Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, a small-scale farmer, was detained on 20 September 1973, at approximately 10:30 hours, at his home located on the Fundo Rañiguel, where he owned a small plot of land. A patrol composed of Carabineros from the Quilaco station, military personnel, and civilians arrived at his home.

They raided the house, caused damage to beds and furniture, and proceeded to violently detain Raimundo Salazar, who suffered from a disability and required crutches, which prevented him from working. He was taken from his home and placed into a vehicle belonging to the Quilaco Municipality, in which the group of captors was traveling.

A witness to the detention was his partner, Mrs. Rosa Ester Díaz Soto, who was able to identify among the Carabineros captors a Corporal with the surname Salazar, who was later identified during judicial proceedings as Sergio Humberto Salazar San Martín.

Since the day of his detention, the victim has remained forcibly disappeared, as have two other farmers apprehended on the same occasion: Luis Alberto Cid Cid and Luis Alberto Bastías Sandoval. It should be noted that the family of Luis A. Cid was informed by Carabineros from the Quilaco station that he had been handed over to military personnel from Chillán who were operating in Santa Bárbara.

The family of Raimundo Salazar carried out various search efforts at police and military facilities, all of which proved fruitless.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On 29 September 1978, a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) was filed on his behalf, which was registered under No. 4239 at the Court of Appeals of Concepción.

After making the pertinent inquiries to the Ministry of the Interior, the Concepción Prefecture of Carabineros, and the Intendancy of the VIII Region, they reported having no record of any detention or order affecting him.

The Major of Carabineros, Orlando Guerra Sepúlveda, Commissioner of the Second Police Station of Mulchén, in an official letter sent to the Court on 25 October 1978, reported having no record of the detention of Raimundo Salazar, adding that the registry books of the Second Police Station and the dependent stations of Quilaco, Rucalhue, and Loncopangue had been incinerated after having met the regulatory time for their retention in the Archive.

In this same letter, he provided the list of personnel present at the Quilaco station in September and October 1973 and added that the now-Sergeant 2nd Class Salazar San Martín and Corporal 2nd Class Sepúlveda Rivera were consulted regarding the possible detention; they stated they did not remember, despite the fact that "starting on 11 September 1973, extremists and Marxist agitators were detained and transferred directly to the Military Garrison of Los Angeles."

On 28 October 1978, the Court rejected the amparo and requested that the records be sent to the Criminal Court on Duty of Los Angeles for the opening of the corresponding summary proceedings for the alleged disappearance of the victim. On 31 October, an appeal was filed, and on 6 November, the Supreme Court confirmed the resolution. The status of the case in the Criminal Court is unknown.

Source: Corporation report

A completely irregular situation is occurring in the commune of Curacautín, in La Araucanía, specifically at the Collico school, where the municipality retains a criminal convicted of crimes against humanity as director.

The individual is Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, a civilian convicted for his participation in the disappearance of 28 farmers in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, in the foothills of the Biobío, between September and December 1973.

Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán is the name of the criminal convicted of crimes against humanity who works as the teacher in charge of the rural Collico school in Curacautín. The offender was convicted, along with four Carabineros and nine civilians, as the perpetrator of the kidnapping and disappearance of 28 farmers in Quilaco and Santa Bárbara, in what constitutes one of the most brutal crimes of the dictatorship.

Burgos Belauzarán was sentenced to four years of major imprisonment in its minimum degree, with the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification for professional practice for the duration of the sentence.

However, he currently appears as the teacher in charge of the rural Collico school, with a salary of more than $2 million. He has held the position since at least 2016.

Due to the gravity of this situation, not only because of its illegality but because of what a conviction for crimes against humanity entails, the DAEM (Municipal Education Administration Department) of Curacautín and the Regional Ministerial Secretariat (Seremi) of Education in La Araucanía were contacted.

Both avoided assuming responsibility and announced that the situation is in the hands of a legal team "to reach a resolution."

From the municipal education department, they stated that "the Supreme Court has not yet informed us, and during the recent collection of records, the disqualification appeared, and that is why the information was raised to the lawyers. I had no idea; I have been in the position for almost a year and I am not from Curacautín."

