The minister for extraordinary causes regarding human rights violations at the Valparaíso Court of Appeals, Jaime Arancibia Pinto, prosecuted Mónica Soledad Sánchez Larraín (or Mónica Soledad Antonsen) for the crimes of illegal detention and torture, offenses perpetrated during various periods in the years 1973, 1974, and 1975 in Valparaíso.

In the resolution, Minister Arancibia prosecuted state agents Juan Fernando Vásquez Huidobro, Jorge Benjamín Ginouves Contreras, Jaime Miguel Urdangarin Romero, Miguel Juan Gallegos Sole, Pedro Victorio Frioli Otonel, Germán Patricio Valdivia Keller, Manuel Alejandro Buch López, and Arístides Alejandro León Calffas for the crime of illegal detention.

Meanwhile, for the crime of applying torture, the following were prosecuted: Jorge Benjamín Ginouves Contreras, Jaime Miguel Urdangarin Romero, Miguel Juan Gallegos Sole, Germán Patricio Valdivia Keller, Manuel Alejandro Buch López, Arístides Alejandro León Calffas, and Guillermo Retamales Ruz.

According to the information gathered during the investigative stage, the following facts were established: «In accordance with the aforementioned detailed information, it was established that on September 12, 1973, at 16 years of age, the victim, Ms.

Mónica Soledad Sánchez Larraín or Ms. Mónica Soledad Antonsen, was detained by naval personnel who transported her to the facilities of the Base Aeronaval de El Belloto, in the commune of Quilpué, where she was interrogated and tortured along with other people in a hangar designated for that purpose.

In said naval facility, she had to remain for about two weeks, suffering various injuries as a result of the mistreatment she received. Subsequently, in 1974, her house was raided by military personnel who, before taking her into detention, destroyed her home and mistreated her younger siblings, who were under her care.

On that occasion, she was taken to the Investigations Police Barracks in Quilpué. She was locked in a dungeon at that police unit, from where DINA personnel would take her out to interrogate her; these procedures became increasingly rigorous and more torture was applied, because they accused her of being a member of the Communist Party.

She remained in those conditions for about a month and a half at the Investigations facility in Quilpué, always hooded. In 1975, she was detained again and taken to the Investigations Barracks in Quilpué; from that facility, she was transported in a Navy vehicle to the Academia de Guerra Naval in Valparaíso, where she remained for about two months.

In this last facility, she was subjected to brutal interrogations regarding her political militancy and was always kept incommunicado. At the time of her interrogation, they would seat her in a dentist-type chair, where they would occasionally apply electric shocks. On one occasion, she had to be taken to the Naval Hospital as a result of the beatings she received during an interrogation».

Source: elciudadano, June 2, 2015

Five retired Navy officials sentenced for the kidnapping, detention, and torture of two children during the dictatorship

Visiting Minister Jaime Arancibia sentenced five retired Navy officials for the crimes of kidnapping, illegal detention, and torture of minors, committed in August 1974. In the ruling, the minister sentenced Pedro Victoria Frioli Otonel, Manuel Alejandro Buch López, Arístides León Calffas, and Guillermo Retamales Ruiz as perpetrators of the crimes to 541 days in prison; and Germán Patricio Valdivia Keller was sentenced as an accomplice to 60 days.

However, Arancibia granted the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence to Frioli, Buch, and León, while Retamales and Valdivia must serve their sentences effectively. During the investigation, it was proven that the five military personnel kidnapped José Miguel and Isabel Verónica Sánchez Larraín, who were minors at the time of the events, raiding the house where they lived in the commune of Quilpué. “During the month of August 1974, around 00:00 hours, the house of the victims, minors at that time, located in the Seventh Sector of Belloto Sur, was raided by a large number of officials from the Chilean Navy, coming from the Base Aeronaval de El Belloto,” the resolution details. At the same time, they maintain that the objective of the raid was to search for the victims' older sister, whom they assumed was a member of the Communist Youth. “At the time the events occurred, the victims were in the care of their older sister, as their mother was working as a private nurse in the city of Viña del Mar. Despite this, she was taken by the uniformed officers to the Base Aeronaval de El Belloto.” The investigation confirmed that the convicted individuals caused various damages to the home after entering, in addition to stealing the valuables that were inside. Furthermore, they confirmed that “on various occasions, during the detention of the victims, they were beaten with the weapons carried by the uniformed officers, while they searched and rummaged through the rooms looking for weapons.” Finally, the naval patrol remained inside the home “until the next day, after having slept and consumed all the food that was in the house, thereby keeping the victims kidnapped inside their own home.” The ruling also ordered the state to pay an indemnity of 35 million pesos to the victims for the moral damage caused.

