Occupation: Merchant, former secretary to Senator Jorge Montes.

Representative Position: Union leader, former candidate for councilman; President of the Municipal Workers of Renca; member of the Communist Party Date of Detention: August 9, 1976

REPRESSIVE SITUATION

Mario Jesús Juica Vega, married, father of 5, former president of the municipal workers of Renca, and a communist militant, was detained by DINA agents on August 9, 1976, around noon, in the vicinity of Plaza Ñuñoa.

He was violently handcuffed and forced into a vehicle that had braked sharply beside him, from which two of his captors emerged. Mario Juica was taken to the DINA torture center, Villa Grimaldi, from where he was forcibly disappeared.

That same day, other union leaders and members of the Communist Party were detained, among them José Enrique Corvalán Valencia, Víctor Hugo Morales Mazuela, Jorge Salgado Salinas, and Pedro Silva Bustos.

All of them remain in the status of forcibly disappeared. Days earlier, on July 15 and 17, the Military Government, through the National Directorate of Social Communication (DINACOS), acknowledged in an official statement that security services were acting against the Communist Party, noting "...that intelligence services resolved to act against 32 'mailbox houses' in Santiago that this aforementioned Communist Party maintains for liaison between the Political Commission and the Regional Leaders of the former Communist Party."

The presence of Mario Jesús Juica Vega at Villa Grimaldi is attested to by the testimonies of 6 former prisoners. Mr. Omar Rigoberto Rosales Chávez states in a sworn declaration that he was detained on August 11, 1976, along with Héctor Mario Núñez Ferrada, by DINA agents who were transporting Víctor Hugo Morales Mazuela, a regional leader of the PC, as a detainee; after his arrest, he was taken blindfolded to Villa Grimaldi, where he remained for two days before being released.

During his stay there, while in a courtyard, he could hear significant movement of people and vehicles that appeared to be preparing for an operation, as they were changing the license plates on the vehicles; at one point, one of the agents said they were missing one person to leave.

At that moment, they brought someone in and asked for his name; the person identified himself as Mario Juica, after which several vehicles left the site. Mr. Héctor Mario Núñez Ferrada declares similarly in his testimony regarding his detention and subsequent transfer to Villa Grimaldi.

Mr. Pedro Rolando Jara Alegría was detained on two occasions by the DINA, on July 30 and August 18, 1976, respectively. On the latter date, agents were holding Ms. Juana Villavicencio as a detainee, and, as in the previous instance, he was taken to Villa Grimaldi, where he was stripped, tied by his hands and feet to a metal cot, and tortured with electricity.

After spending about 5 days in "cajoneras" (small cells) located in the sector of the facility known as "the tower," he was moved to a cell where he remained with Juana Villavicencio and Rosa Leiva; in the next room was Marta Ugarte (killed by the DINA), who told him she had endured severe torture and had been hung for 3 days.

He also spoke with another detainee, Carlos Vizcarra—who is disappeared—who told him that a few days earlier, Mario Juica had been moved to another location. Mr. Isaac Godoy Castillo states in his testimony that he was detained by the DINA on August 20, 1976, and taken to Villa Grimaldi, where he noticed the presence of other prisoners, including Mario Juica Vega, who worked politically with Julieta Retamal and Haroldo Pérez.

He learned of Mario Juica through another detainee named Pedro Silva, finding out that the previous Wednesday they had taken Mario Juica out of the facility, and since then, nothing had been known of him.

The witness was released on August 27, 1976, and in November of that year, he was detained on a public street by DINA agents who forced him to sign a statement saying he had not been detained, was not a member of the Communist Party, and did not know Pedro Jara Alegría.

For her part, Ms. Rosa Elsa Leiva Muñoz states in her testimony that she was detained on August 20, 1976, and taken to Villa Grimaldi, where she was intensely interrogated and tortured. She remained there in a cell with Rolando Jara Alegría and another detainee named Juana Hidalgo; in the adjacent cell was Marta Ugarte, who told her that on the day she arrived at the facility, they were taking out Mario Juica, Clara Canteros, and Oscar Ramos—all of whom are forcibly disappeared.

The witness was released on August 26, 1976. On December 1 of that year, she was detained by DINA agents, who forced her to write a note stating that she had never been detained and did not know Jara Alegría.

In the respective judicial process initiated for the disappearance of the victim, there is the declaration of Ms. Juana del Carmen Vicencio Hidalgo, who states she was detained on August 13, 1976, and taken to Villa Grimaldi, where she noticed the presence of other prisoners, including Mario Jesús Juica Vega.

