José Leonardo Pérez Hermosilla, married, father of 2, former INDAP official, and Socialist militant—who was nearly blind, suffering from atrophy of the optic nerves—was detained on January 3, 1974, shortly after noon, in the vicinity of the Plaza de la Constitución, Santiago, by agents of the Chilean Air Force (FACH) who were dressed in civilian clothes.

On that same occasion, and at different moments, the following individuals were also detained: Rebeca María Espinosa Sepúlveda (currently forcibly disappeared), two of her children, and a granddaughter only a few months old; José Miguel Rivas Rachitoff (currently forcibly disappeared); Julio Hernán Parraguez Acevedo (who would be released two months later from the Tejas Verdes Regiment); and José Medina Garcés, who was subsequently released.

José Leonardo Pérez—like the rest of the detainees—was taken by his captors to the Aeronautical Polytechnic Academy in El Bosque, where he remained for three days. At the end of this time, he was transferred to the Tejas Verdes Military Engineers School Regiment, from where he disappeared.

José Miguel Rivas Rachitoff and Rebeca María Espinoza also disappeared from that military facility. All of them were seen by witnesses at Tejas Verdes.

The victim's detention is expressly acknowledged in an official letter that Aviation General Mario Vivero Avila—Commander of the Santiago Air Force Garrison—sent to the 2nd Criminal Court of Santiago on February 17, 1975, where the alleged disappearance of Rivas Rachitoff was being investigated.

In said letter, General Vivero Avila stated that José Miguel Rivas had been detained on January 3, 1974, by order of the El Bosque Air Garrison for having a history of extremist activities. Along with him—it added—Julio Parraguez, José Pérez Hermosilla, Rebeca Espinosa Sepúlveda, and José Medina Garcés were detained for the same reasons.

Subsequently—according to the letter—the detainees were handed over to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA).

Julio Hernán Parraguez recalls that on that day, at lunchtime, he passed through the Plaza de la Constitución on his way to the Ministry of Agriculture. There, he met the victim, Rebeca Espinoza, José Miguel Rivas, and José Medina, all former coworkers at the Institute for Agricultural Development (INDAP).

After talking for a few minutes, the witness left the area, only to pass by the same spot half an hour later. He then noted that the group was no longer there. He continued toward Teatinos, where a civilian approached him, threatened him with a weapon, forced him against one of the walls of La Moneda, tied his hands behind his back, and put him into a vehicle, taking him to the Aeronautical Polytechnic Academy in El Bosque.

At that FACH facility, he was taken into a large room where the victim, José Miguel Rivas, Rebeca Espinoza, José Medina, and other people unknown to the witness were already being held. There, they were interrogated separately about their respective political and work activities, especially regarding an alleged "meeting" they had supposedly held in the Plaza de la Constitución.

At the end of the interrogations, their papers and personal documents were taken away, and they were moved to another room where they were tied up and blindfolded. There were about 10 other people there.

For the rest of the time, they continued to be taken out one by one for interrogation. The witness did not suffer mistreatment, but some of the other detainees returned from the interrogations with clear signs of pain.

After three days, Julio Hernán Parraguez, Jorge Medina, José Leonardo Pérez, Rebeca Espinoza, and José Miguel Rivas, along with other detainees, were loaded onto a truck and transferred to the Tejas Verdes Military Engineers School Regiment.

At that military facility, the witness was placed in the same cabin as the victim and Rivas Rachitoff, along with other university students whose names he does not remember. Four or five days later, José Leonardo Pérez and José Miguel Rivas were taken out of the cabin to be interrogated.

That was the last time he saw the victim. Later, Parraguez would encounter Rivas Rachitoff again, who was unable to stand and was spitting blood from his mouth as a result of the torture to which he had been subjected.

During the nearly four months that the witness remained at Tejas Verdes, he was taken on several occasions to the basement of the Officers' Club, where he was tortured and interrogated. On one occasion, he heard the screams of Rebeca Espinosa while she was being subjected to torture. He would see Rebeca from afar when she was in the courtyard corresponding to the women's sector.

