Judge Joaquín Billard indicted and ordered the pretrial detention of 3 individuals accused of participating in the kidnapping of Uruguayan citizens Ariel Arcos Latorre, Juan Povaschuk Galeazzo, and Enrique Pargadoy Saquieres, who were last seen in September 1973 in San José de Maipo.

After analyzing the case records, the magistrate concluded that there are well-founded presumptions of the participation of Gabriel Montero Uranga, Moisés Retamal Bustos, and Guillermo Vargas Avendaño in the crime.

His resolution states that "it is justified in the case files that at the end of September 1973, personnel from the Carabineros Sub-station of San José de Maipo detained four Uruguayan citizens—two women and two men—inside an abandoned mine in the mountain sector of said commune.

They were taken to the aforementioned police unit and later transported by police personnel to the Ferrocarrileros Regiment of Puente Alto." It adds that "hours later, two other Uruguayan citizens were detained; they belonged to the same group as the previous ones and had gone out to conduct a reconnaissance of the terrain to flee toward Argentina through a mountain pass.

They were also taken to the aforementioned military unit, where they were subjected to interrogation and torture alongside their compatriots." The text continues: "After spending an indeterminate amount of time in that place, they were loaded onto a bus that was supposedly going to take them to the Estadio Nacional; however, an Army official ordered three of these citizens to be taken off the vehicle, and their current whereabouts remain unknown," the ruling states.

The new defendants were transferred to the Military Police Battalion of Peñalolén, where they will remain provisionally detained.

Source: La Nación, October 21, 2009

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Marianela Cifuentes Alarcón, issued an indictment against retired Army personnel for their responsibility in the consummated crime of the aggravated kidnapping of Jorge Enrique Carrión Castro.

The illicit act was perpetrated starting on October 5, 1973, in the commune of Puente Alto. In the resolution (case file 17-2013), Minister Cifuentes Alarcón charged Francisco Ricardo Alfonso Varela Gantes, an Army second lieutenant at the time of the events, and Moisés Retamal Bustos, a former member of the Intelligence Section of the Ferrocarrileros Engineers Regiment of Puente Alto, as authors of the crime.

During the investigation phase of the case, the visiting minister managed to gather sufficient evidence to establish the following facts: “ 1° That on October 5, 1973, at 7:30 a.m., in the context of a massive raid in search of weapons and explosives at the ‘Luis Emilio Recabarren’ camp in the Casas Viejas sector, Puente Alto commune, soldiers from the Ferrocarrileros Engineers Regiment of Puente Alto, led by Captain Guillermo Vargas Avendaño—now deceased—and Second Lieutenant Francisco Varela Gantes, among others, illegally detained Jorge Ernesto Carrión Castro, a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR) and a community leader, at site 50, current Calle Los Pinos in the Vista Hermosa neighborhood, and subsequently took him to the Ferrocarrileros Engineers Regiment of Puente Alto, a military unit commanded by Colonel Mateo Durruty Blanco, now deceased, where he was interrogated and subjected to illegitimate coercion. 2° That on that day, in the afternoon, Jorge Ernesto Carrión Castro was taken by his captors to the aforementioned camp and forced to enter a canal in search of firearms. 3° That, upon returning to the military unit, Carrión Castro tried to escape, was captured, brutally punished, and later locked in a railway car inside the military unit. 4° That the following day, at dawn, Jorge Carrión Castro was removed from the railway car where he was being held, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then. 5° That, at the time of the events, the interrogation of detainees at the Ferrocarrileros Engineers Regiment of Puente Alto was in charge of personnel from Section II of Intelligence of the aforementioned military unit, that is, René Eloy Cruces Tapia, Luis Orlando Canales Pino—deceased—, José Miguel Latorre Pinochet—deceased—, Moisés Retamal Bustos, and Lander Mickel Uriarte Burotto, among others.”

Source: pdju.cl, April 1, 2024

Two former Army officers sentenced for the crime against a resident in Santiago in 1973

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Marianela Cifuentes Alarcón, sentenced two former Army officers as authors of the consummated crime of the aggravated kidnapping of community leader Jorge Ernesto Carrión Castro, 22 years old, perpetrated starting on October 5, 1973, in the commune of Puente Alto, in Santiago.

In the ruling (case file 17-2013), Minister Cifuentes Alarcón sentenced Francisco Ricardo Alfonso Varela Gantes, an Army second lieutenant at the time of the events, and Moisés Retamal Bustos, then a member of the Intelligence Section of the Ferrocarrileros Engineers Regiment of Puente Alto, to 10 years in prison, plus the legal accessories of absolute perpetual disqualification from public office and political rights, and absolute disqualification from professional titles for the duration of the sentences.

In the judicial investigation and sentence, Minister Cifuentes Alarcón established that on October 5, 1973, around 07:30 a.m., in the context of a massive raid in search of weapons and explosives carried out at the "Luis Emilio Recabarren" camp (current Vista Hermosa neighborhood) in the Casas Viejas sector of the Puente Alto commune, uniformed soldiers from the 7th Mountain Ferrocarrileros Engineers Regiment of Puente Alto, led by Army Second Lieutenant Francisco Ricardo Alfonso Varela Gantes, among others, detained Jorge Ernesto Carrión Castro.

Jorge Carrión Castro was a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), a community leader, and a worker at the Empresa Metropolitana de Obras Sanitarias (EMOS). Once detained by the military, they took him to the aforementioned military unit, commanded by Army Lieutenant Colonel Mateo Durruty Blanco (now deceased), where he was interrogated and subjected to torture and torment.

Subsequently, Jorge Ernesto Carrión Castro was taken back by his captors to the camp where he lived and forced to enter a canal in search of alleged firearms. Then, already back inside the military unit, Jorge Ernesto Carrión Castro tried to escape, was captured, punished, and later locked in a railway car.

The following day, at dawn, he was removed from the railway car where he was being held, and his whereabouts remain unknown to this date. At the time of the events, the interrogation of detainees at the Ferrocarrileros Engineers Regiment of Puente Alto was in charge of personnel from Section II of Intelligence of the aforementioned military unit, that is, officers Lander Mickel Uriarte Burotto, José Miguel Latorre Pinochet (deceased), and Moisés Retamal Bustos, and sergeants René Eloy Cruces Tapia and Luis Orlando Canales Pino (both deceased), among others.

Uriarte Burotto continued his repressive activities in the DINA-CNI, where he served as chief of operations between 1982 and 1986. This individual, who eventually retired with the pompous rank of brigadier, was prosecuted for these criminal acts, but the case against him was dismissed due to dementia. by: Darío Nuñez

Source: resumen.cl, August 22, 2025