The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced 20 members of the Air Force, the Army, and civilians for their responsibility in the crimes of qualified homicide of Hernán Henríquez Aravena and Alejandro Flores Rivera, and the application of illegitimate coercion against Jorge Silhi Zarzar, Víctor Painemal Alegría, and Sergio Riquelme Inostroza.

These illicit acts were committed starting in September 1973 at the Maquehue Air Base, the N° 8 “Tucapel” Regiment, and the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco. In the ruling, Minister Mesa Latorre sentenced Crisóstomo Ferrada Carrasco, Enrique Rebolledo Sotelo, Heriberto Pereira Rojas, Jorge Valdebenito Isler, Jorge Soto Herrera, Luis Yáñez Silva, Luis Soto Pinto, and Leonardo Reyes Herrera to 20 years in prison as authors of both illicit acts.

Podlech, 84, is currently released on bail for human rights cases under the dictatorship, during which he served as an ad-hoc prosecutor.

Source: politika.cl, January 3, 2020

Court orders house arrest for Alfonso Podlech following fatal hit-and-run

The Second Chamber of the Temuco Court of Appeals revoked this Wednesday the resolution of the Villarrica Guarantee Court and decreed total house arrest, the immediate suspension of his driver's license, and a national travel ban for Alfonso Podlech Michaud, a former military prosecutor charged as the author of quasi-delict of homicide and quasi-delict of serious injury in a hit-and-run.

Podlech struck and killed psychopedagogue Sandra Coliñanco, 36, on May 20 on Calle Valentín Letelier in Villarrica, leaving the victim's five-year-old daughter seriously injured. The child remains hospitalized at the Temuco Regional Hospital with fractures, but is out of mortal danger.

Despite the gravity of the incident, the Guarantee Court left Podlech free with only a requirement to sign in biweekly. Juan Carlos Pascual, the plaintiff's lawyer in the case, explained that the precautionary measures defined today by the appellate court "were three: first, total house arrest; second, the suspension of the driver's license; and third, the national travel ban."

Source: Cooperativa.cl, May 29, 2019

Former military prosecutor sentenced for the death of the director of the Temuco Regional Hospital in 1973

The former military prosecutor of the dictatorship, Alfonso Podlech Michaud, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the disappearance and death of Hernán Henríquez Aravena, director of the Temuco Regional Hospital in 1973.

Henríquez, a communist militant, disappeared in October 1973 after being detained by Air Force agents and transferred to a military facility in La Araucanía. Podlech is currently serving house arrest for the fatal hit-and-run of a mother and her daughter in Villarrica in May of last year.

The minister investigating human rights violation cases in La Araucanía, Álvaro Mesa, reported that this Thursday a ruling was issued against Podlech and 14 other uniformed personnel, who were sentenced to terms ranging from three years and one day to 20 years for serious violations of the fundamental rights of individuals who were detained after the Coup d'État and whose whereabouts remain unknown.

Uniformed personnel of the time reported through written statements from the Temuco Garrison that Henríquez Aravena—in whose honor the main hospital of La Araucanía was named—and fellow health professional Alejandro Flores attempted to escape, which led to their deaths.

The ruling does not include prison benefits, and as it is a first-instance decision, it is not ruled out that defense attorneys may appeal the resolution, which was issued under the old judicial procedure.

Plaintiff lawyer Nelson Miranda expressed satisfaction with the court's resolution. "It is a sort of relief that after 46 years, we have arrived at part of the necessary justice in this, as in other cases of crimes against humanity; therefore, the sentences are to be served effectively," said Miranda. "The minister did not grant them any benefits, stating they are not entitled to them; therefore, in that context, the former prosecutor Podlech was sentenced for a crime against humanity, qualified homicide, and illegitimate coercion against Dr.

Hernán Henríquez Aravena," the jurist added.

Source: Cooperativa.cl, January 2, 2020

Alfonso Podlech and retired army officials sentenced for the qualified kidnapping of Jaime Eltit Spielmann

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Alejandro Madrid Croharé, sentenced Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud to an effective term of 7 years in prison plus legal accessories, in his capacity as author of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Jaime Emilio Eltit Spielmann.

The illicit act was perpetrated starting on September 13, 1973. In the ruling (case file 2.182), the presiding minister also sentenced retired Army non-commissioned officers Orlando Moreno Vásquez and Raúl Binaldo Schonherr Frías to 5 years and one day of effective prison, plus legal accessories, for their responsibility as co-authors of the crime.

Likewise, former Army civilian employee Libardo Hernán Schwartenski Rubio and retired Police of Investigations officials Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra and Daniel San Juan Clavería were sentenced to 3 years and one day in prison, with the benefit of supervised release for the same period, in their capacity as accomplices to the kidnapping.

In the case, Minister Madrid acquitted Jaime Guillermo García Covarrubias of the prosecutorial accusation that attributed participation in the qualified kidnapping of Jaime Eltit to him as a co-author. In the civil aspect, the ruling accepted the filed claims, ordering the State of Chile to pay compensation for moral damages of $300,000,000 (three hundred million pesos) to the victim's relatives.

THE FACTS

During the investigation stage, Minister Madrid established the following facts: A) That on September 11, 1973, the Armed Forces and Order and Security forces took control of the city of Temuco, appointing Colonel Hernán Ramírez Ramírez, Commander of the “La Concepción” Regiment of the city of Lautaro (due to his seniority), as Intendant, and Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse, Commander of the N° 8 “Tucapel” Infantry Regiment of Temuco, as Governor of the same.

B) On that same date, lawyer Alfonso Podlech Michaud was called to collaborate at the “Tucapel” Regiment to support the management of the Military Prosecutor's Office that operated inside the unit and was in charge of the Second Commander, Major Luis Jofré Soto.

From that moment on, civilians began to arrive at the Regiment, having been called to present themselves through edicts published in regional newspapers or brought in as detainees from different parts of the region and the country.

Given the above, the Military Prosecutor's Office even had to be reinforced with public officials from other branches, and thus, the aforementioned lawyer—acting as Ad-hoc Prosecutor—presented himself before the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Temuco and obtained the appointment of clerks and a rapporteur to collaborate in the functions he performed.

By virtue of the above, PODLECH MICHAUD held the de facto position of Military Prosecutor, conducting prison visits, taking statements, and becoming the channel through which lawyers, relatives, and members of the Church inquired about the fate of the prisoners.

C) Inside the aforementioned Regiment, there was a so-called Second Intelligence Section in charge of Captain Nelson Ubilla Toledo (now deceased), composed of two non-commissioned officers and subsequently reinforced by enlisted personnel and conscript soldiers, as well as Police of Investigations personnel.

This section, together with the Military Prosecutor's Office, began working to interrogate detainees brought from the city jail or held in different facilities of the Regiment enabled for that purpose, where there were elements to tie them up, apply electricity, and use other types of torture.

D) Under these circumstances, Jaime Emilio Eltit Spielmann, a lawyer and militant of the Radical Youth, was detained in the city of Santiago on September 13, 1973, by members of a military patrol and transferred to the Tacna Regiment.

His apprehension occurred on a public street, at the intersection of San Ignacio and Avenida Matta. The following day, he was taken to an apartment building located at 1121 San Ignacio Street, second floor, where he was kept detained without apparent custody, but controlled daily by telephone and by visits from military personnel.

Because of this, his brother Ricardo Eltit Spielmann traveled to Santiago and visited him in the indicated apartment. There, Jaime Eltit Spielmann told him that he had been interrogated on several occasions at the Tacna Regiment.

This stay in the San Ignacio street apartment lasted until October 6, 1973, the date on which he was transported by train to the city of Temuco, guarded by military personnel dressed in civilian clothes.

The detainee and his guards arrived in that city at approximately seven in the morning on October 7, 1973, and he was immediately transferred to the N° 8 “Tucapel” Regiment, where he was seen by his brother Ricardo Alberto Eltit Spielmann (fs. 94), Miguel Ricardo Torres Zapata (fs. 96), Armando Nelson Ariel Maldonado Barria (fs. 97), Godofredo Cotrena Cotrena (fs. 102), Víctor Hernán Maturana Burgos (fs. 119), Renate Ermmy Pfeil Pabst (fs. 420), among others, who have testified in the case file that they saw him and spoke with him inside the Tucapel Regiment in Temuco, some of whom even saw him in poor physical condition, with evident signs of having been beaten. He disappeared from this place six days later, and from October 13, 1973, all traces of his whereabouts were lost, without the prisoner having made contact with his relatives or carried out administrative procedures before State agencies, without registering entries or exits from the country, and without any record of his death by natural causes. This event is framed within a pattern similar to other events that occurred during that era, which began with the tracking and surveillance of the victims until ending in their disappearance.

Source: araucaniacuenta.cl, February 14, 2017

Podlech sentenced to 12 years in prison for disappearance and death of Temuco hospital director in 1973

The former military prosecutor of the dictatorship, Alfonso Podlech, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the disappearance and death of Hernán Henríquez Aravena, director of the Temuco regional hospital in 1973.

Henríquez, a communist militant, disappeared in October 1973 after being detained by Air Force agents and transferred to a military facility in La Araucanía, reported Cooperativa. Alfonso Podlech is currently serving house arrest for the hit-and-run of a mother and her daughter last year in Villarrica, in May of last year, both of whom died.

Álvaro Mesa, the minister investigating human rights violation cases in La Araucanía, reported that today a ruling was issued against Podlech and 14 other uniformed personnel, who were sentenced to terms ranging from three years and one day to 20 years for serious violations of fundamental rights.