For his part, Gines Emilio Rojas Gómez, author of the book "Tejas Verdes, mis primeros cinco minutos" (Tejas Verdes, My First Five Minutes), testified regarding the victim's imprisonment at the Tejas Verdes Regiment, both through a sworn statement and before the 1st Criminal Court of San Antonio.

The witness was detained on January 23, 1974, while he was at the offices of Televisión Nacional. He was taken, among other facilities, to the Tejas Verdes Regiment, where he remained until approximately February 15, 1974.

While there, the witness spoke with José Miguel Rivas Rachitoff, who was in terrible physical condition, urinating blood, feverish, and dehydrated. Regarding the victim, the witness recalls having seen him and having spoken with him. José Leonardo told him that he was an INDAP official. He saw Rebeca Espinoza from afar, in the women's sector.

Since José Leonardo Pérez Hermosilla was detained, his family made countless efforts to find his whereabouts. Three days after his detention, Yolanda Sáez Orellana—the victim's spouse—received a phone call at a neighbor's house.

A man—who did not identify himself—said that the victim was being held at the 36 1/2 stop of the Gran Avenida, at the El Bosque Air Base, and that he needed personal supplies, eye medication, and vitamins.

Yolanda Sáez went to the FACH facility, and the guards accepted the packages and confirmed that Pérez Hermosilla was indeed there. It was January 7, 1974. Although they did not let her see him, they told her to return two days later.

Thus, on January 9, 1974, Yolanda Sáez and Delfina Hermosilla—José Leonardo's mother—returned to the Aeronautical Polytechnic Academy in El Bosque. There, they were told that the day before (January 8, 1974), he had been handed over to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA).

Both then went to the Ministry of National Defense, where they were informed that Pérez Hermosilla was being held, but that he was being interrogated and that for further information they should go to the National Executive Secretariat for Detainees (SENDET).

At this agency, later on, Commander Correa told them that the victim was at the disposal of the DINA and that it would take at least three months for him to be released.

Seeing that her son did not appear, his mother sent a letter to Brigadier General Sergio Arellano Stark in September 1974, which was answered in November of that year. She was informed that her son had not been located anywhere.

At the same time, on November 13 and 14, 1974, the victim's home was raided in a completely illegal manner. On the 13th, the raid was carried out by five civilians armed with submachine guns, who were traveling in a gray station wagon.

Only the victim's two children (then 9 and 7 years old, respectively) and a tenant were at the house. The individuals showed the children the weapons, asking them if they had seen them before in their house and asking them if they knew the whereabouts of their father, who had already been disappeared for more than 10 months. The children were left in a state of shock.

The next day, another civilian arrived and also raided the home. On this occasion, Yolanda Sáez was present. She was interrogated about her own activities and those of her husband, including political militancy and the people who came to their house. When she insisted that her spouse was disappeared, the individual told her that it would be in her best interest to leave Chile.

Months before these events, in mid-February 1974, a man who refused to identify himself had come to the Pérez Sáez home. After some preamble, he told Yolanda Sáez that her husband had died as a result of torture at Tejas Verdes and that the event had occurred about two weeks prior.

This information was dramatically consistent with the time when José Leonardo Pérez Hermosilla was seen by witnesses at Tejas Verdes and with the date on which he would have been taken from the cabin where he was staying with the witness Julio Hernán Parraguez. Nevertheless, at the Ministry of Defense, they told her some time later that the victim had been released.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On March 24, 1974, a mass amparo (habeas corpus) appeal was filed for 131 people before the Santiago Court of Appeals, which was registered under No. 289-74. The name of José Leonardo Pérez was included in this filing.

The Court consulted various authorities without being able to establish the particular situation of those for whom the appeal was filed. On November 28, 1974, the appeal was rejected. The resolution was appealed, and on January 31, 1975, the Plenary of the Supreme Court confirmed the ruling, agreeing to appoint an Extraordinary Visiting Judge.