His family carried out countless efforts and inquiries to find his whereabouts, but all were fruitless, and they still do not know the final fate he met at the hands of the DINA.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On August 11, 1976, a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) was filed on his behalf before the Santiago Court of Appeals, case file 728-76, in which the Tribunal was informed of the amparo seeker's diverse union and party activities, while requesting that the DINA be officially notified; this request was denied by the Court.

On August 24, the appeal was rejected after receiving the respective negative report from the Ministry of the Interior, and the records were sent to the Fourth Criminal Court of San Miguel. This resolution was confirmed by the Supreme Court, thereby rejecting the appeal filed by the petitioner.

On September 17, the 4th Criminal Court initiated case file No. 11.234, before which Ms. Marta Floriana Rocco López, the victim's spouse, appeared and ratified the terms of her complaint. On October 5, 1976, the 4th Court declared itself incompetent to continue hearing the facts and sent the records to the 8th Criminal Court of Santiago for consolidation with case file 14.027-3, initiated on August 25, 1976, following a complaint for kidnapping filed by Ms.

Marta Rocco López.

In case file 14.027 of the 8th Criminal Court, at the time of consolidation, a negative report had been received from the Minister of the Interior, and the respective order to investigate carried out by the Investigative Police yielded no results.

Subsequently, negative reports were received from the Legal Medical Service and International Police, after which, on December 31, 1976, the case was temporarily dismissed on the grounds that the facts that gave rise to the formation of the case were not proven by the evidence received in the summary.

This resolution was rejected by the Santiago Court of Appeals for considering the investigation incomplete, returning the case to the summary stage. Furthermore, the complainant submitted to the process the sworn declaration of Mr. Pedro Rolando Jara Alegría, a witness to the victim's imprisonment.

After receiving new negative reports from the administrative authority and police agencies, on April 17, 1978, the case was again temporarily dismissed on the grounds that the crime being investigated was not proven.

Subsequently, the case was reopened, and the records were passed to the Visiting Minister Servando Jordán López, who was investigating cases of forcibly disappeared persons in the Santiago Department. On December 28, 1979, the Minister declared himself incompetent to continue hearing the facts and sent the files to the 2nd Military Court of Santiago.

The military tribunal accepted its jurisdiction and ordered the Third Military Prosecutor's Office to instruct case file 23-80, before which the witness Juana Vicencio Hidalgo appeared. In October 1982, the military judge dismissed the case totally and temporarily, a resolution that was confirmed by the Martial Court, thereby rejecting the appeal filed by the aggrieved party.

Regarding administrative efforts, Ms. Marta Rocco López sent letters to various Ministers of State, members of the Government Junta, and General Augusto Pinochet himself, receiving negative responses from the respective authorities.

Among the various requests, notable is the one sent on November 16, 1976, by Bishop Carlos González C. to General Augusto Pinochet, accompanying the testimony of Mr. Pedro Rolando Jara Alegría. In the response received by the Bishop, General Pinochet denies the witness's complaint, noting that he left the country the same day he made the sworn declaration, and attached to his response 5 statements from people involved in Mr.

Jara's declaration, which totally refute what the latter asserted. Regarding the other people named in said declaration, including Mario Juica Vega, General Pinochet says they are names invented by the declarant.

It should be noted that in late November and December 1976, the DINA compelled several former Villa Grimaldi detainees to sign statements saying they had not been detained, were not members of the Communist Party, and did not know Pedro Jara Alegría. Subsequently, these people acknowledged that they were victims of severe pressure from the DINA to sign the aforementioned statements.

Currently, Mario Jesús Juica Vega remains in the status of forcibly disappeared.

Source: Corporation report

The Supreme Court sentenced 14 agents of the dissolved National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crimes of qualified kidnapping of Luis Emilio Recabarren González, Manuel Guillermo Recabarren González, Nalvia Rosa Mena Alvarado, Manuel Segundo Recabarren Rojas, Clara Elena Canteros Torres, Alejandro Rodríguez Urzúa, Daniel Palma Robledo, Carlos Enrique Godoy Lagarrigue, Iván Sergio Insunza Bascuñán, José Eduardo Santander Miranda, Mario Jesús Juica Vega, Víctor Hugo Morales Mazuela, Carlos Mario Vizcarra Cofré, Miguel Nazal Quiroz, Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate, and Julio Roberto Vega Vega; and the qualified homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado. The crimes were committed between April and August 1976, in the province of Santiago.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 71.900-2020), the Second Chamber of the high court—composed of ministers Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, María Cristina Gajardo, María Soledad Melo, and Eliana Quezada—revoked the sentence issued by the Eighth Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals in April 2020, which applied the "half-prescription" (statute of limitations reduction) to the accused.