Source: eldesconcierto.cl, December 28, 2018

Supreme Court sentences retired Navy members for the kidnapping of minor siblings in 1974

In a unanimous ruling, the Second Chamber of the highest court sentenced Pedro Frioli Otonel, Manuel Buch López, Arístides León Calffas, Guillermo Retamales Ruiz, and Germán Valdivia Keller to 541 days in prison, with the benefit of supervised release, for their responsibility in the crime of simple kidnapping of siblings José Miguel and Isabel Verónica Sánchez Larraín (children at the time of the events).

The crime was committed in August 1974, in the El Belloto sector of the commune of Quilpué. The Supreme Court sentenced retired Navy members Pedro Victorio Frioli Otonel, Manuel Alejandro Buch López, Arístides León Calffas, Guillermo Retamales Ruiz, and Germán Patricio Valdivia Keller to 541 days in prison, with the benefit of supervised release, for their responsibility in the crime of simple kidnapping of siblings José Miguel and Isabel Verónica Sánchez Larraín (children at the time of the events).

The crime was committed in August 1974, in the El Belloto sector of the commune of Quilpué. In a unanimous ruling (case file 21.037-2020), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, and minister María Teresa Letelier—partially accepted the appeal in cassation filed by the common defense of the convicted Retamales Ruz and Valdivia Keller and, in a replacement sentence, recognized only the mitigating factor of the irreproachable prior conduct of the convicted Valdivia Keller. “That, regarding the defense's protest that, with respect to the convicted Valdivia Keller, not only was the mitigating circumstance of Article 11 No. 6 of the Penal Code not recognized, but the aggravating circumstance of Article 12 No. 16 of the same body of law was considered configured, despite the fact that at the date of the occurrence of the events his criminal record was free of blemishes, it is necessary to point out that the justification given by the lower court judges to proceed in such a way is erroneous in that it cites, as a basis for dismissing his irreproachable prior conduct—and incidentally for considering the aggravating circumstance of specific recidivism as configured—a conviction dating from the year 2014, that is, a criminal reproach determined forty years after the event that has been judged in these proceedings,” the ruling maintains. The resolution adds: “That, this being the case, it emerges that the reasons put forward by the court to discard the modifying circumstance of criminal responsibility of irreproachable prior conduct—provided for in Article 11 No. 6 of the Penal Code—and, consequently, to consider the aggravating circumstance of Article 12 No. 16 of the Penal Code as configured, are contrary to law, since from reading the precepts in question it is inferred that the requirement of maintaining an irreproachable prior conduct—as well as that of the culprit having been previously convicted for a crime of the same species—relate to the behavior prior to the commission of the punishable act that is currently under judgment, so that by having proceeded in the way they did, the lower court judges incurred in a violation of the law that has substantially influenced the operative part of the ruling, in that they configured with respect to the defendant Valdivia Keller an aggravating circumstance of criminal responsibility that was not applicable, denying him at the same time the mitigating factor of irreproachable prior conduct, which was indeed fully applicable, and incurring in an erroneous and more burdensome determination of the penalty attributed to said defendant,” concludes the cassation ruling. Therefore, it is resolved in the replacement sentence: “I.- The appealed sentence of December 5, 2017, is confirmed, with the declaration that the accused Germán Patricio Valdivia Keller, Pedro Victorio Frioli Otonel, Manuel Alejandro Buch López, Arístides León Calffas, and Guillermo Retamales Ruz are sentenced, as perpetrators of the consummated crime of simple kidnapping, described and punished in Article 141, paragraph 1 of the Penal Code, which occurred in the month of August 1974, in the town of El Belloto, commune of Quilpué, to suffer each of them a penalty of five hundred and forty-one (541) days of minor imprisonment in its minimum degree, plus legal accessories. II.- Meeting with respect to the defendants Germán Patricio Valdivia Keller, Pedro Victorio Frioli Otonel, Manuel Alejandro Buch López, Arístides León Calffas, and Guillermo Retamales Ruz, the requirements provided for in Article 4 of Law No. 18.216, modified by Law No. 20.603, the fulfillment of the corporal sanction imposed is substituted by the penalty of conditional remission for the same term as that of the custodial sanction imposed—five hundred and forty-one days—, with the convicted remaining subject to the discreet observation and assistance before the administrative authority during said period of time.” Kidnapping In the first-instance sentence, the visiting minister of the Valparaíso Court of Appeals, Jaime Arancibia Pinto, established the following facts: “That during the month of August 1974, around 00:00 hours, the house of the victims, minors at that time, located in the Seventh Sector of Belloto Sur, was raided by a large number of officials from the Chilean Navy, coming from the Base Aeronaval de El Belloto. That the purpose of the raid was to search for and detain the older sister of the victims, who was said to belong to the Communist Youth. At the time the events occurred, the victims were in the care of their older sister, as their mother was working as a private nurse in the city of Viña del Mar. Despite this, she was taken by the uniformed officers to the Base Aeronaval de El Belloto. That at the moment the naval patrol entered the home, it caused various damages to the dwelling, in addition to stealing the valuables that were found inside. On various occasions, during the detention of the victims, they were beaten with the weapons carried by the uniformed officers, while they searched and rummaged through the rooms looking for weapons. The naval patrol was stationed inside the home until the next day, after having slept and consumed all the food that was in the house, thereby keeping the victims kidnapped inside their own home.”