The appointment fell to Judge Enrique Zurita Camps, who, on February 24, 1975, initiated proceedings under case No. 106.657 in the 1st Criminal Court of Santiago.

The proceedings began with the summons of the complaining family members to testify; the victim's mother, Delfina Guacolda Hermosilla, appeared before the Court on April 30, 1975. Official letters were also sent to the authorities of the time—the responses were all negative—and the cases regarding the alleged disappearances of forcibly disappeared persons were consolidated, including the case of José Miguel Rivas Rachitoff, the files of 11 forcibly disappeared persons from Isla de Maipo (some of whose bodies were found in the Lonquén Ovens), and the cases of Enrique París Roa and Enrique Huerta Corvalán, both disappeared at La Moneda on September 11, 1973.

On September 25, 1975—without having delved into any of the reported cases—the summary was closed because "no further progress could be made in the investigation." On September 29 of the same year, Judge Zurita issued a ruling.

Regarding the victim, his name was included among 95 others for whom the case was temporarily dismissed, as the existence of any criminal act had not been fully established. In the case of another detainee in the same circumstances as Pérez Hermosilla, currently forcibly disappeared, José Miguel Rivas Rachitoff, the Judge declared himself incompetent because personnel from the Air Force, the DINA, and the Army had participated in the detention.

The resolution was approved by the Santiago Court of Appeals on May 10, 1976. Years later, in February 1991, the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation sent to the 1st Criminal Court of San Antonio information related to 21 cases of disappearances and homicides that occurred at the Detention Camp that operated inside the Tejas Verdes Military Engineers School Regiment.

Among the cases presented was that of José Leonardo Pérez Hermosilla. Case No. 51.071-11, titled "Alleged Disappearances and Others," was then opened on February 22, 1991.

All those family members who had gone to the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation appeared before said Court. Afterward, a series of proceedings were carried out regarding each of the 21 cases.

Regarding the victim, on July 30, 1991, a criminal complaint was filed for aggravated kidnapping, torture, unnecessary rigor, prolonged incommunicado detention, arbitrary detention, and alleged qualified homicide, all crimes committed against the victim.

In the filing of said complaint, the circumstances of the victim's detention and disappearance were recounted, informing the Court that his apprehension had been officially acknowledged. A request was made to summon the witnesses of José Leonardo's imprisonment to testify, in addition to sending official letters to, among others, the San Antonio Legal Medical Institute, and local clinics and hospitals.

Indeed, Julio Hernán Parraguez Acevedo and Ginés Emilio Rojas Gómez appeared before the Court in 1991, in addition to José Luis Pérez Sáez—the victim's son—who confirmed the information regarding his father's detention.

In general terms, during the judicial investigation, the plaintiffs requested, in November 1991, the referral of the summary proceedings that had been carried out at the Medical Association against Dr.

Vittorio Orvieto, recognized by numerous witnesses as a torturer and interrogator at Tejas Verdes. The appearance of Nelson Patricio Valdés Cornejo, who in 1973 was the second Chief of the San Antonio Investigative Service, was also requested.

On December 17, 1991, Nelson Patricio Valdés Cornejo testified before the Court, denying the accusations made by the witnesses.

As of December 1992, this case was in process and in the summary stage.

A central act of recognition alongside their families, a plaque permanently affixed to a wall bearing their names, and posthumous inclusion as members of the National Association of INDAP Employees (ANFI) were received by the 13 workers of this institution who were victims of political execution or were forcibly disappeared following the 1973 coup d'état.

The tribute in their memory was held this Wednesday at the National Directorate of this service under the Ministry of Agriculture.

These individuals—12 men and one woman between the ages of 21 and 49—worked as drivers, secretaries, journalists, administrative staff, technicians, and Area and Zone chiefs. Four of them were murdered by agents of the dictatorship, and the other nine remain forcibly disappeared following arrests under various circumstances in several cities, from Quillota to Quellón.