Uniformed personnel of the time reported through written statements from the Temuco Garrison that Henríquez Aravena—in whose honor the main hospital of La Araucanía was named—and fellow health professional Alejandro Flores attempted to escape, which led to their deaths. The first-instance ruling does not include prison benefits.

Source: lanacion.cl, January 2, 2020

Alfonso Podlech sentenced to 7 years in prison for qualified kidnapping

The sentence also ordered the Treasury to pay a total compensation of $300 million to the victim's relatives. The Santiago Court of Appeals sentenced retired members of the Army, the Police of Investigations, and a civilian for their responsibility in the crime of qualified kidnapping of lawyer Jaime Emilio Eltit Spielmann, who was detained in Santiago on September 13, 1973, and transferred to Temuco a month later, from where all traces of him were lost.

Thus, the former military prosecutor in Cautín during the dictatorship, Alfonso Podlech Michaud, must serve a 7-year prison sentence as a co-author of the crime of qualified kidnapping of lawyer Eltit Spielmann.

The sentence also imposed five years and one day in prison on retired Army non-commissioned officers Orlando Moreno and Raúl Schonherr, while retired Army civilian employee Libardo Schwartensky, retired Investigations prefect Daniel San Juan Clavería, and retired inspector of the same institution Hernán Quiroz were sentenced to 3 years and one day in prison, though with the benefit of supervised release.

In the civil aspect, the sentence ordering the Treasury to pay a total compensation of $300 million to the victim's relatives was confirmed.

Source: angolinos.cl, November 21, 2020

Temuco Court confirms sentence for torture and homicides of political prisoners against former military prosecutor of the Dictatorship

The Temuco Court of Appeals sentenced the civilian individual, lawyer, and former military prosecutor Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud to a single effective prison term of 20 years, in his capacity as author of the consummated crimes of illegitimate coercion and the qualified homicides of Daniel de los Ángeles Mateluna Gómez and José María Ortigosa Ansoleaga, perpetrated on October 2, 1973, in the city of Temuco.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 66-2022), the Third Chamber of the Temuco appellate court confirmed the sentence and modified the first-instance ruling issued in December 2021 by the minister on extraordinary assignment Álvaro Mesa Latorre, which had imposed sentences of 20 years for the homicides and 5 years for the illegitimate coercion.

The Court, instead, ruled to reduce the sentences against the former military prosecutor to a single penalty of 20 years of major imprisonment in its maximum degree, along with the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification from professional practice for the duration of the sentence.

For the appellate court: "(...) regarding the determination of the sentence, this Court estimates that there has been a material concurrence of crimes, since it was sentenced and accepted for the facts constituting crimes consisting of qualified homicide and illegitimate coercion, specifically circumscribed to October 2, 1973, giving rise to the hypothesis that one is the means to commit the other.

Since the typical figure has been framed in the crime of qualified homicide under Article 391 N° 1 of the Penal Code, applying the first and fifth circumstances by establishing that they acted with treachery and premeditation, because during October 2, 1973, in the context of the pre-existing detention, the victims were taken to the N° 8 Tucapel Infantry Regiment, where they were 'seen in poor condition, with their death occurring that same day'." All the crimes in this case committed by former prosecutor Podlech Michaud were perpetrated in the city of Temuco on October 2, 1973.

This is in accordance with the provisions and sanctions of Articles 150 N°1 and 391 N°1, circumstances 1° and 5° respectively, of the Penal Code in force at the time of the events, in their character as crimes against humanity.

Another sentence against this same subject On the other hand, just this past August 26, Minister Álvaro Mesa Latorre issued another sentence against this same individual, the lawyer and former military prosecutor Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, sentencing him to 20 years of effective prison in his capacity as author of the consummated crimes of qualified homicide, as crimes against humanity, of Pedro Ríos Castillo and Guido Troncoso Pérez.

These illicit acts were also perpetrated in October 1973 in the city of Temuco. In the ruling (case file 113.975), Minister Mesa Latorre also applied to Podlech Michaud the legal accessories of absolute perpetual disqualification from public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification from professional practice for the duration of the sentence.

Likewise, Podlech Michaud must serve a 3-year prison sentence, with the legal accessory of suspension from public office during the time of the sentence, as author of the consummated crime of illegitimate coercion against the victim Ríos Castillo.

Against this civilian criminal, invested as a military prosecutor during the dictatorship, there are other pending proceedings and cases; among them, the indictment issued in June of this year for the murder of 8 victims in the commune of Villarrica.

Source: resumen.cl, September 6, 2022

The visiting judge issued an indictment against the then-Army Lieutenant Ludovico Eduardo Aldunate Herman, in his capacity as the perpetrator of the consummated crime of qualified homicide of the worker for the Agrarian Reform Corporation, Samuel Alfonso Catalán Lincoleo.

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases in Temuco, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued an indictment against four former Army officers and a civilian who held the position of military prosecutor, for crimes against humanity committed during the military dictatorship.

Specifically, the accused committed human rights violations against eight workers who were victims of repressive episodes in Cautín between September 1973 and August 1974.

The victims are: Hugo Arner González Ortega, Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, Carlos Schmidt Arriagada, Ricardo Augusto Schmidt Arriagada, Juan de Dios Cabrera Figueroa, Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría, Alejandro Escobar Vásquez, and Raúl Marcial Figueroa Burckhardt.

The visiting judge indicted the civilian, then ad hoc military prosecutor Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, and former Army officers Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichauer Salcedo, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, and Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz, as accomplices to the crime of kidnapping with grave injury, committed starting on September 13, 1973, at the N° 8 "Tucapel" Infantry Regiment in Temuco, as a crime against humanity, reports Resumen.

The victims, consisting of four workers and four students, were members of the Socialist Party and supporters of Salvador Allende.

After the coup d'état perpetrated by Augusto Pinochet, these eight people were detained while attempting to leave the country to escape the persecution launched against Allende's followers and leftist movements.

What do the investigations say?

According to the investigations, the homes of some of the victims had already been raided by Carabineros from Villarrica, who were searching for them intensely.

However, while they were attempting to flee toward Argentina via a border crossing, one of the young men had second thoughts, causing them all to get off the bus. They then began to march toward Caburgua, taking care not to encounter military or Carabineros patrols so as not to be detected.

During their return, they were detained by Carabineros; however, the officers were in a civilian truck, so they did not suspect anything.

The eight detainees were taken to that police facility and from there transferred to the Tucapel Regiment in Temuco, where they were held as political prisoners, reports Resumen.

At that military facility, they were placed at the disposal of the then-Military Prosecutor, the lawyer Alfonso Podlech Michaud, and subjected to torture by officers and uniformed personnel belonging to the contingent of that Regiment.

The eight young men were allegedly executed during the military dictatorship by personnel from the Tucapel Regiment, and their bodies were subsequently made to disappear.

Worker for the Agrarian Reform Corporation murdered

Furthermore, the visiting judge issued an indictment against the then-Army Lieutenant Ludovico Eduardo Aldunate Herman, in his capacity as the perpetrator of the consummated crime of qualified homicide of the worker for the Agrarian Reform Corporation, Samuel Alfonso Catalán Lincoleo.

The event took place on August 27, 1974, in the commune of Lautaro. The now-former Army general was indicted for a crime against humanity.

Catalán Lincoleo was a member of the Communist Party and was detained in the early morning and sent to the La Concepción regiment.

The apprehending group was composed of Second Lieutenant Sergio Fernando Alcayaga Barraza, Sergeant Héctor Salazar, several enlisted men, conscript soldiers, and detective Jorge Eusebio Barriga Soto of the Lautaro Investigative Police.

It is known that Samuel was sent to a forest in that area; they made him kneel, covered his face with a black garment he himself was wearing, and then the former officer Aldunate Herman rested his SIG rifle on a bush to take aim at the detainee's head, firing and causing his immediate death.

Source: elciudadano.cl, July 12, 2022

Former Army officials prosecuted for crimes against humanity in Traiguén and Pucón during the dictatorship

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, prosecuted a former "Black Beret" for illegal coercion against six victims in Traiguén, and a former military prosecutor along with six former Army officers for the disappearance of eight victims in Pucón.

Judge Mesa Latorre filed charges against the former Army non-commissioned officer and former "Black Beret" Gabriel Humberto Díaz Morales for his responsibility in the crime of illegal coercion against six plaintiff victims. The crimes were perpetrated after the military coup in the commune of Traiguén.

In the resolution (case file 24.428), he identified the former paratrooper of the Black Beret Command as the perpetrator of the crime against humanity committed against the victims Antonio Inostroza Segura, Omar Enrique Cuevas Gajardo, Luis Alberto Collao Montalva, Rinaldo Torres Zapata, Carlos Silva Riffo, and Jaime Pablo Sperberg Cristia.

Meanwhile, in the case being processed for the disappearance of eight victims in the commune of Pucón, Judge Mesa Latorre filed charges against the civilian repressive agent and former military prosecutor at the time of the events, Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, and former Army officers Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichauer Salcedo, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, and Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz, for their responsibility as accomplices to the crime against humanity of kidnapping with grave injury of Hugo Arner González Ortega, Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, Carlos Schmidt Arriagada, Ricardo Schmidt Arriagada, Juan de Dios Cabrera Figueroa, Alejandro Escobar Vásquez, Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría, and Raúl Marcial Figueroa Burckhardt.

In the resolution (case file 4.473), Judge Mesa Latorre also identified the former Carabineros officer, Luis Robinson Bustos Letelier, as the perpetrator of the crime of illegal detention of the González Ortega brothers, Schmidt Arriagada, Cabrera Figueroa, Escobar Vásquez, Aguayo Olavarría, and Figueroa Burckhardt.