Patricio Aguilera, director of the DAEM, noted that this rural school is currently in recess, but Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán appeared to be earning a salary of more than $2 million in March 2023. In this regard, Aguilera replied that "he is on medical leave, and the leave is paid by the Isapre (health insurance).

We sent the records to the legal advisors when we received the certificate of disqualification; we immediately referred it to our lawyers."

When asked about why a human rights violator remains in charge of a school, the Seremi of Education of La Araucanía, María Isabel Mariñanco, deferred responsibility to the school sponsor, avoiding any mention of possible measures.

"In the administrative sphere of the management of educational establishments, personnel hiring is the responsibility of the sponsor, which in this case corresponds to the municipality. As the Ministry of Education, we call on municipalities and the local public education service, in their capacity as sponsors, to provide greater rigor to the processes of reviewing the records of those who work in educational establishments."

For now, the criminal convicted of crimes against humanity, Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, is on medical leave, and according to the DAEM, they are "waiting" for the legal team's review to finalize his dismissal. For the time being, he continues to be listed as the teacher in charge of the Collico school.

Below, we describe the events in which Burgos Belauzarán participated directly as a perpetrator, committed in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco between September and December 1973:

The judicial investigation establishes in detail the various criminal episodes carried out by the uniformed officers and civilian perpetrators of true extermination raids.

Thus, on 13 September 1973, a group of civilians and Carabineros, all armed with firearms and traveling in motorized vehicles, arrived at the home of Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, located on the El Rodal plot on the outskirts of Quilaco, and proceeded to detain him in the presence of his family members, only to take him away on foot to an unknown destination, causing him to remain disappeared to this day.

On 14 September 1973, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama and Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama were kidnapped from their home, located in a hut on the Corcovado estate on the road to Villacura, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, by Carabineros and civilians. Their fate remains unknown to this day.

On 16 September 1973, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao and Julio Alberto Rubio Llancao were detained and transferred to the Carabineros Station of Santa Bárbara, under the command of the Unit Chief, the then-Lieutenant Planté Aravena Sáez.

That same day, Guillermo Purrán Treca went to the indicated police unit seeking protection because he could not return home, as he had missed the bus and the curfew was approaching, but he was left there as a detainee.

At night, these three farmers, plus José María Tranamil Pereira, who had also been detained, were taken out of the police facility and transported to the Quilaco bridge, where the Carabineros riddled them with bullets. Since that date, there has been no news regarding the four farmers.

On 16 September 1973, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz presented himself voluntarily to the Carabineros Station of Santa Bárbara, as he had been previously summoned, and was detained. There has been no news of his whereabouts to this day.

At noon on 17 September 1973, Elba Burgos Sáez was detained by Carabineros on a public street in the city of Santa Bárbara; she was put into a pickup truck and taken to an unknown destination. Since that date, there has been no news of her whereabouts or her existence.

On the afternoon of 17 September 1973, José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldine, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldine, and José Gilberto Araneda Riquelme went voluntarily to the Carabineros Station of Santa Bárbara, complying with a summons that had been issued to them through a third party by the Carabineros of the aforementioned police unit.

They were admitted to the facility as detainees, and since that date, there has been no news regarding their whereabouts or fate.

In the commune of Quilaco, in the early hours of 20 September 1973, a group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at the home of José Felidor Pinto Pinto, a leader of the Campo Lindo peasant settlement located on the old Huinquén estate.

They detained him, took him from his house, and transported him to an unknown destination in vehicles. From that moment on, there was never any news of his fate, and his trail has disappeared to this day.

On the morning of 20 September 1973, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, the group of executioners arrived at the 'El Huachi' estate, located 8 kilometers from that commune, and detained José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio César Godoy Godoy, and Desiderio Aguilera Solís, transporting them to the Carabineros Station of Santa Bárbara.

From there, they were taken out at night to an unknown destination, and to this day, they have not been seen again, nor is there any news of their whereabouts.

Around noon that day, the same group headed to the village of Loncopangue and also to the vicinity of the Rañiguel estate in the same sector, proceeding to detain Luis Alberto Cid Cid, Luis Bastías Sandoval, and Raimundo Salazar Muñoz.