Source: pdju.cl, March 3, 2023

Former Navy member sentenced for the homicide of a Communist leader in 1973

The judicial investigation confirmed that Ramón Navia, a construction worker and Communist leader, was tortured by officials of the naval institution and subsequently executed by firing squad. On Thursday, the justice system handed down a 10-year prison sentence against former Navy sergeant Guillermo Retamales Ruiz, the perpetrator of the qualified homicide of construction worker and Communist leader Ramón Navia, one month after the 1973 coup d'état at the Base Aeronaval de El Belloto, in the Valparaíso region.

Details of the ruling The ruling, noted plaintiff lawyer Carolina Vega, “is a significant milestone for the family, in that the person responsible for the kidnapping and homicide of Ramón Donato Navia Martínez, victim and father of the plaintiff, has been convicted.” “It is a significant step forward for the family, because after more than 50 years they have had a pronouncement from the justice system.

However, this is not enough; there is still a long road to travel in search of truth, justice, and reparation,” added the lawyer, a member of the Caucoto Abogados Law Firm, which specializes in human rights cases.

The minister for extraordinary causes of the Valparaíso Court of Appeals, Max Cancino, within the framework of the same case, decided to acquit former Navy captain Germán Patricio Valdivia Keller, who was also charged as a perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of the victim.

Likewise, he rejected the application of amnesty and statute of limitations as requested by the defense of the accused. According to the investigation led by Cancino, naval intelligence services detained Navia (54) due to his political orientation contrary to the civil-military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), an act that took place on October 14, 1973, shortly after the offensive that ended the constitutional government of Salvador Allende (1970-1973).

After his detention, the Navy agents belonging to the Base Aeronaval El Belloto, located in the city of Quilpué, 120 kilometers from Santiago, “transported him in a pickup truck to said facility, without justification of a judicial order issued by the competent authority.” The judicial investigation confirmed that Navia was tortured by officials of the naval institution, “with the object that he would answer questions about the location of the weapons he allegedly had in his possession and the names of all his companions and members of the political leadership to which he belonged.” “In that context, on October 15, 1973, in the early hours of the morning, one of the officials of the Servicio el Ancla II, who also fulfilled the function of guard in the air reports office, in the face of an alleged escape by the detainee Navia Martínez, shot him with an M1 rifle, causing his death,” details the judicial ruling. The dictatorship lasted 17 years and left more than 40,000 victims, including those executed, the forcibly disappeared, political prisoners, and those tortured, according to figures from the official commission that collected testimonies from victims and relatives. More than 3,200 Chileans died at the hands of state agents.

Source: cnn.cl, January 31, 2025

Conviction confirmed against former Navy member for homicide inside the Base Aeronaval El Belloto in 1973

Thus, the Valparaíso appellate court confirmed the first-instance sentence handed down by the minister for extraordinary causes regarding human rights violations of the Valparaíso Court of Appeals, Max Cancino Cancino.

The Fourth Chamber of the Valparaíso Court of Appeals confirmed the conviction against Guillermo Retamales Ruiz, a retired Navy 2nd Sergeant, as the perpetrator of the homicide of Ramón Donato Navia Martínez (54), a construction worker and leader of the Communist Party, perpetrated at the Base Aeronaval El Belloto, in the commune of Quilpué, in October 1973.

Ministers Vicente Jesús Hormazábal, Ruth Angélica Alvarado (s), and member lawyer Eduardo Morales sentenced the former marine to a penalty of 10 years and one day in its medium degree, as the perpetrator of the qualified homicide of the victim, and cleared him of responsibility in the qualified kidnapping of Navia Martínez.

Likewise, the former Navy captain, Germán Patricio Valdivia Keller, was acquitted of being a perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of the victim. In this way, the Valparaíso appellate court confirmed the first-instance sentence handed down by the minister for extraordinary causes regarding human rights violations of the Valparaíso Court of Appeals, Max Cancino Cancino, in December 2024.

The plaintiff lawyer, Carolina Vega, of the Caucoto Abogados firm, celebrated the ruling, pointing out that it is a great step against impunity: “The sentence confirmed by the ministers of the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Valparaíso is a significant milestone for the plaintiff, the victim's son.

Furthermore, it is an advance in terms of transitional justice.” In that vein, she expressed that “one must keep in mind that more than 50 years have passed and only today is the homicide of Mr. Ramón Donato Navía Martínez being discussed, while the victim's son has been waiting for years for justice, truth, and reparation.

At the time, we appealed the first-instance sentence requesting that the sentence be increased; although the sentence was confirmed, I am satisfied, because it means that there is no longer impunity and that the person responsible for the homicide is being convicted.”

Source: radio.uchile.cl, May 31, 2025