The kidnappings and detentions were perpetrated between late September and early October 1973, in the commune of Pucón, and the 8 young men have been forcibly disappeared since that time.

By Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, November 11, 2022

Supreme Court sentences former military prosecutor and six former Army repressive agents for the disappearance of a lawyer in Temuco in 1973

The Supreme Court confirmed the sentence that condemned former military prosecutor Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud and former Army officer Jaime Guillermo García Covarrubias to 7 years of effective imprisonment as perpetrators of the crime of qualified kidnapping of the lawyer Jaime Emilio Eltit Spielmann, who was detained on September 13, 1973, in Santiago, and later transferred to the city of Temuco, where all trace of him was lost starting October 13 of that year.

Meanwhile, former Army non-commissioned officers Orlando Moreno Vásquez and Raúl Binaldo Schonherr Frías must serve 5 years and one day as perpetrators of the illicit act; the civilian agent Libardo Hernán Schwartenski Rubio, and former PDI officials Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra and Daniel San Juan Clavería must serve 3 years and one day of imprisonment as accomplices.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 154.811-2020), the Second Chamber of the high court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, María Teresa Letelier, Eliana Quezada, and acting lawyer Ricardo Abuauad—rejected the cassation appeals filed by the defense against the sentence that condemned six repressive agents and the former military prosecutor for their responsibility in the crime.

Train transfer

The judicial investigation demonstrates that starting September 11, 1973, the armed and police forces took control of the city of Temuco, appointing Colonel Hernán Ramírez Ramírez, commander of the 'La Concepción' Regiment in the city of Lautaro, as intendant, and Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse, commander of the N°8 'Tucapel' Infantry Regiment of Temuco, as governor of Temuco.

On that same date, the lawyer Alfonso Podlech Michaud began collaborating at the 'Tucapel' Regiment to join the Military Prosecutor's Office that operated inside that unit, which was in charge of the second-in-command, Major Luis Jofré Soto.

Following the military coup, civilians began to be brought to the regiment as detainees from different points in the region and the country, as well as civilians who were called to present themselves through edicts published in regional newspapers and who were detained upon arriving at the military unit.

Due to the above, the Military Prosecutor's Office was reinforced with public officials from other sectors, and the lawyer Podlech Michaud began to operate as an ad-hoc prosecutor, holding the status of military prosecutor, conducting jail visits, taking statements, and becoming the channel through which lawyers, family members, and church members could inquire about the fate of the prisoners.

Inside the Tucapel regiment, there existed a so-called Second Intelligence Section in charge of Captain Nelson Ubilla Toledo, currently deceased, composed of two non-commissioned officers and later reinforced by enlisted men and conscript soldiers, as well as personnel from the Investigative Police.

This section, together with the Military Prosecutor's Office, began working to interrogate detainees who were brought from the city jail or remained held in different areas of the regiment enabled as a prison, where there were elements to tie them up, apply electricity, and use other types of torture.

Under these circumstances, Jaime Emilio Eltit Spielman, a lawyer and member of the Radical Youth, was detained in the city of Santiago on September 13, 1973, by members of a military patrol and transferred to the Tacna Regiment in the capital.

On October 6, 1973, he was transferred by train to the city of Temuco, guarded by military personnel dressed in civilian clothes. The detainee and his guards arrived in that city at approximately seven in the morning on October 7, 1973, and were immediately transferred to the N°8 'Tucapel' Regiment, where he was seen by his brother Ricardo Alberto Eltit Spielmann and several other witnesses, some of whom saw him in poor physical condition, with evident signs of having been beaten.

He disappeared from this location six days later, and all trace of his whereabouts was lost starting October 13, 1973. This event is part of a pattern similar to other events that occurred during that time in the area under the jurisdiction of that military unit, which began with the tracking and surveillance of the victims until ending in their disappearance.

By Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, March 13, 2023

Case "El Polvorín": Minister Álvaro Mesa sentences retired military personnel and Army collaborators for homicides and illegal coercion of seven detained victims

In the civil aspect, the visiting judge accepted the filed claim and ordered the state to pay a total indemnity of $2,780,000,000 (two billion seven hundred eighty million pesos) for moral damages to the victims' families.

The minister for extraordinary cases of human rights violations for the jurisdictions of the Courts of Appeals of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued sentence number 78 on the matter, and convicted 23 retired military personnel and Army collaborators for their responsibility in the qualified homicides and illegitimate coercion against Florentino Alberto Molina Ruiz, Juan Antonio Chávez Rivas, Víctor Hugo Valenzuela Velásquez, Juan Carlos Ruiz Mancilla, Amador Francisco Montero Mosquera, Pedro Juan Mardones Jofré, and Carlos Aillañir Huenchual, perpetrated in the commune of Temuco in November 1973.

In the sentence (case file 113.089), Minister Mesa Latorre sentenced: Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud to life imprisonment for his responsibility as the perpetrator of the 7 qualified homicides and 10 years of imprisonment for his responsibility as the perpetrator of 7 crimes of illegitimate coercion against the seven victims.

Meanwhile, Daniel San Juan Clavería, Omar Burgos Dejean, Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra, Raúl Binaldo Schonherr Frías, Orlando Moreno Vásquez must serve a sentence of life imprisonment as accomplices to the 7 qualified homicides and a sentence of 10 years of imprisonment as perpetrators of illegitimate coercion.

The accused Juan Guillermo García Covarrubias, Pablo Domingo Gran López, Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz, Carlos Eduardo Oviedo Arriagada, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, Norberto Francisco Uribe Moroni, Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichahuer Salcedo, Juan Bautistas Labraña Luvecce, will serve sentences of life imprisonment as accomplices to the 7 qualified homicides and 427 days of imprisonment as accomplices to the 7 counts of illegitimate coercion.

Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán

will serve a sentence of life imprisonment as the perpetrator of the 7 qualified homicides.

Additionally, Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín, Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao, Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos will serve a sentence of life imprisonment as accomplices to the 7 qualified homicides.

Arnoldo Aedo Matus

will serve a sentence of 20 years of imprisonment as an accomplice to the 7 homicides.

Libardo Hernán Schwartenski Rubio

will serve a sentence of 10 years of imprisonment as the perpetrator of 7 crimes of illegitimate coercion.

Finally, José Raúl Inzunza Reyes was sentenced to 427 days of imprisonment as the perpetrator of 7 crimes of illegitimate coercion.

In the sentence, Minister Mesa Latorre established the following facts:

A.- That, immediately following the military coup of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and security forces took control of the city of Temuco, with the Colonel Commander of the "La Concepción" Regiment of Lautaro, Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez (deceased, as recorded on page 6,060 of volume XVII), establishing himself as Intendant; and the Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV), Commander of the N° 8 "Tucapel" Infantry Regiment of this city, as Governor of Temuco, who also remained as Chief of the Temuco Garrison.

B.- That on the same day, September 11, 1973, the Temuco lawyer Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, who was also a Reserve Lieutenant in the Chilean Army, was called to collaborate with the new regime to support the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office operating within the unit, which was in charge of the Second Commander, Major Luis Jofré Soto (deceased, as recorded on page 1,295, volume IV).

This officer, however, had to assume greater functions as Second Commander of the Tucapel regiment shortly thereafter. From that day forward, civilians began arriving at the regiment after being called to present themselves before the Military Prosecutor's Office via edicts published in the written press and on the radio, or having been brought in as detainees from different parts of the region by police and military patrols.

Given the high number of detainees and people called to provide statements, the Military Prosecutor's Office was reinforced to carry out its work with Judicial Branch officials who were requested from the Temuco Court of Appeals by the aforementioned lawyer Podlech Michaud, who, acting as Ad-Hoc Prosecutor, made a presentation to the Plenary of the Appellate Court (Minutes from page 3010 to 3011, volume IX), after which some clerks from different courts and a Court Rapporteur were assigned on service commission.

Due to the lack of knowledge in criminal procedural matters, added to his weak character and his work as Second Commander of the regiment, Major Luis Jofré Soto began delegating functions as Military Prosecutor to the lawyer Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, advisor to the Prosecutor's Office, who began to hold the position of de facto Prosecutor, to the point that he conducted jail visits and that lawyers, family members, and even ecclesiastical dignitaries consulted him regarding the fate of the detainees.

However, Major Jofré Soto continued to sign administrative documents most of the time and participated in some interrogations of detainees.

C.- That the people called to present themselves to the Military Prosecutor's Office and those brought in as detainees were kept in facilities located next to the guardhouse and in the large gymnasium.

Once interrogated by Military Prosecutor's Office personnel, by detectives Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Müller (deceased, as recorded on page 3,800, volume XI), Daniel San Juan Clavería, and Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra of the Investigative Police attached to the regiment, or by the officers themselves who participated in these activities—among whom were Jaime Guillermo García Covarrubias, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, Pablo Domingo Gran López, Mario Hernán Arias Díaz (deceased, as recorded on page 7,531, volume XXI), Carlos Eduardo Oviedo Arriagada, Norberto Francisco Uribe Moroni, Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichahuer Salcedo, Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz—and non-commissioned officers, among whom were Juan Bautista Labraña Luvecce, Orlando Moreno Vásquez, Raúl Binaldo Schonherr Frías, some were released, others were sent to their homes under house arrest, and others were taken to the public jail where they remained while their procedural situation was resolved.

D.- That also by September 1973, in the N° 8 "Tucapel" Infantry Regiment of Temuco, there existed the Second Section of Information and Intelligence, which was in charge of Captain Nelson Manuel Uldaricio Ubilla Toledo (deceased, as recorded on page 1,296, volume IV), under whose dependency some non-commissioned officers of that institution also performed functions, among whom were Juan Bautista Labraña Luvecce, Orlando Moreno Vásquez, and Raúl Binaldo Schonherr Frías.

