Cauquenes

On October 4, 1973, four people were executed:

Manuel PLAZA ARRELLANO, 25 years old, agricultural technician. He was arrested in the early hours of September 20 at his home by a military patrol and sent to the Investigaciones barracks in Cauquenes.

Claudio LAVIN LOYOLA, 29 years old, agricultural technician. He was arrested on October 2, 1973, when he reported to the Investigaciones barracks, where he had been ordered to sign in daily.

Miguel MUÑOZ FLORES, 21 years old, employee of the Agrarian Reform Corporation (CORA). He was arrested at his home immediately after the events of September 11 by Investigaciones personnel and taken to that institution's barracks.

Pablo VERA TORRES, 22 years old, student and employee, leader of the Socialist Youth in the area, who had been arrested and released; arrested again that same month, he was taken to the Investigaciones barracks.

On October 4, 1973, these young socialists were taken from the Investigaciones barracks in Cauquenes, heavily guarded by military personnel. According to the official version, this was done for the purpose of a crime scene reconstruction at the Fundo El Oriente, on the outskirts of the city.

The detainees, according to that same version, allegedly took advantage of this circumstance to attack one of the sentries, which is why they were shot, causing the death of all of them, "in compliance with Edict 24 of the Military Junta of Government." Said edict authorized immediate execution in the event of armed opposition or resistance to the new military authorities.

Hours before the execution, a helicopter had arrived in the city of Cauquenes carrying a Delegate Officer of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Government Junta and his entourage. They remained in the city until immediately after the shootings were verified. They were seen in the city by numerous witnesses. This trip, in its global context, has already been analyzed.

The families learned of their deaths through the official edict that was announced via loudspeakers installed in the city plaza.

The lifeless bodies of the four young men were taken to the Legal Medical Institute, where the mandatory autopsy was performed, and then taken by military personnel to the local cemetery, where they proceeded to bury them in a common grave. Only the family of one of the executed men, through personal efforts, managed to exhume the body of their victim and give him a proper burial.

This Commission finds the official version implausible in consideration of the following circumstances:

– The result of the autopsy report of at least one of them states that he was shot in the temple at close range, an expert finding that refutes the official version;

– The heavy military guard under which the detainees were taken makes it improbable that, being unarmed, they would have attacked a sentry;

– Even if the above had occurred, the military personnel guarding them could have proceeded to subdue and recapture them without the need to kill them.

Therefore, the Commission has reached the conviction that these four people were executed by State agents outside of any justification. They are victims of a grave violation of their right to life, and their families of the legitimate right to give them a proper burial.