The widows of some of these victims, their children, a son-in-law, and even the great-grandson of one of them were the guests of honor at the ceremony, organized by ANFI and the INDAP directorate. They received special greetings from current staff, union leaders, and government authorities, led by the Undersecretary of Agriculture, Claudio Ternicier, and the National Director of INDAP, Octavio Sotomayor.

Fernando Moraga, national president of ANFI—the entity that promoted this event, which also featured a performance by folklorist Fernando Yáñez—stated in his message to those present that the honorees were executed or disappeared "for the sole fact of working at the institution."

The leader emphasized that "there was no one here who was a danger to society; people were killed here because it was possible to kill. The dictatorship killed for the sake of killing, out of whim, because someone told them to.

Our colleagues were taken from their offices to be executed; they would come to return a vehicle and they would be executed. We must never forget what happened in that era, and may God grant that the damage caused to all Chilean men and women is paid for on this earth."

On behalf of the Government, Undersecretary Ternicier delivered a message in which he expressed gratitude for "this great initiative to fulfill the duty of remembering our fallen colleagues and not forgetting what happened in Chile," and highlighted "the solidarity, the condolences, and the commitment to help achieve justice and truth in Chile." "The only way to build the Chile of the future is on the basis of justice and truth," he emphasized.

Director Octavio Sotomayor, who also greeted the families and guests at the event, noted afterward his satisfaction, stating it was "a very beautiful and solemn ceremony, just as we wanted. Furthermore, we had lost contact with the families.

These are 13 colleagues who died due to a commitment to the country; that could have happened to any one of us. We wanted to commemorate them so that this never happens again."

The event was also attended by authorities from other agricultural services, such as Loreto Mery (National Irrigation Commission) and Michel Leporati (Achipia), as well as the IICA representative in Chile, Jaime Flores, and the Metropolitan Regional Director of INDAP, Christian Suarez.

GRATEFUL FAMILIES

The most emotional moment of the activity was when the families were invited to the building's central hall to unveil a plaque created by ANFI with the name and primary details of each of these thirteen officials who were victims of the coup d'état.

Among those attending the act, 11-year-old Martín Hassler Jeldres, great-grandson of Reinaldo Jeldres, spoke about the moment and what the memory of his great-grandfather meant: "I feel a bit of sadness and emotion, and I also felt important (...) I only know that they killed him and threw him into the river, and that they have already prosecuted those who killed him; that is the only information I have."

Eduardo Cifuentes, son-in-law of Reinaldo Poseck, commented that it was "very intense, but I think it was necessary and very important that many people from INDAP came. Unfortunately, his wife passed away, his children are outside of Chile, and they could not be here." He described his father-in-law as "a person with a very strong character, but in private, during lunches at home, he was a very funny guy.

He was also a very hard worker and committed."

Mauricio Flores, son of Nelson Flores Zapata, said he was "happy that they did this; for me, it is very symbolic that they remember him." Regarding his memories of his father, with whom he lived in the Robert Kennedy neighborhood of Maipú, he commented that he remembers "some games where he would make matchsticks disappear. I was 4 years old when they executed him."

THE FOLLOWING IS THE LIST OF HONOREES

Enrique Ernesto Morales Melzer (Forcibly Disappeared, driver, Santiago), Héctor Arturo Santana Gómez (Forcibly Disappeared, Area Chief, Quellón), Cecil Patricio Alarcón Valenzuela (Political Execution, official, Chillán), Luis Eduardo Vergara Corso (Forcibly Disappeared, official, Polcura), Reinaldo Luis Jeldres Riveros (Political Execution, official, Chillán), Etienne Marie Louis Pesle de Menil (Forcibly Disappeared, cooperative technician, Temuco), Nelson Jorge Flores Zapata (Political Execution, official, Maipú), Reinaldo Salvador Poseck Pedreros (Political Execution, Zonal Chief, Chillán), Eliseo Segundo Jara Ríos (Forcibly Disappeared, Area Chief, Victoria), Rebeca María Espinoza Sepúlveda (Forcibly Disappeared, secretary, Santiago), José Leonardo Pérez Hermosilla (Forcibly Disappeared, journalist, Santiago), José Miguel Rivas Rachitoff (Forcibly Disappeared, journalist, Santiago), Pablo Gac Espinoza (Forcibly Disappeared, administrative officer, Quillota).