This work was reinforced after September 11, 1973, with the addition of Investigative Police officials Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Müller (deceased, as recorded on page 3,800, volume XI), Daniel San Juan Clavería, and Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra, mentioned above, and Carabineros, among whom was Omar Burgos Dejean, who provided political information to the aforementioned officer regarding all those persons subject to an investigation by the Military Prosecutor's Office.

Likewise, some officers, including Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán, and enlisted personnel and conscripts of the regiment joined the intelligence tasks. As the days went by, the Military Prosecutor's Office and the Second Intelligence Section began to work jointly to interrogate detainees, as in this case, who remained imprisoned in the jail or in some facility of the Tucapel regiment.

To articulate this work, two locations were enabled in the military unit, one located between the Headquarters and Mortar Companies and another in an old, disused gymnasium located to the side of the conscript soldiers' "mess hall." In this way, the detainees were taken to and from the jail to the regiment by military personnel of the Second Section, being interrogated at the Military Prosecutor's Office and physically coerced in one of the aforementioned facilities to "soften them up" before or after these interrogations, as in this case.

In both interrogation and torture rooms, there were implements to tie up the detainees and apply electricity to different parts of the body, in addition to applying other types of torment such as kicks and punches, as in this case.

Participating in this task were conscript soldiers, among whom were Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín, Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao, Juan Humberto Carrillo Rebolledo, Libardo Schwartenski Rubio, and José Raúl Inzunza Reyes, and a Carabinero, Omar Burgos Dejean, who collaborated with Captain Nelson Ubilla Toledo and with the Investigative Police detectives who were there, Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Müller (deceased, as recorded on page 3,800, volume XI), Daniel San Juan Clavería, and Hernán Raúl Quiroz Barra. Most of the officers of the "Tucapel" regiment and some non-commissioned soldiers from the Headquarters and Services Companies—among whom were José Raúl Inzunza Reyes, and those from the Mortar, Hunter, and Second Section companies—also participated in the interrogation and/or torture sessions of detainees in those places, all of whom entered these facilities at different times.

E.- That within the aforementioned military unit, a special group called "Patrulla Brava" (Brave Patrol) or "Patrulla Chacal" (Jackal Patrol) was formed, composed of non-commissioned soldiers and conscripts of the 2nd Hunter Company, among whom were Manuel Rafael Campos Ceballos, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Sergio Orlando Vallejos Garcés, Gabriel Alfonso Dittus Marín, Héctor Mauricio Villablanca Huenulao, Juan Humberto Carrillo Rebolledo, and Libardo Schwartenski Rubio, under the orders of Second Lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce (deceased, as recorded on page 1,299, volume IV), who in turn received orders from Lieutenant Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán, who was in command of the Company. This group was in charge, among other functions, of guarding the detainees who were kept in the facilities of the "Tucapel" regiment of Temuco.

F.- That during the days following September 11, 1973, a significant number of people were killed or forcibly disappeared in the IX region, with several of these deaths explained by regional military authorities through the publication of edicts issued either from the Intendancy or the Military Garrison of Temuco.

The edict that explained the events subject to this investigation, in light of the evidence gathered in this process, provides a barely credible version of how the events of the night of November 10, 1973, unfolded, taking into consideration the statement of Manuel Ángel Fernández Carranza (page 222), who, after the events of November 10, 1973, and upon returning from a mission he had been entrusted with toward the Pucón sector in search of guerrillas, was summoned by the then-commander of the N° 8 Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV), to inform him that the assault on the ammunition dump had not been such, but rather an execution carried out at the shooting range, information he gave him personally so that he would not find out through rumors.

G.- That Florentino Alberto Molina Ruiz, member of the Central Committee and Regional Secretary of the Communist Party, was detained and taken from his home on Monday, November 5, 1973, by two Carabineros members of the Civil Commission, who transported him in a red pickup truck to the Second Police Station of Temuco, where he spent the night in a cell.

At dawn the following day, he was transferred to the "Tucapel" Regiment of Temuco by order of the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco, remaining imprisoned there until the night of November 10, 1973.

During that period, his wife went daily to leave him clothes and food, which were channeled through the guards at the entrance of the military compound. In turn, Molina Ruiz would send her his used clothes as a sign that he was still being held there.

Molina Ruiz, who was missing an arm due to a work accident, was seen as a detainee inside the aforementioned military compound by Hermán Carrasco Paúl, who was also in the same condition, who stated that both were victims of illegitimate coercion. He was also recognized due to his disability by some conscripts who guarded them.

H.- That Juan Antonio Chávez Rivas, a student at the State Technical University, Regional Secretary, and member of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth, was detained on November 6, 1973, by two Carabineros members of the Civil Commission, who transported him in a red pickup truck to the Second Police Station of Temuco, where he spent the night.

The following day, he was transferred to the "Tucapel" Regiment of Temuco. The detainee's family members approached the military unit to ask about him, where they were told that he was not there, despite the fact that he was seen in the courtyard of the military compound, heavily guarded and in very poor physical condition.

I.- That Víctor Hugo Valenzuela Velásquez, a public employee and propaganda secretary of the Communist Youth of Cautín, was detained on November 7, 1973, around 10:00 a.m., at the Real Estate Registrar of Temuco, where he worked.

The arresting personnel, who were dressed in civilian clothes, belonged to the Army Intelligence Service, one of them being a Sergeant of the "Tucapel" Regiment of Temuco. The detainee's family members went to the "Tucapel" Regiment, where they confirmed the detention and for three days delivered clothes and blankets for him at the guardhouse.

J.- That Juan Carlos Ruiz Mancilla, a Civil Construction student at the State Technical University and member of the Communist Youth, traveled to the city of Punta Arenas, where his parents lived, after September 11, 1973. He was detained there on November 7 of that same year and transported by plane to Temuco, where he was taken to the "Tucapel" Regiment.

K.- That Amador Francisco Montero Mosquera, an Electrical Engineering student at the State Technical University and member of the Communist Youth, was detained at his home on November 7, 1973, by personnel of the Carabineros Civil Commission and transported to the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco. Family members went to that location to inquire about his situation and to deliver food and clothes.

L.- That Pedro Juan Mardones Jofré, a student at the State Technical University, was detained at his home and transported to the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco. The conscript soldier of the 2nd Section of the 2nd Hunter Company, Luis Humberto Llamunao Huaiquinao (pages 1234 to 1235 and 1323 to 1324), asserted that it was his duty to bring water to Mardones Jofré, who was being held in a storage room located inside a mechanical workshop.

At that moment, he noticed that the detainee had a severely injured hand, making it impossible for him to hold the glass that was offered to him.

M.- That Carlos Aillañir Huenchual, a farmer and sympathizer of the Popular Unity government, was detained on November 6, 1973, by a military patrol moving in an institutional 3/4-ton truck. The detention took place in the rural sector of Pelales, in the town of Quepe, where the house of one of the detainee's brothers was located.

The military officer in charge of the patrol indicated that the detainee was going to be taken to the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco.

N.- That at the end of the day on November 10, 1973, while the aforementioned detainees were being held in the "small" gymnasium of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, guarded by conscript soldiers of the 2nd Hunter Company belonging to the "Jackal Patrol," Lieutenant Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán, Commander of the aforementioned company, and Second Lieutenant Espinoza (deceased, as recorded on page 1,299, volume IV) appeared, accompanied by other military personnel from the regiment.

In addition, an institutional truck pulled up and backed into the entrance of the compound where the victims were being held. Said vehicle, due to its characteristics, was recognized as the one usually used to transport meat and bread, and on some occasions, to transport conscripts for guard duty relief.

Immediately thereafter, Lieutenant Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán instructed the subordinate personnel to have the detainees board the truck along with them. The truck with the detainees, plus the officers and their companions, then left the scene.

Regarding this same truck, the following day its cleaning was ordered, among others, to conscript soldier Héctor Florentino Navarrete Leiva, who stated that it was full of human flesh and brain remains (page 2150).

Ñ.- That minutes later, sentries at the guard post located at the entrance sector to the military compound known as "Isla Cautín" saw a caravan of institutional vehicles enter the area, composed of at least one Toyota jeep and the truck indicated in the previous paragraph.

O.- That in the final hours of November 10, 1973, the aforementioned detainees were taken from the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, loaded into the aforementioned military vehicle, and transported to the shooting range sector of the "Isla Cautín" military compound by the officers and their companions.

In that place, the victims were tied to stakes that had been arranged in a row. Shortly thereafter, Captain Rodolfo Vargas Campos (deceased, as recorded on page 1,297, volume IV), Sergeant Hernán Rodrigo Santiesteban Domínguez (deceased, as recorded on page 4,953, volume XV), and Sergeant Anacleto Aguirre Rivera (deceased, as recorded on page 10,240, volume XXIX)—all from the 1st Hunter Company—plus Sergeant José Gajardo Gajardo (deceased, as recorded on page 4,954, volume XV) of the 2nd Hunter Company, joined the group of military personnel present in that sector.

Sergeant 2nd Class of the 1st Hunter Company, Arnoldo Aedo Matus, was also part of this entourage.

P.- That once the patrol commanded by Captain Vargas arrived at the scene, he ordered its members to position themselves behind the detainees who were tied to the stakes, with the exception of Sergeant 2nd Class Arnoldo Aedo Matus of the 1st Hunter Company, whom he told to position himself in a different, distant location and to proceed to fire shots toward the trees located in a specific sector of Isla Cautín.

This Sergeant Aedo Matus was able to observe that the regiment's Commander, Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV), was present at the scene, accompanied by an officer of medium-tall stature, and that two civilians were also witnessing the maneuvers in the same sector, recognizing one of them as the advisor lawyer to the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco, Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud.