In a replacement sentence, the Supreme Court sentenced former DINA leaders and former Army officers Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo and Jorge Claudio Andrade Gómez to 15 years and one day in prison as authors of 16 counts of qualified kidnapping and 10 years and one day as authors of one count of qualified homicide.

Meanwhile, Rolf Arnold Wenderoth Pozo was sentenced to two terms of 10 years and one day in prison as the author of three qualified kidnappings and one qualified homicide; Juan Hernán Morales Salgado and Gladys de las Mercedes Calderón Carreño were sentenced to 10 years and one day in prison as authors of six qualified kidnappings.

In the case of former agents Sergio Orlando Escalona Acuña, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Jorge Iván Díaz Radulovich, and Gustavo Enrique Guerrero Aguilera, a sentence of 5 years and one day in prison was applied as authors of a single case of qualified kidnapping.

Likewise, former agents Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Orlando del Tránsito Altamirano Sanhueza, and Carlos Eugenio López Inostroza must serve 7 years as accomplices to the 16 qualified kidnappings and 5 years and one day in prison as accomplices to the qualified homicide.

Finally, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca must serve 7 years as an accomplice to 15 qualified kidnappings and 5 years and one day in prison as an accomplice to the qualified homicide.

The criminals Carlos José Leonardo López Tapia and Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, who had been sentenced in the first-instance ruling issued by Minister Leopoldo Llanos in July 2017 to 20 years in prison, died during the course of the process. Also deceased are those sentenced in the first instance: Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Orlando José Manzo Durán, and Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo.

In dismissing the "half-prescription," the Supreme Court establishes that: "(...) it is necessary to take into consideration that the matter under discussion must also be analyzed in accordance with international Human Rights regulations contained mainly in the Geneva Conventions, which prevent prescription, total or gradual, regarding crimes committed in cases of armed conflicts without an international character."

The resolution adds that: "The same conclusion is reached considering both the norms of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons and those of the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, because in accordance with that regulation, gradual prescription has the same nature as total prescription."

"From another perspective, legal doctrine on this matter has expressed that its foundations are found in the same considerations of social stability and legal certainty that gave rise to Article 93 of the Penal Code, but that it is intended to produce its effects in those cases in which the realization of the ends provided for prescription does not occur naturally but after a gradual process, that is, when the time necessary to prescribe is about to be fulfilled, which would justify the mitigation of the sentence," it adds.

"However," it continues, "it is evident that that conclusion is for cases that do not present the characteristics of crimes against humanity, since these are imprescriptible. Consequently, for such mitigation to be appropriate, it is necessary that it be a crime in the process of prescribing, which does not happen in this case, so the passage of time produces no effect, because social reproach does not diminish with time, which only occurs in cases of common crimes."

The Facts In the first-instance ruling, presiding minister Leopoldo Llanos Sagristá established that within the framework of the systematic repression of opponents of the military regime, in the months of April and August 1976, the detentions of a series of people, all militants of the Communist Party, took place.

On April 29, 1976, in the sector of Santa Rosa and Sebastopol streets in the commune of San Miguel, the brothers Manuel Guillermo, 22, and Luis Emilio Recabarren González, 29, were detained by DINA agents, along with Nalvia Rosa Mena Alvarado, 20, and her two-year-old son. The minor was abandoned near his home during the night.

The following day, April 30, at 7:00 AM, Manuel Segundo Recabarren Rojas, 50 years of age, was detained shortly after leaving his home in the same sector and as he was preparing to board a public bus.

All the detainees were taken to the clandestine detention and torture center 'Villa Grimaldi'; Manuel Guillermo Recabarren González and Manuel Segundo Recabarren Rojas were also seen at the 'Simón Bolívar' facility, and Luis Emilio Recabarren González at 'Cuatro Álamos'. From those facilities, the DINA forcibly disappeared them.

On July 23, 1976, around 8:00 PM, at the intersection of Rojas Magallanes and Panamá streets in the commune of La Florida, the young Clara Elena Canteros Torres, 21 years of age, was detained by DINA agents. She was subdued as she got off public transport.

She was taken to 'Villa Grimaldi', where she was seen by witnesses, and on August 20, 1976, she was taken out of that facility along with fellow detainees Mario Juica Vega and Oscar Ramos. Since then, they have been forcibly disappeared.

At 9:40 PM, Eduardo Canteros Prado, 48, Clara Elena's uncle, a civil engineer, was detained on a public street by DINA agents in front of his home located on Panamá Street, in the commune of La Florida. He was taken to 'Villa Grimaldi'. In 1990, his remains were found at the Las Tórtolas farm in Colina, a facility that belonged to the Army until 1980.