Source: indap.gob.cl, November 29, 2017

Date: 11-29-2017

ANEF inaugurates memorial for victims of the dictatorship with the presence of President Bachelet

In a solemn ceremony outside the ANEF headquarters this Monday, September 8, a memorial was inaugurated in honor of public employees who were victims of the civic-military dictatorship. The event was attended by the President of the Republic, Michelle Bachelet; representatives of the Association of Families of the Forcibly Disappeared (AFDD), Lorena Pizarro, and of Political Executions (AFEP), Alicia Lira; along with the Minister of Labor, Javiera Blanco; the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams; the president of the CUT, Bárbara Figueroa; the Undersecretary of Labor, Francisco Díaz; Joan Jara, widow of Víctor Jara; parliamentarians Tucapel Jiménez, Maya Fernández, Lautaro Carmona, Hugo Gutiérrez, and Claudio Arriagada; as well as social and union leaders.

At the ceremony, a choir of former political prisoners dedicated songs to the fallen of the ANEF. Afterward, Lorena Pizarro and Alicia Lira gave speeches, celebrating this act of memory and calling on authorities to seek truth and justice in the cases of forcibly disappeared and politically executed individuals that remain pending.

"With this memorial, we close a debt of the ANEF to the workers of the State who were executed and disappeared during the dictatorship, without forgetting that ours was one of the sectors most struck during this dark period," stated ANEF president Raúl de la Puente in his speech.

De la Puente also recalled the resistance and struggle of some of the honorees, such as Jorge Peña Hen, Reinalda Pereira, Carlos Prats, and the President's father, Alberto Bachelet. The memorial bears the names of 380 forcibly disappeared and politically executed individuals engraved on elegant bronze plaques—public employees from various sectors who, according to information from the Ministry of the Interior, were victims of the tyranny.

"A solid community cannot be built without taking responsibility for the violence that fractured our society and ended the lives of wonderful people, like those who receive our tribute today," President Bachelet noted in her speech.

"We need that justice to come soon, and for that to be possible, we need those who have relevant information, whether civilians or military, to provide it," stated the President, who urged the Justice system to work toward finding the truth.

After the ceremony, the plaques that constitute the memorial at the entrance of the ANEF were shown to the attendees, where priest Mariano Puga, a recognized collaborator of the workers, blessed the memorial.

Finally, we highlight the excellent organization of the event by the Secretary of Culture, Recreation, and Sports, Nayadé Zúñiga.

Source: anef.cl 9/09/2014

Date: 09-09-2014

Supreme Court issues final sentence for torture and qualified homicide at Tejas Verdes

The Second Chamber of the Supreme Court issued a final sentence in the series of investigations into the crimes of torture, kidnapping, and qualified homicide at the illegal detention center "Tejas Verdes," located in the commune of San Antonio.

In a unanimous ruling, the chamber—composed of ministers Milton Juica, Carlos Kunsemuller, Haroldo Brito, Lamberto Cisternas, and Gloria Ana Chevesich—issued a single sentence for the series of proceedings handled by minister Alejandro Solís in the first instance.

The ruling of the highest court determines the sentences detailed below against retired Army officers for the crimes of kidnapping, qualified homicide, and torture committed against Miguel Heredia Vásquez, Rebeca Espinoza Sepúlveda, Felipe Marmaduke Vargas Fernández, José Leonardo Pérez Hermosilla, and José Orellana Meza.

General (ret.) Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda was sentenced to 15 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of the crimes, while Nelson Patricio Valdés Cornejo, Raúl Pablo Quintana Salazar, Klaudio Erich Kosiel Horning, Vittorio Orvietto Tiplitzky, David Adolfo Miranda Mornardes, and Jaime Rosendo Nuñez Magallanes were sentenced to 10 years, also as perpetrators of the crimes.