Q.- That subsequently, the detainees in those conditions were executed at the scene one by one and finished off with bursts of gunfire, after which their bodies were sent to the morgue of the Regional Hospital of Temuco, where the required autopsies were performed, determining the causes of death as follows: Molina Ruiz, cranial-encephalic explosion, multiple contusive gunshot wounds; Chávez Rivas, cranial-encephalic explosion, multiple contusive wounds from firearm; Valenzuela Velásquez, cranial-encephalic attrition, multiple contusive wounds from firearm; Ruiz Mancilla, shock, comminuted fracture of the pelvis and right femur, multiple gunshot wounds; Montero Mosquera, cranial-encephalic attrition, multiple contusive wounds from firearm; Mardones Jofré, cranial-encephalic attrition, multiple contusive wounds from firearm; Aillañir Huenchual, primary shock, multiple transfixing contusive gunshot wounds to the thorax, abdomen, and limbs. Finally, a military edict was drafted to be published in the press the following day, reporting an attempted assault on the Isla Cautín ammunition dump by a group of extremists.

R.- That the day after these events occurred, the news appeared in the local written press stating that an assault had occurred on the Isla Cautín ammunition dump of the Tucapel Regiment, in which an indeterminate number of extremists had participated—news that was ratified by Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV).

This must be contrasted with the statement of Manuel Fernández Carranza, who, after the events of November 10, 1973, and upon returning from a mission he had been entrusted with toward the Pucón sector in search of guerrillas, was summoned by the then-commander of the N° 8 Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on page 1,298, volume IV), to inform him that the assault on the ammunition dump had not been such, but rather an execution carried out at the shooting range, information he gave him personally so that he would not find out through rumors.

During the following days, details continued to appear in the press regarding how these events had allegedly occurred and the manner in which military personnel had allegedly repelled said attack and subsequently gone out in search of the supposed extremists who were not killed in the confrontation and who managed to flee the scene.

In the civil aspect, the visiting judge accepted the filed claim and ordered the state to pay a total indemnity of $2,780,000,000 (two billion seven hundred eighty million pesos) for moral damages to the victims' families.

Source: pjud.cl, September 21, 2023

Supreme Court confirms convictions of 18 former uniformed personnel and 2 civilians for crimes and torture committed at the Air Base in Temuco in 1973

The Supreme Court rejected the appeals in form and substance filed against the sentence that convicted former military personnel and civilian staff who served at the time of the events at the Maquehue Air Base in Temuco, for their responsibility in the crimes of qualified homicide of Hernán Henríquez Aravena and Alejandro Flores Rivera, both militants of the Communist Party; and the crimes of illegitimate coercion applied to Jorge Silhi Zarzar, Víctor Hugo Painemal Arriagada, and Sergio Riquelme Inostroza, committed between September and October 1973, at the FACH (Chilean Air Force) facility.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 14.483-2021), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jean Pierre Matus, minister María Cristina Gajardo, and lawyers (i) Eduardo Morales and Ricardo Abuauad—confirmed the sentence that convicted former Air Force officers Leonardo Reyes Herrera and Luis Alberto Soto Pinto, and former non-commissioned officers of the same institution Crisóstomo Hugo Ferrada Carrasco, Enrique Alberto Rebolledo Sotelo, Heriberto Pereira Rojas, Jorge Aliro Valdebenito Isler, Jorge Eduardo Soto Herrera, and Luis Osmán Yáñez Silva, all to a sentence of 20 years of imprisonment for their responsibility as perpetrators of the crimes.

Meanwhile, the civilian individual Luis Raimundo Quezada Chandía must serve a sentence of 17 years of imprisonment for his responsibility as the perpetrator of both qualified homicides. Likewise, the civilian lawyer and former Military Prosecutor Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment for his responsibility as the perpetrator of the homicide of Hernán Henríquez Aravena.

Meanwhile, former Air Force officer Pablo Aquiles Alister Contreras will serve a sentence of 4 years of imprisonment as an accomplice to simple homicide and as a cover-up for the illegitimate coercion.

In addition, former FACH officers Jaime Mauricio del Corazón de Jesús Echenique Seco, Aníbal Arturo Tejos Echeverría, Enrique Alcides Isaacs Casacuberta, and Antonio Sergio Montserrats Mena, Xavier Fernando Pérez Chávez, were sentenced to 3 years and one day of imprisonment, with the benefit of supervised release, for their responsibility as cover-ups for the crimes.

Finally, the highest court, acting ex officio, substituted the sentences of 3 years and one day of imprisonment imposed on Berthold Bohn Sauterel, Rodolfo Ernesto Schmied Callejón, Víctor Manuel Volante Leonardi, and Rogelio Olivares Torruella with intensive supervised release for the same period, as cover-ups for the crimes.

The decision to substitute these custodial sentences with intensive supervised release ex officio was agreed upon with the dissenting vote of Minister Matus.

Maquehue Base Helicopters

During the investigation stage of the case, Minister Álvaro Mesa Latorre managed to prove that immediately after the military coup, an operational group of Air Force members was established at the Maquehue Air Base, to which reserve officers of the institution were also invited.

This group carried out detentions of opponents of the military regime to then take them to the facility where they remained prisoners and were subjected to illegitimate coercion. In parallel, various judicial proceedings were carried out in the facilities of the Military Prosecutor's Office against the detainees, who were subjected to illegitimate coercion and other inhuman, cruel, and degrading treatment.

The victim, Hernán Henríquez Aravena, 35 years old, a surgeon and Zonal Director of Health of Temuco as of September 1973, was required by the military authority of the time to present himself before the Military Prosecutor's Office, located inside the N° 8 "Tucapel" Infantry Regiment. On September 12, Henríquez appeared before the prosecutor's office, being then sent to his home.

However, that same night, Carabineros from the 2nd Police Station of Temuco raided the home of Hernán Henríquez, detained him, and transported him to the police unit. The following day, he was placed at the disposal of the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco, where his transfer to the jail of this city was ordered, and subsequently, his total house arrest was ordered, with the express order to present himself first thing on September 25 before the military tribunal.

However, on the night of September 24, the house of Henríquez Aravena was raided again, this time by personnel of the Investigative Police who were attached to the Tucapel regiment and who worked interchangeably for the Military Prosecutor's Office and the Second Intelligence Section.

After a while, the patrol withdrew from the scene. Later, another patrol appeared, this time from the 2nd Police Station of Carabineros, who took Hernán Henríquez from his home, taking him away without giving any explanation.

Alejandro Flores Rivera, 33 years old, nursing assistant in the Psychiatry Department of the Regional Hospital of Temuco and President of the National Federation of Health Workers (Fenats), was required via Edict N° 11 of September 12 to present himself before the Military Prosecutor's Office. That day, Flores appeared before the prosecutor's office and was sent to his home.

On October 5, 1973, the local military authority issued Edict N° 9, signed by the Commander of the Military Garrison of Temuco, with which it intended to justify and cover up the murder of both detainees.

The aforementioned edict stated: "Given the escape attempt planned by Alejandro Flores Rivera and in complicity with Hernán Henríquez Aravena while they were detained at the barracks of Helicopter Group N° 3, and in collusion with individuals from the outside who tried to help them, they were eliminated by the Guard."

by Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, March 7, 2024

Case File N° 113.950: qualified kidnapping case of Ambrosio Badilla Vasey

Final Sentence of page 237. Case File N° 113.950 Sentence issued by the Minister for Extraordinary Visits, Mr. Álvaro Mesa Latorre.

III. THAT THE DEFENDANT IS CONVICTED

with costs to

OSCAR ALFONSO PODLECH MICHAUD

, R.U.N. 3.085.228-1, already identified, in the capacity of perpetrator of the consummated crime of qualified kidnapping with serious harm against Ambrosio Badilla Vasey , in his capacity as a crime against humanity, perpetrated in the commune of Temuco, starting in September 1973, to the penalty of TWELVE YEARS of major imprisonment in its medium degree and to the legal accessories of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and positions and political rights, and absolute disqualification for professional practice for the duration of the sentence.

Source: Judiciary, May 9, 2024

New conviction for former military prosecutor for torture and death during dictatorship

Minister Álvaro Mesa sentenced former military prosecutor Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud to 5 years of imprisonment for illegitimate coercion resulting in death in the city of Temuco.

"In the ruling, Minister Mesa Latorre sentenced Podlech Michaud to a penalty of 5 years of effective imprisonment, plus the legal accessories of absolute perpetual disqualification for political rights and absolute disqualification for public offices and positions for the duration of the sentence, in the capacity of perpetrator of the crime."

The minister for extraordinary cases of human rights violations for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, has issued a sentence convicting the lawyer and former military prosecutor Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud to a penalty of 5 years of effective imprisonment, plus legal accessories.

The conviction was issued for his responsibility in the consummated crime of illegitimate coercion resulting in death, as a crime against humanity, of the university student Santiago Faúndez Bustos, an illicit act perpetrated in November 1973 in Temuco.

Facts highlighted in the ruling

In the ruling of case file 113.961, Minister Mesa Latorre imposed on Podlech Michaud a penalty of 5 years of effective imprisonment, along with absolute perpetual disqualification for political rights and absolute disqualification for public offices and positions for the duration of the sentence, in the capacity of perpetrator of the crime.

The ruling establishes that "immediately following the military coup of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and security forces took control of the city of Temuco." In this context, Podlech Michaud, a reserve lieutenant of the Chilean Army, was called to collaborate with the new regime, serving in the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Tucapel Regiment.