On July 27, 1976, around 5:15 PM, Alejandro Rodríguez Urzúa, 49 years of age, was detained by DINA agents from his office located at Mallinkrodt 70, Barrio Bellavista. They took him to the 'Villa Grimaldi' facility.

On August 4, 1976, Daniel Palma Robledo, 61, a businessman, was detained in the morning on Avenida Matta, between San Diego and Arturo Prat streets; after picking up his mail, he bought a newspaper, and as he was leaving, he was detained and taken to an unknown destination, but he was seen at the 'Simón Bolívar' extermination barracks.

On the same day, August 4, at 3:00 PM, the doctor Carlos Enrique Godoy Lagarrigue, 39, was detained. They captured him during his commute between the Parochial Hospital of San Bernardo and his private practice, located at Barros Arana and Arturo Prat streets. He was taken to 'Villa Grimaldi' and, subsequently, to 'Cuatro Álamos', from where he was forcibly disappeared.

On the night of August 4, the surgeon Iván Sergio Insunza Bascuñán, 43, was detained by DINA agents while driving his vehicle. He was taken to 'Villa Grimaldi' and then to 'Cuatro Álamos'.

On August 6, 1976, shortly after leaving his home, around 9:30 AM, the student leader and member of the Central Única de Trabajadores, José Eduardo Santander Miranda, 29, was detained by DINA agents; surviving witnesses saw him at the 'Villa Grimaldi' facility.

On August 9, Víctor Hugo Morales Mazuela, 45, a carpenter and construction worker, union leader, and organization manager for a regional branch of the Communist Party, was detained in the morning in the vicinity of the 'Villa México' neighborhood in the commune of Maipú and was taken to 'Villa Grimaldi'. Subsequently, he was seen at the 'Simón Bolívar' barracks.

On the same day, August 9, Mario Jesús Juica Vega, 34, a merchant, was detained around noon in the vicinity of Plaza Egaña, in the commune of Ñuñoa, and taken to 'Villa Grimaldi', a place where he was seen by numerous witnesses. On August 20, he was taken out of that facility along with two other detainees, and since then, the DINA has kept them forcibly disappeared.

On August 11, 1976, at 9:00 AM, while leaving his home located on Chiloé Street, between Santa Rosa and Gran Avenida, in the commune of San Miguel, the merchant Miguel Nazal Quiroz, 44, was detained by DINA agents. He was taken to 'Villa Grimaldi'.

On the night of the same day, August 11, Carlos Mario Vizcarra Cofré, 31, a body shop worker, was detained at his home in Quinta Normal by agents who took him to 'Villa Grimaldi', a facility where witnesses saw him until August 25 of the same year. Subsequently, he was seen at the 'Simón Bolívar' facility.

On August 13, Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate, 55, a union leader and photoengraver, was detained around noon by DINA agents near the Mapocho Station while traveling from his home in Conchalí. He was taken to Villa Grimaldi.

On August 16, 1976, at 11:30 AM, the worker Julio Roberto Vega Vega was detained by DINA agents on Avenida Presidente Balmaceda, between Cueto and Libertad, in the commune of Santiago. Several witnesses saw him imprisoned both at 'Villa Grimaldi' and at the 'Simón Bolívar' barracks.

by Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, July 30, 2023 Date: 07-30-2023

Among those implicated in the crime is the former Army Brigadier Pedro Espinoza, deputy director of Augusto Pinochet’s repressive agency in the 1970s. The list includes agents linked to the Lautaro Brigade, one of the most feared of the era.

The Acquitted

1. Pedro Espinoza Bravo. Former Army Brigadier and former deputy director of the DINA. He was convicted for the assassination of former Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier, former Army Commander-in-Chief General Carlos Prats, and Spanish diplomat Carmelo Soria.

He was part of the Caravan of Death and a material perpetrator of the assassinations of American journalists Charles Horman Lazar and Frank Randall Teruggi Bombatch. He also received convictions in France for "kidnapping accompanied by torture and acts of barbarism" in the cases of French citizens Jorge Klein, Etienne Pesle, Alfonso Chanfreau, and Jean Yves Claudet.

The Santiago Court of Appeals acquitted Espinoza exclusively of crimes committed at the Villa Grimaldi detention and torture center. "There is no evidence that he led any brigade that operated in Villa Grimaldi, much less the Delfín group, during the year 1976, which is what matters for these purposes," the ruling states.

Specifically, he is exempted from responsibility in the kidnapping and disappearance of 17 victims, carried out through the so-called Delfín group in 1976.