Additionally, they were sentenced to five years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release, for the application of torture, except for Miranda Monardes and Núñez Magallanes, who received a three-year sentence.

In the civil aspect, it was determined that the State and the convicted individuals must jointly pay the sum of 50 million pesos to the plaintiff Emilia Vásquez Fernández, and 10 million to each of the 20 plaintiffs in the case regarding illegal coercion against the survivors of said duress.

Source: elmostrador.cl 4/1/2014

Date: 04-01-2014

José Pérez Hermosilla: Blind, but a visionary

Name: José Leonardo Pérez Hermosilla

Place and date of birth: Santiago, December 8, 1941 Specialty: Opinion columnist Place and date of death: Forcibly disappeared; he was arrested on January 5, 1974, in Santiago and was likely murdered at Tejas Verdes in February of that year.

Activities: Self-taught journalist for the National Agricultural Communications Program, INDAP. He wrote opinion articles to explain the current situation and what fascism is in Las Noticias de Ultima Hora, La Nación, and other newspapers.

He was a leader of the Seventh Commune of the Socialist Party. Judicial status (1996): Case filed in the First Court of Letters of San Antonio, Case File 5107111, in the summary stage.

"Slower, José... I'm not a machine!" a colleague turned improvised typist would complain to José Pérez, trying to record what he was dictating at a breakneck pace, fearing his words would not be captured on paper.

This scene was a daily occurrence at the INDAP Press Office. José (the "Blind Pérez" to his friends) could not write due to glaucoma. But a friendly hand always typed his ideas. He joined the Socialist Party at age 14. His articles, kept by his family as precious treasures, reflect that early training.

Ideological trench

Despite the illness that prevented him from writing, he was a courageous journalist in the political trenches during the government of Salvador Allende. Little is known about his student and professional life. His parents have already passed away, and as an only child, he has no relatives other than his widow and two children. His work activities are also not well known.

He studied as a child in schools in Melipilla. And in 1971, he emerged in the Agricultural Communications Program at INDAP. In the pages of Última Hora, La Nación, El Siglo, El Diario de Malleco, and Poder Campesino, his articles defy oblivion.

He worked alongside Miguel Rivas, head of press at INDAP, in a shared destiny that lasted until death. They were arrested simultaneously and both disappeared.

I met José Pérez Hermosilla in the communications program, where I served as deputy head. He was sensitive and had the brow of a dreaming intellectual. Impatient, nervous, he always wanted everything done in a hurry.

The "Blind Pérez" overcame his physical limitations by living life to the fullest and squandering his tremendous inner strength with his cheerful, witty style.

Ideologue and journalist

The word "socialism" made him vibrate on the pages he wrote for the peasant universe, in the midst of agrarian reform, with a critical situation in the sector. The expropriations of unproductive lands advanced by the Agrarian Reform Corporation (CORA) and the delivery of the plots to the peasants sharpened the permanent confrontation of the government with the landowners and the right wing.

José Pérez recorded that reality in his writings, directed preferably to the peasant sector.

"The fascists manifest themselves in our country by sabotaging industrial production, organizing armed gangs to murder peasants, dismantling farms, organizing riots, and all this happens with the blessing of the so-called parties of order and the 'free press'," he stated in El Diario de Malleco in November 1972.

He pointed out that fascism "arises in those moments and circumstances in which the bourgeoisie—that is, the owners of industry, banking, commerce, and land—is incapable of stopping the advance of the workers through traditional legal mechanisms." José Pérez prophesied that the "defenders of order and law" would trample them "when they no longer fully serve them for the defense of their privileges.

They will use the so-called democratic mechanisms as long as they serve them, but they will cast them aside the moment they deem it convenient. They strive to provoke a coup d'état or a civil war, and they will continue to do so."