They were loaded onto a truck belonging to the Quilaco Municipality, driven by José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz, known as 'El Chamo', and then taken along the public road that leads to Quilaco to a path that leads to the confluence of the Bío Bío and Quilmes rivers.

There, they were taken off the vehicle and, guarded by their captors, were led on foot to the banks of the aforementioned watercourses, at which point their captors allegedly fired at them with firearms, their bodies falling into the channel of the mentioned rivers.

Their actual whereabouts remain unknown to this day. Also that same day, in the afternoon, the local resident Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón was detained in Quilaco by a group made up of Carabineros and civilians, a date from which they caused him to disappear.

In the commune of Santa Bárbara, at approximately 14:00 hours on the same day, 20 September, the criminal group detained José Nazario Godoy Acuña in the Los Junquillos sector, who was subsequently transferred to the Carabineros Station of Santa Bárbara.

Around 22:30 hours on 20 September 1973, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, they arrived at the home of Manuel Salamanca Mella, located on Avenida La Feria without number in Santa Bárbara, where they detained him in the presence of his family members, only to take him to the Carabineros Station.

On the same date, the same group went to the boarding house located at Calle Rosas No. 343 in the commune of Santa Bárbara, where they detained José Mariano Godoy Acuña, who was transferred to the Station where they were last seen, without having been seen again or having any news of their whereabouts to this day.

On the night of 20 September 1973, the same armed group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at the home of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, located at Calle Rosas No. 371 in Santa Bárbara, and detained him in the presence of his family members, spouse, and children, taking him from his house and transporting him to an unknown location, without him having been seen again or having any news of his whereabouts to this day.

On 23 September 1973, in the early hours of the morning, the group of executioners broke into the La Palma plot in the commune of Santa Bárbara to kidnap the farmers Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann, 48 years old, and his son Carlos Jacinto D’Apollonio Zapata, 22 years old, from their home.

They transported Carlos Jacinto to the bridge that connects the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, over the Bío Bío River, where they placed him on one of the railings and fired at him with firearms, causing him to fall into the riverbed.

However, the current dragged his body to one of the banks, where his body was found by family members and acquaintances on the morning of the following day. They took the corpse to their home and proceeded to hold a wake to then bury him, but in the afternoon of that day, the same individuals who had kidnapped him the night before broke in to steal the young man's body and took it away to make it disappear to the present day.

On the morning of 3 November 1973, at approximately 11:00 hours, the group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at Plot No. 112 in the Piñiquihue sector of the commune of Quilaco, where they detained José Roberto Molina Quezada, took him from his house, and took him away in a vehicle to an unknown destination, from which moment there was never any news or knowledge of his whereabouts.

On the night of Saturday, 3 November, they arrived at the home of Gabriel José Viveros Flores, located on the outskirts of Loncopangue, proceeding to detain him in the presence of his family members, taking him from his house and taking him to an unknown destination.

Around 16:00 hours on 7 November 1973, while Aliro Segundo Oporto Durán, 17 years old, was in a house located in the Raleo sector of the town of Alto Bío Bío, Carabineros personnel arrived to detain him, but the young man ran in the direction of the Bío Bío River, being pursued by the police, one of whom shot him, managing to apprehend him.

From that moment on, all news of his whereabouts or existence is unknown.

by Juan Contreras Jara

Source: resumen.cl, 10 May 2023

Date: 10-05-2023

INDIVIDUAL CONVICTED OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS LISTED AS PUBLIC SCHOOL DIRECTOR IN CURACAUTÍN

In a rural primary education establishment in southern Chile, teacher Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, who was sentenced as a civilian participant in the forced disappearance of five people under the Pinochet dictatorship, appears to be working.

According to a ruling by the Supreme Court from late 2022 regarding the so-called Santa Bárbara and Quilaco episodes (case file 24.143-19), Burgos was sentenced "to the penalty of four years of major imprisonment in its minimum degree, with the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification for professional practice for the duration of the sentence and costs of the case."

This was "as the perpetrator of the crimes of qualified kidnapping of Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, José Felidor Pinto Pinto, Luis Alberto Cid Cid, Luis Alberto Bastías Sandoval, and Raimundo Salazar Muñoz."