2. Rolf Wenderoth Pozo. Former Army Colonel and deputy director of Internal Intelligence for the DINA. He was a member of the Mulchén Brigade, known for the use of sarin gas in several assassinations and for being responsible for the assassination of Carmelo Soria.

Wenderoth was the liaison agent for Luz Arce, a member of President Salvador Allende’s GAP, who was turned under torture to become a DINA agent, and he was part of the teams in charge of the Villa Grimaldi and Belgrano detention and torture centers.

3. Hermón Alfaro Mundaca. Former PDI commissioner and DINA agent. He was part of Villa Grimaldi from 1975 and was prosecuted along with 97 other agents for the disappearance of 41 people in the context of the Operation Colombo case and the Case of the 119, a disinformation operation by the dictatorship in collusion with El Mercurio and La Tercera to hide disappearances.

The famous headline in La Segunda on July 24, "Exterminated like rats," corresponds to this case.

4. Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo. Former Army non-commissioned officer and DINA agent. He was part of the Lautaro Brigade, which—among other criminal missions—was in charge of the "Death Flights," through which the DINA disposed of the bodies of its victims using Army Puma helicopters.

The case of Marta Lidia Ugarte Román corresponds to this operation; she was a victim of a death flight, but her body was returned by the sea, a case for which Bitterlich was convicted as one of the perpetrators of qualified kidnapping, along with Pedro Espinoza and several other agents.

He was also implicated in the cases known as Operation Colombo, Calle Conferencia I and II (aimed at the extermination of the Communist Party leadership), and Operation Cóndor (in which the repressive agencies of several Southern Cone dictatorships colluded to commit and cover up crimes beyond their borders).

5. Claudio Pacheco Fernández. Former Carabineros non-commissioned officer and DINA agent. He was also part of the Lautaro Brigade. He was implicated in Operation Colombo.

6. Orlando Torrejón Gatica. Former Army non-commissioned officer and agent for the DINA and the CNI. He was part of the Lautaro Brigade and went on to be part of the CNI’s Green and Blue Brigades, the repressive organization that succeeded the DINA. He was prosecuted in the Calle Conferencia II case.

7. Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza. Former Navy non-commissioned officer and DINA agent. He was also part of the Lautaro Brigade.

8. Carlos López Inostroza. DINA agent. Implicated in the Calle Conferencia I and Marta Ugarte cases.

Those who received sentence reductions

9. Ricardo Lawrence Mires. Former Carabineros lieutenant colonel and DINA agent. According to Memoria Viva, he is one of the agency’s principal and cruelest torturers, having been the one who pressured Luz Arce before her conversion.

He was stationed at the Londres 38, José Domingo Cañas, and Villa Grimaldi torture centers. Lawrence is known lately for having been a fugitive and one of the most wanted by the PDI for the homicide of Alfonso Chanfreau, having turned himself in to the Carabineros OS-9 on January 10.

10. Jorge Andrade Gómez. Former Army lieutenant colonel and agent for the DINA and the CNI. He was part of the School of the Americas, an institution created by the United States to teach repression and torture techniques that would be used in the dictatorships of the 1970s in Latin America.

He was a lieutenant to Miguel Krassnoff after his time at Villa Grimaldi and was implicated in the Calle Conferencia and Cóndor operations, as well as numerous kidnappings. In the CNI, he was part of Operation Alfa Carbón I, in which the CNI killed seven MIR militants, and he was convicted for the 1985 assassination of 20-year-old Paulina Alejandra Aguirre Tobar of the MIR.

11. Juan Morales Salgado. Former Army Colonel and director of the DINA’s Lautaro Brigade. He is also known for his participation in the 1974 homicide of Prats and his wife, Sofía Cuthbert, in the city of Buenos Aires.

For this crime, he was sentenced to 15 years and 1 day of major imprisonment in its maximum degree, as well as for illicit association. This retired Armed Forces officer only entered prison in 2010. Likewise, another conviction weighs against him for the kidnapping of five young people in an episode known as the Linares Case, for which Morales Salgado received a sentence reduction from the Supreme Court in 2011.

12. Gladys Calderón Carreño. Former Army lieutenant, nurse, and agent of the DINA’s Lautaro Brigade. She was convicted in 2018 by visiting judge Mario Carroza for her role in the events involving Operation Cóndor, for her authorship in the qualified homicides of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik, Matilde Pessa Mois, Hernán Soto Gálvez, and Ruiter Enrique Correa Arce.

Also, as published by El Mostrador, she participated in the Calle Conferencia operation and the detention of Víctor Díaz López of the Communist Party.

