The Concepción Court of Appeals issued a second-instance sentence against 14 retired Carabineros and civilians for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of 28 peasants from Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, illicit acts perpetrated starting on September 11, 1973, in the Andean foothills of the Biobío Region.

In a unanimous ruling, the Third Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers Carola Rivas Vargas, Viviana Iza Miranda, and acting lawyer Jean Pierre Latsague Lightwood—also confirmed the total compensation of $1,215,000,000 (one billion two hundred fifteen million pesos) that the state treasury and the convicted individuals must pay to the victims' families.

In the ruling, the court sentenced Plante Euclide Aravena Sáez to 14 years in prison as the perpetrator of 19 counts of aggravated kidnapping; meanwhile, Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán and José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme must serve 11 years and 10 years and one day in prison, respectively, as perpetrators of 10 and 7 counts of aggravated kidnapping.

In the case of Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera, the court sentenced him to 10 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of four counts of aggravated kidnapping, and Pedro Segundo Ruiz Pardo must serve 5 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of one count of aggravated kidnapping.

Additionally, Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela, Luis Enrique Ricardo Antonio Barrueto Bartning, and Manuel Darío Barrueto Bartning were convicted as accomplices and sentenced to 6 years in prison for their roles in seven counts of aggravated kidnapping.

Meanwhile, Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Barrera received 5 years and one day of effective prison time as an accomplice to two counts of aggravated kidnapping.

In the cases of Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas, Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames, and José Roberto Valdivia Dames, they were sentenced to 4 years in prison as accomplices to one count of aggravated kidnapping. They were granted the benefit of supervised release.

The same benefit was granted to Eugenio Villa Urrutia, José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz, and Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, who were sentenced to 4 years in prison as accomplices to seven, seven, and five counts of aggravated kidnapping, respectively.

The case decreed the dismissal of charges against retired Carabineros officers José Eleodoro Burgos Sandoval and José Jaime Godoy Godoy, and civilians Sergio Alejandro Pino Cabezas and Sergio Humberto Salazar San Martín, due to their deaths.

During the investigation stage, Minister Raquel Lermanda Spichiger established that between September 11 and December 20, 1973, Carabineros officers—supported by groups of civilians—illegally detained 28 victims, primarily peasants, in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, whose whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

In Santa Bárbara, the group illegally detained José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Solís, José Nazario Godoy Acuña, Manuel Salamanca Mella, José Mariano Godoy Acuña, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz, José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldine, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldine, José Gilberto Araneda Riquelme, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao, Julio Rubio Llancao, José María Tranamil Pereira, José Guillermo Purrán Treca, Elba Burgos Sáez, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama, Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama, Sergio D´Apollonio Petermann, and Aliro Oporto Durán.

In the commune of Quilaco, the victims were identified as 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.

Regarding civil matters, the chamber confirmed the moral damages compensation, obligating the State of Chile and the convicted individuals to pay a total of $1,215,000,000 (one billion two hundred fifteen million pesos) to the victims' families.

Source: elciudadano.cl, June 15, 2019

Justice at last: 4 retired Carabineros and 10 civilians sentenced for the crimes against 28 people in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco in 1973

The Supreme Court confirmed the sentence issued by the Concepción Court of Appeals, which convicted former Carabineros and civilians for their participation in the disappearance of 28 peasants in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, in the Biobío foothills, between September and December 1973.

The Supreme Court issued a final judgment in the investigation into the aggravated kidnappings of José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio César Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Solís, José Nazario Godoy Acuña, Manuel Salamanca Mella, José Mariano Godoy Acuña, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz, José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldine, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldine, José Gilberto Araneda Riquelme, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao, Julio Rubio Llancao, José María Tranamil Pereira, José Guillermo Purrán Treca, Elba Burgos Sáez, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama, Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama, Sergio D´Apollonio Petermann, Aliro Oporto Durán, 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 crimes were perpetrated in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco between the months of September and December 1973.

In a split decision (case file 24.143-2019), the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, and minister María Teresa Letelier—accepted the filed appeals for cassation and overturned the appealed sentence issued by the Concepción Court of Appeals in June 2019 regarding the part that considered the 10 accused civilians as accomplices.