It is also indicated that, from September 11, 1973, "civilians began arriving at the regiment, called to present themselves before the Military Prosecutor's Office via edicts published in the written press and on the radio, or brought in as detainees from different parts of the region," the ruling notes.

Likewise, the Military Prosecutor's Office was reinforced with Judicial Branch officials to deal with the high number of detainees.

The sentence highlights that, starting November 27, 1973, Santiago Faúndez Bustos, 23 years old, was detained at his home by military personnel and taken to the Tucapel Regiment, where he was seen in very poor condition by his mother, Rosalía Bustos. After a torture session, Faúndez Bustos expressed that "he could not withstand another session of this type."

Although the military informed the family that Faúndez Bustos had been released on November 30, his corpse was found in the morgue of the Regional Hospital of Temuco: "The family members state that on November 30 of the year in question, the military informed them that he had been released.

However, the corpse of Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos was found and identified in the morgue of the Regional Hospital of Temuco by Mrs. Rosalía Bustos and Teresa Catrileo Sánchez," notes part of the ruling.

The autopsy protocol concludes that "the precise and necessary cause of death of Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos was suffocation determined by a convulsive state," indicating signs of electrical torture.

Minister Mesa Latorre emphasizes that Podlech Michaud, in his capacity as ad-hoc military prosecutor and advisor lawyer to the Military Prosecutor's Office, had full knowledge of the facts and held decision-making powers within the regiment. Nevertheless, "he did not denounce or inform the military superiority or any other authority of the investigated illicit acts."

Likewise, the ruling includes testimonies that reinforce the responsibility of Podlech Michaud. Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Müller declared that "the person largely responsible for all this and who decided the fate of the detainees was the lawyer Alfonso Podlech." Eleodoro Rubilar Bascur added that Podlech regularly attended the penitentiary in military attire, exercising authority over the detainees, as can be inferred from the sentence.

Source: elciudadano.cl, May 28, 2024

Minister Álvaro Mesa sentences former military prosecutor to 12 years of imprisonment for qualified kidnapping of a bank employee

In the ruling, Judge Mesa Latorre sentenced Podlech Michaud to 12 years of effective imprisonment, plus the legal accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification from holding professional titles for the duration of the sentence, in his capacity as the perpetrator of the crime.

The judge in extraordinary visitation for human rights violation cases for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, in his 90th ruling on the matter, convicted the lawyer and former military prosecutor Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud for his responsibility in the consummated crime of aggravated kidnapping with serious injury, as a crime against humanity, against bank employee Ambrosio Eduardo Badilla Vasey.

The illicit act was perpetrated in September 1973 in the city of Temuco.

In the ruling (case file 113.950), Judge Mesa Latorre sentenced Podlech Michaud to 12 years of effective imprisonment, plus the legal accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification from holding professional titles for the duration of the sentence, in his capacity as the perpetrator of the crime.

In the sentence, Judge Mesa Latorre established the following facts:

“A.- That immediately following the military pronouncement of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and security forces took control of the city of Temuco, with the colonel and commander of the La Concepción Regiment of Lautaro, Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,233, Vol.

VII), establishing himself as intendant, and the colonel of the No. 8 Tucapel Infantry Regiment of this city, Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,234, Vol. VII), as governor of Temuco, who also remained as head of the Temuco Garrison.

B.- That on the same day, September 11, 1973, the Temuco lawyer Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, who was also a reserve lieutenant in the Chilean Army, was called to collaborate with the new regime.

He presented himself at the Tucapel Regiment to support the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office, which operated within the unit and was under the charge of the second-in-command, Major Luis Jofré Soto (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,235, Vol.

VII). This officer, however, had to assume greater duties as second-in-command of the Tucapel Regiment shortly thereafter (as recorded in the records on pp. 433–435, Vol. II, and pp. 507–508, Vol. II).

From that day forward, civilians began to arrive at the regiment, having been called to present themselves before the Military Prosecutor's Office via edicts published in the written press and on the radio, or having been brought in as detainees from different points in the region by police and military patrols, as recorded on pp. 429–432, Vol.

II; pp. 417–418, Vol. II; pp. 507–508, Vol. II; and other evidence.

C.- That due to the high number of detainees and persons called to provide statements, the Military Prosecutor's Office was reinforced to carry out its work with Judiciary officials who were requested from the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Temuco by the aforementioned lawyer, who, acting as an ad-hoc prosecutor, made a presentation to the plenary of the appellate court, after which some court clerks from different tribunals and a court reporter were assigned on special service, a situation recorded in the minutes signed by the plenary of the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Temuco, found on pp. 1,947–1,948 (Vol. VI) of these files.

D.- That due to a lack of knowledge in criminal procedural matters, added to his weak character and his work as second-in-command of the regiment, Major Luis Jofré Soto delegated functions as military prosecutor to the lawyer advising the Prosecutor's Office, who began to hold the position of de facto prosecutor, to the point that family members consulted him regarding the fate of the detainees.

However, Major Jofré Soto continued to sign the administrative paperwork most of the time and participated in some interrogations of detainees (according to pp. 404–407, Vol. II; pp. 445–446, Vol. II; and other evidence).

E.- That the persons called to present themselves to the Military Prosecutor's Office and those brought in as detainees were kept in facilities located next to the guardhouse and/or in the large gymnasium.

Once interrogated by personnel of the Military Prosecutor's Office, detectives from the Investigative Police attached to the regiment, or by the officers themselves who participated in these activities, some were released, others were sent to their homes under house arrest, and others were taken to the public jail where they remained while their procedural situation was resolved (as recorded on pp. 413–416, Vol.

II; pp. 440–442, Vol. II; pp. 1,866–1,871, Vol. VI; and other evidence).

F.- That the victim, Ambrosio Eduardo Badilla Vasey, 28 years old, married and a father of two, a former employee of the Banco Estado of Temuco and a member of the central committee of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was detained on the night of September 22, 1973, by a group of military personnel at the home of Gaby Silvia Venegas Avilés, located on Calle Pedro de Valdivia, across from the Carabineros housing complex in Temuco.

This was the place where he was hiding after having been called to present himself at the Tucapel Regiment, according to an edict published in the Diario Austral on September 13, 1973 (p. 1,918 bis, Vol. VI). On that occasion, the victim was detained along with Gaby Venegas and Pedro García, the latter also having been in hiding at the aforementioned address.

G.- That they were taken to the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, where he was seen with his head shaved and with clear evidence of having been tortured, as can be inferred from the statements of Luis Alberto Chihuailaf Arriagada on pp. 44–45 (Vol.

I), who maintains: ‘In this place, I was able to see, lying on a bench, the person I previously knew as Ambrosio Badilla Vasey, clothed, without a blindfold, and in deplorable physical condition; his face showed evidence of brutal beatings, and one of his shoulders was completely dislocated.

I remember he told me: ‘They are going to kill me; tonight, according to what I heard, they are taking me to Caburgua,’ warning me, among other things, of what was going to happen to me.’ In the same vein, María Eugenia Gottschalk Catalán testified on p. 56 (Vol.

I): ‘I saw Ambrosio at one point standing inside this facility while I remained on the street in front of the regiment’s guardhouse, waiting to be informed about what I was inquiring regarding my husband.

I must say that after my husband regained his freedom, he told me that he had indeed been held inside the Tucapel and that he had managed to see our friend Ambrosio Badilla Vasey,’ among other evidence recorded at this procedural stage.

H.- That his family tried to learn of his whereabouts and condition by making inquiries to the respective military authority; however, they received erroneous or ambiguous responses, neither informing them of his location nor allowing them to search for his body.

The foregoing is recorded on pp. 62–64 (Vol. I); at the No. 8 Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, they were informed that he was no longer in that military facility. Without prejudice to the evidence found on pp. 33–36 bis (Vol.

I), Gaby Venegas Avilés testified that: ‘I went to speak with Podlech, who denied Badilla’s detention and even showed me the detainee registry books, where Badilla’s name did not appear’; she then continued: ‘He summoned me for another day, as he had to find out through his connections what had happened to him.

The following week, I went to his office again, where he told me not to look for Badilla anymore because there was nothing left to do.’ His spouse, Sonia Edith Vásquez Villavicencio, stated on pp. 42–43 (Vol.

I): ‘Once in Santiago, approximately twelve days after Ambrosio’s last detention, I decided to travel to Temuco again because I knew nothing about him. I interviewed the bishop of that city at the time, Bernardino Piñera, and asked him to find out how my husband was, to which he agreed.

After a few days, I don’t remember how many, he sent me a letter by mail in which he informed me that Ambrosio was dead.’ Thus, to this date, Ambrosio Badilla Vasey remains forcibly disappeared.

I.- That the aforementioned facts must have been known to the reserve lieutenant and lawyer Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, since, as mentioned in letters B, C, and D of this resolution, he acted from September 11, 1973, as an advising lawyer and ad-hoc military prosecutor for the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, interrogating detainees and deciding the fate of those deprived of liberty, having at that date the decision-making and command powers within the facilities of the aforementioned regiment.

Furthermore, in his capacity as ad-hoc prosecutor and advising lawyer to the Military Prosecutor's Office, he did not denounce or inform the military hierarchy or any other authority of the illicit acts being investigated, nor is there any record that an investigation was carried out, nor the existence of a registry as a consequence of the commission of these acts.

The powers this lawyer held were such that Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Müller stated on pp. 419–420 (Vol. II): ‘The great person responsible for all of this, and the one who decided the fate of the detainees, was the lawyer Alfonso Podlech, who was in charge of the Military Prosecutor's Office.’

A corollary to the above are the multiple assertions made by members who served within the regiment at the time of the investigated events, namely: the statements of José Heriberto Mansilla Gatica on pp. 433–435 (Vol.