13. Ciro Torré Sáez. Former Carabineros captain and administrative chief of the DINA. According to the Memoria Viva website, Judge Llanos sentenced him in 2017 to fifteen years and one day of imprisonment in its maximum degree as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of Luis Emilio Recabarren González, Carlos Enrique Godoy Lagarrigue, and Iván Sergio Insunza Bascuñán.

Previously, Torré had been convicted by the Supreme Court for the qualified homicide of Lumi Videla Moya, a member of the MIR, who was kidnapped along with her husband by the DINA in 1974, dying in the José Domingo Cañas detention center. The high court handed down a sentence of 5 years and one day in 2009.

14. Orlando Escalona Acuña. Former Navy non-commissioned officer and member of the DINA’s Lautaro Brigade. He was previously convicted as a co-perpetrator of the 1976 kidnapping and qualified homicide of Víctor Díaz López, a Communist Party militant who in 1973 achieved a leadership position in the Central Única de Trabajadores de Chile (CUT).

In addition, the Supreme Court issued a sentence against him for the 1976 kidnapping of former communist deputy Bernardo Araya Zulueta and his wife, María Olga Flores Araya.

15. Juvenal Piña Garrido. Army non-commissioned officer and member of the DINA’s Lautaro Brigade. He received the same sentence reduction as Sergio Orlando Escalona Acuña, both involved in the kidnapping of Daniel Palma Robledo.

Piña is also serving a sentence for the qualified kidnapping of Alfredo Rojas Castañeda, Michelle Marguerite Peña Herreros, Ricardo Ernesto Lagos Salinas, Mireya Herminia Rodríguez Díaz, and Exequiel Ponce Vicencio.

16. Jorge Díaz Radulovich. Air Force non-commissioned officer and member of the DINA’s Lautaro Brigade. The Supreme Court convicted him for the 1976 kidnapping of former deputy Bernardo Araya Zulueta and his wife, María Olga Flores Araya, to 5 years and one day of imprisonment as a co-perpetrator of the crime.

According to Memoria Viva, Díaz was mentioned in the book La Danza de los Cuervos as a member of the Martyrs' Avengers Command.

17. Gustavo Guerrero Aguilera. Carabineros non-commissioned officer and member of the Lautaro Brigade. He was implicated in the Calle Conferencia operation. He originally received a ten-year sentence for the kidnapping of Daniel Palma Robledo, but his sentence was reduced to three years and one day of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree.

Source: interferencia.cl 13/4/2020

Date: 04-13-2020

Human Rights: Judge Llanos issues ruling in 16 kidnapping cases and 1 homicide of Villa Grimaldi victims

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos Sagristá, convicted 19 former members of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crimes of qualified kidnapping of Iván Sergio Insunza Bascuñán, Carlos Enrique Godoy Lagarrigue, Daniel Palma Robledo, Manuel Segundo Recabarren Rojas, Manuel Guillermo Recabarren González, Luis Emilio Recabarren González, Nalvia Rosa Mena Alvarado, José Eduardo Santander Miranda, Mario Jesús Juica Vega, Miguel Nazal Quiroz, Clara Canteros Torres, Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate, Víctor Hugo Morales Mazuela, Julio Roberto Vega Vega, Carlos Mario Vizcarra Cofré, and Alejandro Rodríguez Urzúa; and the qualified homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado. These crimes were perpetrated at Villa Grimaldi in 1976.

In the ruling (case file 2182-1998), the judge sentenced Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Carlos López Tapia, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, and Jorge Andrade Gómez to 20 years in prison as perpetrators of the 16 qualified kidnappings; and to 20 years in prison for the qualified homicide of Canteros Pardo.

Meanwhile, agents Juan Morales Salgado and Gladys Calderón Carreño must serve 18 years and 15 years and one day in prison, respectively, for their responsibility as perpetrators of six qualified kidnappings.

Agents Rolf Wenderoth Pozo, Ciro Torré Sáez, and Orlando Manzo Durán were sentenced to 15 years and one day in prison as perpetrators of three qualified kidnappings.

For agents Sergio Escalona Acuña, Juvenal Piña Garrido, Jorge Díaz Radulovich, and Gustavo Guerrero Aguilera, Judge Llanos determined sentences of 10 years and one day in prison for their responsibility as perpetrators of one qualified kidnapping.

Convicted as accomplices in the 16 cases of qualified kidnapping and sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison, and 7 years for the homicide of Eduardo Canteros Pardo, respectively, were the agents: Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo, Claudio Pacheco Fernández, Orlando Torrejón Gatica, Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza, Carlos López Inostroza, and Hermon Hellec Mundaca.