In February 2023, the newspaper La Tribuna reported that the visiting judge for human rights cases in the Biobío Region, Carlos Aldana, had already issued the order to execute the sentence to begin the process of notifying the convicted individuals, noting that Burgos had to serve "four years of supervised release."

EMPLOYED BY MUNICIPALITY

A review of the State's Active Transparency Portal confirms that Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán has received a municipal salary as "teacher in charge" of the Collico School, dependent on the DAEM of Curacautín, with remuneration that, in the month of March 2023, exceeded two million gross.

When asked about this case, the Municipality of Curacautín indicated to Verdad Ahora that it had not been notified of the sentence against Burgos and that it would submit a legal inquiry to the Comptroller's Office to define the steps to follow.

UNKNOWN WHEREABOUTS

The portal Resumen details that the group integrated by Burgos, civilian assistants, and former Carabineros officials took three of the detained individuals "along the public road that leads to Quilaco to a path that leads to the confluence of the Bío Bío and Quilmes rivers, where they were taken off the vehicle and guarded by their captors."

Then, according to the media outlet, "they were led on foot to the banks of the aforementioned watercourses, at which point their captors allegedly fired at them with firearms, their bodies falling into the channel of the mentioned rivers, their actual whereabouts remaining unknown to this day."

Source: verdadahora.cl 9/5/2023

Date: 09-05-2023

Judge Aldana instructed that the eleven individuals sentenced to effective prison terms serve them in penal facilities in the Biobío Region.

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Court of Appeals of Concepción, Carlos Aldana Fuentes, began the execution of the sentence that convicted a group of retired Carabineros and civilians for their responsibility in the consummated crime of qualified kidnapping of Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, José Felidor Pinto Pinto, Luis Alberto Cid Cid, Luis Alberto Bastías Sandoval, Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, Gabriel José Viveros Flores, Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón, and José Roberto Molina Quezada.

These illicit acts were perpetrated in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco between September and December 1973.

In the resolution (criminal case file 372, Santa Bárbara episode), Judge Aldana began today—Thursday, 2 February—with the notification to those convicted in the case: Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán, who must serve a sentence of 11 years in prison as the perpetrator of eight crimes of qualified kidnapping; and José Roberto Valdivia Dames, who must serve five years in prison for the kidnapping of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira.

In the coming days, the instructing judge will continue notifying the sentences to Exequiel Celedón Barra, 10 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of the crimes of qualified kidnapping of Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba and José Felidor Pinto Pinto; Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames, 5 years in prison for the qualified kidnapping of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira; Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas, who must serve an equal sentence as the perpetrator of three crimes of qualified kidnapping; and Eugenio Villa Urrutia, Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, and José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz, who will serve 4 years of supervised release for seven qualified kidnappings.

Judge Aldana instructed that the eleven individuals sentenced to effective prison terms serve them in penal facilities in the Biobío Region.

Source: latribunadelbiobio.cl 2/2/2023

Date: 02-02-2023

Individual convicted of crimes against humanity who directed a rural school in Curacautín is dismissed

The Regional Ministerial Secretariat (Seremi) of Education confirmed that Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán has been dismissed from the Department of Education Administration (DAEM) of Curacautín, in La Araucanía.

Burgos Belauzarán was convicted, along with four Carabineros and nine civilians, as the perpetrator of the kidnapping and disappearance of 28 farmers in Quilaco and Santa Bárbara, in what constitutes one of the most brutal crimes of the dictatorship.

The crimes were executed between September and December 1973.

According to what the Seremi informed Resumen, Burgos's presence on the staff for seven months was due to the fact that they were waiting "for the measure adopted to be in compliance with the bases of municipal administration and for the benefit of the educational community." Two months ago, it became known that Burgos had been the teacher in charge since 2016 and was receiving a salary of two million pesos.

When the DAEM of the Curacautín municipality and the Seremi of Education in La Araucanía were asked to address the issue, both indicated that the situation was under evaluation by a legal team.

However, from the municipal education department, they stated that "the Supreme Court has not yet informed us, and during the recent collection of records, the disqualification appeared, and that is why the information was raised to the lawyers. I had no idea; I have been in the position for almost a year and I am not from Curacautín."

According to the school, the individual is on medical leave but continues to be paid his salary.

Source: elciudadano June/2023