I), who maintains: ‘However, I only took statements from two people, but the one who was interrogating was Alfonso Podlech, whom I asked that same day to help two civilians I knew who were being detained.’ Likewise, and to reinforce what was previously stated, it is of utmost importance to mention what is concluded in the documentary expert report found on pp. 1,494–1,522 (Vol.

V), issued by the Central Criminalistics Laboratory of the Investigative Police of Chile, which, among other things, states the following: ‘the evidence examined on this occasion allows us to establish that the challenged signature traced over the text indicating FISCAL on the ‘LIBERTAT’ (Freedom) order No.

S/N, from the Cautín-Temuco Military Prosecutor's Office, dated September 28, 1973, addressed to the Carabineros of Chile, Villarrica Sub-precinct, which orders the release of Mario Fernando Cortés Bornard and Ubildo Antonio Jiménez Vargas, is genuine and belongs to Óscar Alfonso Podlech Michaud.’ Another report that reinforces the above is found on pp. 2,238–2,244 (Vol.

VII), which concludes in relevant part: ‘the challenged signature, signed over the text ‘Luis A. Jofré Soto Mayor Fiscal,’ on the copy of the authorization dated in Temuco on Dec. 18, 1973, addressed to Dr.

Wolfgang Reuter B., Regional Hospital, issued by the Cautín-Temuco Military Prosecutor's Office of the Chilean Army, is genuine and belongs to Óscar Alfonso Podlech Michaud.’ For further depth, found on pp. 2,247–2,367 (Vol. VII) is the final report ‘Reflection on the actions of the Army and its members in the last 50 years and their effects on the military ethos.’

J.- That to this date, no public official of the Chilean Army or any other branch of the Armed Forces and/or Security Forces who served at the time of the events has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to Badilla Vasey, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of information regarding his whereabouts.”

In the civil aspect, the judge ordered the State to pay a total indemnity of $540,000,000 for moral damages to the victim's spouse and children.

Source: Judiciary, May 10, 2024

Life imprisonment for former military prosecutor Podlech: 7 detainees executed at Army shooting range in Temuco

Former military prosecutor Alfonso Podlech is serving his sentence at Colina 1 after being sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for crimes against humanity committed during the Pinochet dictatorship.

The justice system confirmed the life imprisonment sentence for former military prosecutor Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud and retired Army officer Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán as perpetrators of the murders in the so-called “Polvorín Case” in Temuco.

These events occurred in November 1973, when seven political detainees were executed at the Army shooting range in the Isla Cautín sector of Temuco, under the pretext of a supposed assault on an armaments depot of the Tucapel Regiment, which turned out to be false.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 1.665-2023), the Third Chamber of the Temuco Court of Appeals also sentenced Podlech Michaud to 4 years of imprisonment as the perpetrator of seven crimes of illegal coercion committed inside the No. 8 Tucapel Infantry Regiment and Isla Cautín in Temuco.

According to the ruling of the Appellate Court, the seven victims, five of whom were members of the Communist Party, were detained between November 5 and 7, 1973, and taken to the military facility, which at the time was one of the places where opponents of the newly begun dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet were tortured.

The evidence in the sentence indicates that, during the night of November 10, Florentino Alberto Molina Ruiz, Juan Antonio Chávez Rivas, Víctor Hugo Valenzuela Velásquez, Juan Carlos Ruiz Mancilla, Amador Francisco Montero Mosquera, Pedro Juan Mardones Jofré, and Carlos Aillañir Huenchua were taken to the shooting range sector in Isla Cautín.

According to the ruling: “the victims in this case were tied to stakes that had been arranged there in a row (…) the detainees in those conditions were executed on the spot one by one and finished off with bursts of gunfire.”

Executed at the Army shooting range

In the ratified base sentence, the judge in extraordinary visitation, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, established the following facts:

On September 11, 1973, when the coup d'état against President Salvador Allende was perpetrated, giving rise to the Pinochet dictatorship, the Temuco lawyer Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, who was also a Reserve Lieutenant in the Chilean Army, was called to collaborate with the new regime to support the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office, which operated within the unit and was under the charge of the Second-in-Command, Major Luis Jofré Soto (deceased).

This officer, however, had to assume greater duties as Second-in-Command of the Tucapel Regiment shortly thereafter. From that day forward, civilians began to arrive at the regiment, having been called to present themselves before the Military Prosecutor's Office via edicts published in the written press and on the radio, or having been brought in as detainees from different points in the region by police and military patrols.

Due to the high number of detainees and persons called to provide statements, the Military Prosecutor's Office was reinforced to carry out its work with Judiciary officials who were requested from the Court of Appeals of Temuco by the aforementioned lawyer, Podlech Michaud, who, acting as an ad-hoc prosecutor, made a presentation to the Plenary of the Appellate Court (Minutes, pp. 3010–3011, Vol.

IX), after which some court clerks from different tribunals and a Court Reporter were assigned on special service.

Due to a lack of knowledge in criminal procedural matters, added to his weak character and his work as Second-in-Command of the regiment, Major Luis Jofré Soto delegated functions as Military Prosecutor to the lawyer Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, an advisor to the Prosecutor's Office, who began to hold the position of de facto Prosecutor, to the point that he conducted jail visits and that lawyers, family members, and even ecclesiastical dignitaries consulted him regarding the fate of the detainees.

However, Major Jofré Soto continued to sign the administrative documents most of the time and participated in some interrogations of detainees.

That the persons called to present themselves to the Military Prosecutor's Office and those brought in as detainees were kept in facilities located next to the guardhouse and in the large gymnasium. Once interrogated by personnel of the Military Prosecutor's Office, some were released, others were sent to their homes under house arrest, and others were taken to the public jail where they remained while their procedural situation was resolved.

Likewise, it is established that by September 1973, the No. 8 “Tucapel” Infantry Regiment of Temuco had a Second Section of Information and Intelligence, with agents who provided political information on all those subject to an investigation by the Military Prosecutor's Office.

As the days went by, the Military Prosecutor's Office and the Second Intelligence Section began to work together to interrogate the detainees who remained held in the jail or in some facility of the Tucapel Regiment.

To coordinate this work, two locations were set up in the military unit, one located between the Headquarters Company and the Mortar Company, and another in an old, disused gymnasium located to the side of the conscript soldiers' “mess hall.” In this way, the detainees were taken to and from the jail to the regiment by military personnel of the Second Section, being interrogated in the Military Prosecutor's Office and physically coerced in one of the aforementioned facilities to “soften them up” before or after these interrogations.

In both interrogation and torture rooms, there were implements to tie up the detainees and apply electricity to different parts of their bodies, in addition to applying other types of torment such as kicks and punches.

That within the aforementioned military unit, a special group called the “Patrulla Brava” (Brave Patrol) or “Patrulla Chacal” (Jackal Patrol) was formed. This group was in charge, among other functions, of guarding the detainees who were kept in the facilities of the “Tucapel” regiment in Temuco.

During the days following September 11, 1973, a significant number of people were killed or disappeared in the IX Region, with several of these deaths explained by regional military authorities through the publication of edicts issued either from the Intendancy or the Military Garrison of Temuco. “The edict that explained the events subject to this investigation, in light of the evidence gathered in this process, gives a less-than-credible version of how the events unfolded,” states part of the investigation into a series of people, which reveals grotesque setups, such as “El Polvorín,” which involved the coordination of various agents, including Podlech, to massacre a group of people, several of them militants of the Communist Party.

In the “El Polvorín” case, it is mentioned: “That in the final hours of November 10, 1973, the aforementioned detainees were taken out of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, loaded into the aforementioned military vehicle, and transported to the shooting range sector of the ‘Isla Cautín’ military facility by the officers and their companions.

In that place, the victims were tied to stakes that had been arranged there in a row (…) That subsequently, the detainees in those conditions were executed on the spot one by one and finished off with bursts of gunfire, after which their bodies were sent to the morgue of the Temuco Regional Hospital, where the mandatory autopsy was performed.”

“The day after these events occurred, news appeared in the local written press stating that an assault had occurred on the Isla Cautín armory of the Tucapel Regiment, in which an undetermined number of extremists had participated, news that was ratified by Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse,” the report states.

These events also involve the responsibility of another 23 retired military personnel and Army collaborators.

Sentences for military personnel and Army collaborators

The resolution issued by the Temuco Court comes after the filing of appeals by more than twenty of those convicted, against whom life imprisonment had been handed down in September 2023.

On that occasion, this sentence was applied to a series of former members of the Army, the Investigative Police, and the Carabineros, in addition to Alfonso Podlech Michaud and retired Army officer Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chahuán.

After reviewing these legal actions, the court decided to maintain life imprisonment only for the latter two, in their capacity as perpetrators of the crime of aggravated homicide.

By Leonardo Buitrago

Source: elciudadano.cl, July 4, 2025

CNI lawyer convicted for crime committed during dictatorship

Judge in visitation Sergio Troncoso issued a verdict that considered the lawyer's responsibility as an accessory after the fact, who traveled from Santiago to La Serena to—the ruling indicates—instruct the agents on what they should say to evade their responsibilities.

For the first time since investigations into human rights violations during the dictatorship began in 1991, a judge in visitation has convicted one of the lawyers who provided services to the defunct National Intelligence Center (CNI), the secret police of Augusto Pinochet, which only formally ceased to exist in 1990.

In previous rulings, various judges had prosecuted and convicted other lawyers linked to the repression unleashed after the 1973 coup d'état, as was the case with the former Army auditor and ad hoc military prosecutor Fernando Torres Silva, convicted for the crimes of Eugenio Berríos and Tucapel Jiménez (and pardoned in 2021 due to a terminal illness), or with the former military prosecutor of Temuco, Alfonso Podlech, convicted for several crimes committed in La Araucanía.