The last Christmas, happy

Married to Yolanda Sáez since 1965, when he disappeared, he had two children: José Luis, who is 30 years old today, and Tatiana, 28. "I was 8 years old when they arrested him," recalls José Luis. "I remember him tall, thin, with a strong character, sometimes bad-tempered, nervous, a heavy smoker." Crossing through time, he remembers the last happy Christmas of 1973: "He bought us lots of toys that he left in a crib.

For me, there was a Lone Ranger pistol, and with it, I tested my aim on my sister's eye... I still remember her screams to this day!"

"Like father, like son," he joined political life from a young age: "We didn't miss a rally. Dad took me to all of them, and at the last one, he gave me a helmet and a baton. Since I was very distracted, he stopped the march because I had my shoes on the wrong feet." With joy, he evokes other memories: "The girls gathered rats in the neighborhoods and, from the Santa Lucía Hill, they threw them at the old ladies of the famous 'empty pots' march.

I still remember their shrieks and running. What a beautiful time!"

His father's blindness caused multiple jokes, some very harsh: "Since he couldn't see the bus signs, one time they put him on one that went to La Bandera, but we lived in the opposite direction, in the Bellavista neighborhood..." The glaucoma would eventually cause him the total loss of vision.

His colleagues were arranging a trip to Spain for treatment. "He had high hopes for that operation that Dr. Verdaguer was going to perform on him," José Luis said with sadness.

A beloved man

Yolanda Sáez

"José did good to whoever he could. He was very loved. His life was politics. Although he wasn't home much, he always responded as a husband and as a father. In 1971 his illness worsened, but he managed to work. We often went out to eat, to the movies, or to the theater. For my birthday, he always had a nice gift for me. I never had problems with him. We respected and loved each other very much."

Yolanda says that José liked to talk and had many friends. He was a convincing speaker who reached people. He wanted to integrate his children into sharing his dreams of a more solidary and just world for everyone.

Life without José

Upon reliving the days following the arrest, Yolanda is overcome by the anguish that has not left her since January 4, 1974: "At first it was very hard. There were days when we didn't have anything to eat.

On one occasion, we survived on eleven escudos from José Luis." She had to dismantle her home, sell everything. Her in-laws took charge of the children while she worked. She rented a room to live in, while trying to overcome the pain.

She took every job that came along, while taking a paramedic course at Caritas. She cared for the sick, cleaned offices, and worked as a secretary. "I did everything. Before, I never needed to work outside the home, because José didn't like it.

The months passed and sadness flooded me. I was very ill. Twice I tried to commit suicide. Every so often I feel down. I gather strength, but after a few months, I go back to the same thing. They ruined my life forever."

Her children and grandchildren are her best antidote against bad memories: "They fill my life and give me reasons to exist!" But she still does not know where the remains of José Pérez are. "I would die in peace if I knew where my husband is."

The arrest On January 3, 1974, José got up early, as always. At 11:00 AM, his five friends and colleagues from INDAP were waiting for him: journalist Miguel Rivas, administrative employees José Medina and Julio Parraguez, and secretary Rebeca Espinoza, who attended with her two children and a granddaughter.

The meeting at the Plaza de la Constitución marked those who attended the appointment with an indelible seal. What happened is known through the testimony of those who survived prison and torture.

At noon, civilians attached to the Air Force arrested four of the members of the group. Half an hour later, administrative employee Julio Parraguez was arrested. Upon regaining his freedom, he recounted that they were taken to the El Bosque Air Base, where they were tortured and interrogated about their political and work activities.

The end On the third day, they were transferred to the Tejas Verdes regiment. José, Miguel, and Julio shared a barracks with university students. Five days later, the two journalists were taken away. They were never seen again. They became forcibly disappeared.

Julio Parraguez and José Medina were assigned to the same barracks. Later, they brought Miguel, almost dying. He was transferred to the San Antonio Hospital and then taken away to an unknown destination.

He is also disappeared. Rebeca's children and granddaughter were released, but she is also disappeared. Of the five INDAP officials who met at the Plaza de la Constitución, only José Medina survives. Julio died as a result of the mistreatment received at Tejas Verdes.