In a replacement sentence, the court convicted them as perpetrators for having had direct participation in the detentions and kidnappings, as established in the first-instance ruling by Minister Raquel Lermanda.

The split decision occurred because Minister Letelier was in favor of maintaining the sentence reductions adopted by the Concepción court.

In the final judgment, the following were convicted as perpetrators of the crimes: former Carabineros officer Planté Euclide Aravena Sáez to 14 years in prison; former Carabineros Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán and José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme must serve 11 years in prison; Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera and civilian Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Barrera, 10 years and one day; civilians Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela, Luis Enrique Ricardo Antonio Barrueto Bartning, and Manuel Darío Barrueto Bartning to 6 years of imprisonment; meanwhile, civilians Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas, Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames, and José Roberto Valdivia Dames must serve 5 years and one day in prison. Finally, the convicted civilians Eugenio Villa Urrutia, Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, and José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz were sentenced to 4 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release for the same period.

Those acquitted due to death include those convicted in the first instance: José Burgos Sandoval, José Godoy Godoy, Pedro Segundo Ruiz Pardo, and the implicated and accused Sergio Salazar San Martín and Sergio Alejandro Pino Cabezas.

Executions and disappearances

The judicial investigation establishes in detail the various criminal episodes carried out by the uniformed officers and civilians who executed these true extermination raids.

On September 13, 1973, a group of civilians and Carabineros, all armed with firearms and traveling in motor 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, then took him away on foot to an unknown destination, causing him to disappear to this day.

On September 14, 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 September 16, 1973, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao and Julio Alberto Rubio Llancao were detained and taken to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, under the command of the Unit Chief, then-Lieutenant Planté Aravena Sáez.

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

That night, these three peasants, along with José María Tranamil Pereira, who had also been detained, were taken out of the police station and transported to the Quilaco bridge, where the Carabineros shot them to death. No news regarding the four peasants has been known since that date.

On September 16, 1973, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz presented himself voluntarily to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, as he had been previously summoned, and remained detained; his whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

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

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

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

In the commune of Quilaco, in the early hours of September 20, 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 in vehicles to an unknown destination. From that moment on, there was never any news of his fate, and his trail has disappeared to this day.

On the morning of September 20, 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 Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, from where they were taken out at night to an unknown destination.

They have not been seen again, and there is no news of their whereabouts to this day.

Around noon that day, the same group headed to the Loncopangue village 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 Quilaco Municipal truck driven by José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz, known as 'El Chamo', and then taken along the public road leading 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 firearms at them, their bodies falling into the current 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 composed of Carabineros and civilians, a date from which they made him disappear.

In the commune of Santa Bárbara, at approximately 2:00 PM on the same day, September 20, the criminal group detained José Nazario Godoy Acuña in the Los Junquillos sector, who was subsequently transported to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station.

Around 10:30 PM on September 20, 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, then took him to the Carabineros Station.

On the same date, the same group went to the boarding house located at Calle Rosas N° 343 in the commune of Santa Bárbara, where they detained José Mariano Godoy Acuña, who was transported to the Station where they were last seen. They have not been seen again, and there is no news of their whereabouts to this day.

On the night of September 20, 1973, the same armed group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at the home of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, located at Calle Rosas N° 371 in Santa Bárbara, and detained him in the presence of his family, spouse, and children, taking him from his house and transporting him to an unknown location.

He has not been seen again, and there is no news of his whereabouts to this day.

On September 23, 1973, in the early hours of the morning, the group of executioners broke into the La Palma smallholding in the commune of Santa Bárbara to kidnap the peasants 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 firearms at him, causing him to fall into the riverbed.

However, the current dragged his body to one of the banks, where his body was found by relatives and acquaintances on the morning of the following day. They took the corpse to their home and proceeded to hold a wake to later 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 November 3, 1973, at approximately 11:00 AM, the group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at Plot N° 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, a moment from which there was never any news or knowledge of his whereabouts.

On the night of Saturday, November 3, 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, taking him from his house and taking him to an unknown destination.

Around 4:00 PM on November 7, 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 at him, managing to apprehend him.

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

Source: cambio21.cl, October 23, 2022