However, various actors in the human rights world indicate that, before the convictions handed down by the judge in visitation of the Court of Appeals of La Serena, Sergio Troncoso, for the homicide of former intendant Daniel Acuña and the frustrated homicide of his son, there were no precedents like the current one, due to the conviction as an accessory after the fact of the 78-year-old lawyer Guido Poli Garaycochea.

The ruling

According to the investigation by the special judge, the events occurred during the early hours of August 13, 1979, in Coquimbo, when a CNI commando attacked Daniel Acuña Sepúlveda, a militant of the Socialist Party and former intendant of Antofagasta, and his son Roberto Enrique Acuña Aravena, in their home.

The investigation determined that the operation was carried out by an “elimination order” issued against Acuña Sepúlveda by the Regional Division of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) in Santiago.

According to what was confessed many years later on his deathbed by Captain Patricio Padilla Villén (who died 13 years ago), the CNI agents under his command traveled to plot 222 in Tierras Blancas, Coquimbo, where, after falsely identifying themselves as Carabineros, they fired at the victim’s son, Roberto Enrique Acuña Aravena, who managed to survive, and then entered the home, where Padilla shot Daniel Acuña Sepúlveda in the skull.

Subsequently, in an attempt to cover up the murder and make it look like a suicide, the CNI agents placed dynamite on the victim’s body and detonated it, destroying his corpse.

The survivor, meanwhile, was detained at the hospital and then subjected to pretrial detention for about six months under the false accusation of crimes linked to the Arms Control Law and possession of explosives.

After the investigation, Judge Troncoso convicted Juan Viterbo Chiminelli Fullerton, head of the CNI Regional Division, of aggravated homicide (15 years and one day); while Gustavo Adolfo Camilo Ahumada was sentenced to 10 years for the homicide and 540 days for the serious injuries caused to Acuña Aravena.

Regarding the accomplices, Manuel Humberto Catalán Arriola received 5 years and one day for the homicide and 41 days in prison as an accessory after the fact to the serious injuries, while René Hugo Ojeda Caro was sentenced to 5 years for the aggravated homicide.

Finally, the lawyer Guido Poli was convicted as an accessory after the fact to both illicit acts, receiving sentences of 3 years of imprisonment for the aggravated homicide and 40 days in prison for the serious injuries, obtaining the benefit of conditional release.

The Schneider case

On October 10, 1970, at 23 years of age, Poli—who at that time was studying law at the Catholic University and was a militant of the National Party—was detained and accused along with two other defendants of having installed several explosive devices (some of which failed) in different areas of Santiago, in the midst of the maneuvers prior to the homicide of General René Schneider, Commander-in-Chief of the Army at that time and a strict constitutionalist, who maintained that if Salvador Allende were elected by the Full Congress on October 24, 1970 (after having won the first round on September 4 of that year), the Army should remain attached to the Constitution and not participate in any military uprising.

This led to an absurd plan concocted in Washington D.C. at the behest of Agustín Edwards, in which U.S. military intelligence agents (the CIA chief in Santiago, Henry Hecksher, was removed from the plot due to his criticisms of how poorly designed it was), retired and active-duty Chilean generals, common criminals, and young people belonging to far-right and pro-Nazi groups participated, as was the case with Guido Poli, who was part of several movements of that type.

On October 22, a clumsy attempt to kidnap Schneider culminated in his homicide, and in 1972 the implicated parties were sentenced to various penalties.

Poli was one of the 43 convicted in that case, although he had no responsibility in the homicide; he initially received a sentence of 2 years of internal exile in Caldera for violation of the State Internal Security Law, but later, after the 1973 coup d'état, almost all participants were pardoned.

The legal advisor

In 1979, as established by Judge Troncoso’s ruling, Poli worked as a lawyer for the CNI, being second in hierarchy in the staff of lawyers for that secret police. According to him, his function was “to provide legal advice on all requests made, analysis of legal bodies and bills, and to draft responses to the courts, in accordance with the evidence provided to them.” That team, as specified by former CNI agent Fernando Rojas Tapia, was composed, in addition to Poli, of several lawyers, among them Víctor Gálvez (who was the chief), René Alegría, Juan Carlos Manns, Fernando Dumay, and one “Iribarra.”

Poli assured the Justice system that in August of that year, Chiminelli ordered him to travel to La Serena in order to “advise” Captain Padilla on the statement he would provide to the military prosecutor's office, for which he ordered another CNI agent, Captain Manuel Catalán, to accompany him.

Still according to Poli’s statement, on the afternoon of August 13, 1979, Víctor Gálvez told him that “an event had occurred where CNI personnel were involved and a person had died as a result of an explosion in their home, managing to travel around 11:00 PM in a CNI vehicle.

They arrived the next day at dawn in La Serena, waiting for the time in the unit's facilities. Around 8:30 AM, Captain Padilla, who was the chief and with whom he had to meet, arrived at the unit. At that moment, he explained his version of the events and that everything was reported to the Regional Government.

He indicated to Padilla that if there were requests from the court, he should satisfy them in a timely manner. Subsequently, he accompanied Captain Padilla to the Intendancy, then they returned to the unit, and shortly after, he returned to Santiago on August 14, never to know about the case again.”

Likewise, as he argued, “the legal department only knew the official version of the events.”

Poli also asserted that he did not transmit any instruction to Captain Padilla regarding what to declare and that he only limited himself to telling him “to cooperate with the court.” Likewise, “he stated he was unaware that the event was a setup, adding that Padilla never told him that there was an injured person who fled the scene and who was in prison,” and asserted that it was “absurd that a lawyer would be given an order to go and check on the compliance with a military order.” He also said that he “never worked with Chiminelli at that time (1979), and that they only had a social relationship.”

The doubts

However, several pieces of evidence led the judge to doubt the version. For example, the version provided by the then-procurator Miguel Ángel Parra Vásquez, who, in addition to recounting that in the summer of 1980 he was sent to accompany Padilla to another statement, specified that the lawyers belonged to a unit called “legal intelligence,” also explaining that Poli and Chiminelli knew each other from before and that between them “there was a very familiar treatment.”

In turn, one of the agents who participated in the event, Luis Pavez Silva, “pointed out that he had lied in court in his statement at the time and assured that they told him what he had to say, realizing that everything was a setup by the bosses,” states the ruling, which points out that Poli’s version that he only traveled to La Serena to carry out “the delivery of a brief message regarding the duty to cooperate with the courts” is “inadmissible, as it lacks logic to organize a trip from Santiago to deliver a simple message like that, when it could have been delivered directly to Padilla by phone, or by telex if it was deemed necessary to encrypt the message. It is certainly absurd that a message like cooperating with the investigation should be delivered in person, when Padilla himself confessed that he received an order as serious as killing Acuña by telex, which notoriously merited more reserved treatment.”

Given this, among other arguments, Poli’s defense attorney, Maximiliano Murath, asserted that the elements against his client are not sufficient to be able to incriminate him, indicating that “it was not within his functions in the CNI Legal Department to prepare judicial angles or similar things” and that “it is contradictory to think that the lawyer Poli would go to tell the agents or the head of the operation what to say, since they had already prepared the false facts and version” and that “in that sense, one cannot cover up what is already covered up.”

However, the judge rejected the allegations and determined that the real reason for Poli’s trip was “to meet with those involved in the execution operation of Daniel Acuña, to verify how the mission had been carried out and to issue directives for what would be the official version of the CNI before the courts,” adding that “his trip was motivated by the need to protect the institution in the face of the ‘blunder’ (in Chiminelli’s words) that the existence of a surviving victim and eyewitness to the events implied, making the coordination of the statements of those involved necessary.”

It should be noted that, before being a member of the CNI, Poli was a member of the DINA, and in that capacity, according to the biography of Manuel Contreras written by journalist Manuel Salazar, he had close contact with the Italian neo-fascists of the terrorist group Avanguardia Nazionale and its leader, Stefano Delle Chiaie.

Poli became General Auditor of the Army, where he worked until 1999, and was subsequently one of the founders of the NGO Jure (Justice and Reconciliation), which defends military personnel accused of human rights violations.

By Carlos Basso Prieto

Source: elmostrador.cl, September 27, 2025

Temuco: conviction of former military prosecutor Alfonso Podlech for death of student in 1973 confirmed

The Temuco Court of Appeals confirmed a conviction against the former ad-hoc military prosecutor in Cautín during the military dictatorship, Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, for his responsibility in the consummated crime of illegal coercion resulting in the death of student Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos, as a crime against humanity, perpetrated in November 1973 at the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, La Araucanía Region.

Conviction confirmed and compliance in house arrest for Alfonso Podlech

The judges of the First Chamber of the appellate court ratified the sentence handed down by the judge in extraordinary visitation, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, specifying that the 5 years of imprisonment imposed on Podlech Michaud must be served under the modality of total house arrest with telematic monitoring, despite the fact that he currently remains incarcerated in the Colina Uno prison serving other sentences.

In the civil sphere, the court also confirmed the conviction of the State to indemnify the victim's siblings, although it reduced the total amount for moral damages to 100 million pesos and freed the State from the payment of court costs.

The victim, Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos, 23 years old, a university student and militant of the Socialist Party, was detained on November 27, 1973, from his home by military personnel and taken to the Tucapel Regiment. His mother managed to see him briefly at the place, in very poor condition, while he was getting off a military truck.

Finally, he was found lifeless in the morgue of the Temuco Regional Hospital.

Source: biobiochile.cl, November 11, 2025