The Facts

During the investigation stage, the visiting judge was able to establish the following facts:

«The DINA maintained, from the end of 1975 and at least throughout the year 1977, the "Simón Bolívar" Barracks, located at 8630 Simón Bolívar Street, La Reina commune, a facility where the brigade called "Lautaro" operated.

Its main function, in addition to repressive tasks of detaining political dissidents, was the protection of the DINA Director, Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, and his family. This brigade was led by Army Major Juan Morales Salgado, who was also the head of the barracks and was under the strict supervision of the DINA Director, who was also his direct evaluator;

In 1975, a restructuring of the brigades and operational groups based at "Villa Grimaldi" took place, merging the groups led by Army Captain Germán Barriga Muñoz and Carabineros Captain Ricardo Lawrence Mires, and integrated by numerous agents belonging to different branches of the Armed Forces and Carabineros.

Its name was the "Delfín" (or "Mehuín," according to other versions) brigade or group. The purpose of this brigade was the repression of the Communist Party, carrying out tracking and detention tasks of leaders and militants of that Party, which were verified throughout the year 1976.

Thus, during that period, dozens of Communist Party militants were captured, many of them members of successive leaderships that were constituted as the previous ones were dismantled by the aforementioned repressive organization.

The detainees were taken to the "Terranova" or "Villa Grimaldi" barracks, where they were interrogated under torture. Some of them were subsequently taken, while still deprived of liberty, to the "Simón Bolívar" barracks—to which the "Delfín" or "Mehuín" brigade moved in May or June 1976—which became the main center of operations for the aforementioned brigade, and from where operational groups went out to carry out detentions, in addition to transporting the Communist Party detainees who were at "Villa Grimaldi";

To fulfill the functions described above, the so-called "Delfín" or "Mehuín" brigade incorporated members of the "Lautaro" brigade, led by Juan Morales Salgado, into its repressive activities. In said barracks, the detainees were interrogated under torture, their trail was lost, and their current whereabouts remain unknown; however, there is information that several of these people were killed, their bodies removed and buried clandestinely; and others were thrown into the sea from helicopters; without their remains having been recovered yet;

Under these circumstances, the detentions of the following people, all Communist Party militants, took place:

a. MANUEL GUILLERMO RECABARREN GONZÁLEZ, 22 years old, and LUIS EMILIO RECABARREN GONZÁLEZ, 29 years old, were detained, along with NALVIA MENA ALVARADO and her two-year-old son, Luis Emilio Recabarren Mena, by DINA agents in an operation carried out on April 29, 1976, in the sector of Sebastopol and Santa Rosa streets.

The minor was left abandoned near his home at night. The following day, the father of the first two, MANUEL SEGUNDO RECABARREN ROJAS, 50 years old, was apprehended at 07:10 hours as he was leaving his home at 6271 Cantares de Chile Street, stop 16 of Santa Rosa, San Miguel commune, as he was preparing to board a bus.

All the detainees were taken to "Villa Grimaldi"; Manuel Guillermo Recabarren González and Manuel Segundo Recabarren Rojas were also seen at the "Simón Bolívar" facility, and Luis Emilio Recabarren González at "Cuatro Álamos," with the current whereabouts of the victims unknown.

b. CLARA ELENA CANTEROS TORRES, 21 years old, a militant of the Communist Youth, detained on July 23, 1976, around 20:00 hours on public roads at the intersection of Panamá and Rojas Magallanes streets in the La Florida commune, upon getting off public transport.

Hours later, her uncle Eduardo Canteros Prado was detained. She was taken to "Villa Grimaldi," where she was seen by witnesses, and on August 20, 1976, she was taken out of that facility along with other detainees Mario Juica Vega and Óscar Ramos. To date, her whereabouts are unknown.

c. EDUARDO CANTEROS PRADO, 48 years old, civil engineer, detained on July 23, 1976, around 21:40 hours, on public roads in front of his home located at 8807 Panamá Street, La Florida commune, by DINA agents traveling in three cars, and was taken to "Villa Grimaldi." In 1990, his remains were found at the Las Tórtolas farm in Colina, a facility that belonged to the Army until 1980.

d. ALEJANDRO RODRÍGUEZ URZÚA, 49 years old, was detained on July 27, 1976, around 17:15 hours from his office located at 70 Mallinkrodt, Bellavista neighborhood; they took him away in his light blue "Chevrolet" vehicle, "Chevy" model, year 70, license plate DY-821.

