minister of Justice, Felipe Bulnes, said that pardoning human rights violators “is a complex issue,” because “natural mercy is combined with our commitment to enforce the law.” The vice president of the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared, Mireya García, stated that “life and death are part of our existence, and that does not imply that human rights violators should go free because they suffer from an illness.” The AFDD opposes the Church asking the government for a pardon.

Source: La Nacion, May 31, 2010