Another testimony of Pérez's presence at the regiment of Colonel Manuel Contreras, the first head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), is provided by Emilio Rojas in his book Tejas Verdes. The journalist also testified before the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation.

The search Three days after José's arrest, through a call from a man who did not identify himself, Yolanda learned that her husband was at the El Bosque Air Base and that he needed clothes, toiletries, eye medicine, and vitamins.

She went with what was requested; the guard confirmed his presence, but she could not see him. "In two more days," they told her. She returned with Delfina Hermosilla, José's mother, but they had already handed him over to the DINA.

At the Ministry of Defense, they "informed" them that he was undergoing interrogations. The anguished women went to the National Executive Secretariat for Detainees (SENDET). A "Commander Correa" confirmed to them that the DINA had him and that his release would take place in three more months.

The desperate mother went to General Sergio Arellano Stark in September. In November, he replied that his son had not been located.

Threats While Yolanda continued searching, five civilians armed with machine guns burst into her home. The young children, under the care of a tenant, were interrogated about their father's whereabouts. They were left in a state of shock.

The next day, another subject raided the house, this time in Yolanda's presence. He interrogated her about her husband's activities, militancy, and visitors. He ended by recommending that she leave the country.

In mid-February, another man who appeared at her house in Bellavista informed her that José had died at Tejas Verdes two weeks earlier. This information coincided with his departure from the cabin he shared with Julio Parraguez, according to the survivors.

Justice tied In March 1974, José Pérez Hermosilla appeared in a collective writ of amparo filed before the Santiago Court of Appeals. It was rejected and immediately appealed. Almost a year later, on January 5, 1975, Enrique Zurita Camps was appointed as a visiting minister.

The magistrate instructed a process. On April 30, Delfina Hermosilla went to testify, but the court's official letters inquiring about the detainees only received negative responses from the authorities.

The proceedings for the disappearance of the two INDAP journalists were consolidated. In September 1975, without further inquiries, the summary was closed because "no further progress could be made in the investigation," and José Pérez's case was temporarily dismissed, among 95 other proceedings.

For years, all requested measures were rejected. In February 1991, the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation sent the background information on the disappearance of José and 21 other people from Tejas Verdes to the First Court of San Antonio. Case 51071-11 was "in summary" in September 1996.

Qualified homicide

In July 1991, the family filed a complaint for aggravated kidnapping, application of torture and unnecessary rigor, prolonged incommunicado detention, arbitrary arrest, and alleged qualified homicide. A document officially acknowledging Pérez's arrest, signed by Aviation General Mario Vivero Ávila, was included.

The plaintiffs requested to clarify the responsibilities of Dr. Vittorio Orvieto and the second head of Investigations of San Antonio, Nelson Valdés Cornejo, accused by witnesses as torturers at Tejas Verdes. Valdés, appointed mayor of Cartagena between 1984 and 1988, denied the charges.

No to presumed death

In search of her father's traces, José Luis learned that in the sector called El Atalaya, in Bucalemu, was one of the execution sites. Versions from locals and former prisoners of Tejas Verdes indicate that people were killed there whose bodies were thrown into the Rapel River. He tried to visit Bucalemu, but the military blocked his path.

José Luis relates that he only signed the kidnapping complaint in 1991 because before 1990, no progress could be made. "And I signed it because the crime of kidnapping and disappearance cannot be amnestied."

The family will not sign for presumed death because it would admit José's death, and it would enable the application of the Amnesty Law. Years pass and pass, but they do not abandon the hope for justice and truth. They trust that one day, sooner rather than later..., they will be able to place a rose on his grave, a rose that only those who see with the eyes of the heart will be able to see bloom.

Cora Cid Recabarren, journalist, worked during Salvador Allende's electoral campaign. Under his government, she was in the Office of Information and Broadcasting of the Presidency and at INDAP. She is currently a professor at the Los Leones Professional Institute.

Source: derechos.org 9/11/2001

Date: 11-09-2001