They took him to the "Villa Grimaldi" facility; that same day at night, his office was raided, from which various documents and valuables were stolen, including $2,000 and an address book.

e. DANIEL PALMA ROBLEDO, 61 years old, businessman, was detained on August 4, 1976, in the morning, on public roads, on Avenida Matta, between San Diego and Arturo Prat streets; after picking up his mail, he bought a newspaper, and at the moment of leaving, he was detained and taken away along with the vehicle he was traveling in, a light blue "Renoleta," model 4 S, year 1972, license plate VI-552 from the Ñuñoa commune, a vehicle that was later found in the possession of DINA agents.

Daniel Palma Robledo was seen at "Simón Bolívar."

f. CARLOS ENRIQUE GODOY LAGARRIGUE, 39 years old, doctor, was detained on August 4, 1976, at 15:00 hours, by DINA agents during the journey he was making between the San Bernardo Parochial Hospital and his private practice, located at Barros Arana and Arturo Prat streets; he was apprehended along with his green "Citroën" vehicle, AX-330, license plate LOG-11 from Calera de Tango, by DINA agents, and was taken to "Villa Grimaldi" and, subsequently, to "Cuatro Álamos."

g. IVÁN SERGIO INSUNZA BASCUÑÁN, 43 years old, surgeon, was detained on the night of August 4, 1976, while driving his gray 1969 "Renault" 4 S vehicle; he was also carrying a fixed-term deposit from a financial institution, which was cashed in Viña del Mar on September 3, 1976, by third parties. He was taken to "Villa Grimaldi" and then to "Cuatro Álamos."

h. JOSÉ EDUARDO SANTANDER MIRANDA, student leader and leader of the Central Única de Trabajadores, who had worked at the General Treasury of the Republic, was detained upon leaving his home, at approximately 9:30 hours on August 6, 1976, by DINA agents who forced him into a vehicle; witnesses saw him at the "Villa Grimaldi" facility.

i. VÍCTOR HUGO MORALES MAZUELA, 45 years old, carpenter and construction worker, union leader, and organization manager of the Communist Party’s West Santiago Regional, was detained on August 9, 1976, in the morning, in the vicinity of the "Villa México" neighborhood in the Maipú commune and was taken to "Villa Grimaldi." Subsequently, he was seen at the "Simón Bolívar" barracks.

j. MARIO JESÚS JUICA VEGA, 34 years old, merchant, was detained on August 9, 1976, around noon, in the vicinity of Plaza Egaña, forced into a vehicle, and taken to "Villa Grimaldi," a place where he was seen by numerous witnesses; on the 20th of the same month and year, he was taken out of that facility along with two other detainees.

k. MIGUEL NAZAL QUIROZ, 44 years old, merchant, was apprehended on August 11, 1976, at 9:00 hours, as he was leaving his home, located on Chiloé Street, between Santa Rosa and Gran Avenida, at stop 9, San Miguel commune, by DINA agents who took him to "Villa Grimaldi."

l. CARLOS MARIO VIZCARRA COFRÉ, 31 years old, worker, auto body repairman, was detained on August 11, 1976, at night in the Quinta Normal commune by DINA agents who took him to "Villa Grimaldi," a facility where witnesses saw him until August 25 of the same year; he was even seen repairing a DINA vehicle. Subsequently, he was seen at the "Simón Bolívar" facility.

m. JULIO ROBERTO VEGA VEGA, 61 years old, worker, was detained on August 16, 1976, at 11:30 hours, on public roads on Avenida Presidente Balmaceda between Cueto and Libertad, by DINA agents. Several witnesses saw him detained both at "Villa Grimaldi" and at the "Simón Bolívar" barracks.

n. JUAN AURELIO VILLARROEL ZÁRATE, 55 years old, union leader, photoengraver, detained on August 13, 1976, around noon by DINA agents who took him to "Villa Grimaldi," where he was seen by several witnesses.

That day at 11:30 hours, he took a public bus at the stop near his house located at 4584 Juan General Gambino Street, in the Conchalí commune, and got off at Estación Mapocho with the intention of going to an aunt’s house in the Cerrillos commune.

The consequences of these detentions are that the aforementioned people—with the exception of Eduardo Canteros Prado—are in the status of forcibly disappeared, since, while deprived of liberty, they have not made contact with their relatives; nor have they carried out administrative procedures before State agencies or private organizations, nor do they have records of entry or exit from the country, and their deaths have not been confirmed.

Regarding Eduardo Canteros Prado, it was established through forensic evidence that his death was caused by violent means, and given the circumstances surrounding his detention and clandestine confinement, it can be established that it was due to the action of third parties.»

In civil matters, the ruling accepted the lawsuit filed against the State by the victims' relatives.

Source: adprensa.cl 7/28/2017

Date: 07-28-2017