Occupation: Mathematics Professor at the U. de Chile, Temuco campus. Member of the MIR. Date of Detention: September 11, 1973

REPRESSIVE SITUATION

Rubén Eduardo Morales Jara, married, 1 child, a mathematics professor at the University of Chile and a member of the MIR, was detained on September 6, 1973, at his home at Padre Luis de Valdivia No. 120, Temuco, by order of the Cautín Military Prosecutor's Office.

He was accused of violating the Arms Control Law due to his alleged participation in a "Guerrilla Instruction School" in the town of Nehuentue, which had reportedly been discovered by the Army and attributed to the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).

His arrest was ordered by the ad hoc prosecutor Hernán Morales, who advised the military prosecutor, Major Luis Jofré. The victim was admitted to the Temuco Prison, where he was visited by several of his students, who brought him clothing and food.

On September 11, 1973, he was scheduled to testify before the Military Prosecutor's Office, which did not occur. From that date on, all traces of his whereabouts were lost, despite the fact that he was being held under preventive detention in a national prison by order of a tribunal.

The explanation given by the authorities to his family members and to the courts investigating his disappearance indicated that Rubén Morales "had escaped from the Temuco Regiment" on October 4, 1973. This explanation is implausible in light of the evidence gathered during the judicial investigation, which shows a clear contradiction by the authorities regarding the circumstances under which the escape allegedly took place.

To date, the fate or whereabouts of Rubén Eduardo Morales Jara remain unknown.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

Mrs. Raquel del Carmen Jara Muñoz, mother of the forcibly disappeared person, filed a petition with the Supreme Court on October 5, 1977, in which she exposed and denounced her son's situation. This complaint gave rise to case No. 45639 of the Second Criminal Court of Temuco.

Among the few proceedings ordered by the Court, the report provided by the Acting Warden of the Temuco Prison, Sigisfredo Jara Contreras, stands out; he indicated that the victim entered that prison center on September 6, 1973, and his discharge was recorded on October 4 of that year due to his escape from the guard of the Temuco Regiment.

Furthermore, the report from the Temuco Investigations police, which carried out the investigation order, stated that Rubén Morales "was detained by military personnel after his participation as a Marxist agitator and professor at the Nehuentue Guerrilla School was established, and while he was being transported by Army personnel at night, he escaped by jumping into the waters of the Cautín River, without having been located subsequently; his capture was therefore ordered." The Investigations report is dated December 7, 1977.

Despite the contradiction between the Warden and the report from Investigations, the Court did not order new proceedings in this regard, nor did it investigate whether, after September 11, 1973, the victim was being held in the Temuco Prison or at the Tucapel Regiment in that city, or if he was transferred to the latter for interrogation.

Ultimately, the relationship between the victim and the aforementioned regiment was not established.

On April 25, 1978, the summary was declared closed and the case was provisionally dismissed, given that the evidence gathered did not prove the perpetration of the crime that led to the formation of the summary. This resolution was approved by the Temuco Court of Appeals.

Source: Corporation report

It is September 11 again. The commemoration of the victims of the dictatorship, which has taken place on these dates since 1990, has never been a national activity; it has been kept alive by the surviving victims of repression, their families, human rights and memory organizations, and individuals and groups who pay tribute and remember—in an increasingly difficult attempt—each of the forcibly disappeared and political execution victims.

They stand in solidarity with the thousands of survivors of political imprisonment and torture; those who suffered forced exile, those who were expelled from their jobs and studies, those who lost their homes, those who were relegated, and the people who suffered all types of violations of their rights, violently and without the possibility of defending themselves or seeking redress.

The reality is that in Chile, the dictatorship was never defeated. The transfer of power from Pinochet and his regime was handled carefully, and agreements were negotiated that would ultimately contribute to the unprecedented social and political protest that arose in 2019 against this "negotiated Chile." What the victims' families and survivors longed for never arrived: full, prompt, and reparatory justice.

Instead, Pinochet never lost his status as a former President of the Republic—a title he granted himself—nor his position as a Senator. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established, which granted the status of "qualified victims" to a large proportion, but not all, of the fatal victims.

It provided capricious reparations, and the preliminary investigations of this commission were sent to the courts without any follow-up or will from the government, only to be dismissed in the vast majority of cases.

Today, it is acceptable for people to express their attachment to the military dictatorship and deny the existence of the horrendous crimes that took place, because it is established knowledge among the population that remembering the victims and demanding justice is a political choice, that all perspectives on this are merely opinions, and that all are valid.

It was never established in the collective subconscious that the dictatorship was a dark period in this country that all Chileans—those who suffered the violations and those who did not—had to condemn.

Only for a very short period—503 days to be exact—and due to something absolutely coincidental, Pinochet was arrested during a pleasure and business trip to England. That was the only moment in his life that he found himself in that condition; it was only as a result of that that he had to resign from his position as Senator to obtain the total protection of the then-democratic government of Chile.

The victims of the dictatorship come from all over Chile and belong to all walks of life; it is our duty to make them visible, to remember them, and to ensure that their memory is preserved actively. The University of Chile and the State Technical University, Temuco campuses, which in 1981 formed the University of La Frontera according to the decision of the Government Junta, have among their students and professors 21 victims—forcibly disappeared and political execution victims—both women and men.

They are part of our university community; they moved through the same spaces and worked for a better, more solidary, and more just society, just as many students, staff, and academics do today. They are our history, not the "past," because they are present in our memory; therefore, we must give them the place they deserve in our university, where we study, work, and share the dream of a just and better world today.

Written by: Nicole Douilly Yurich

Director, Center for Studies and Promotion of Human Rights, UFRO

Source: humanidades.ufro.cl, September 7, 2022

Date: 09-07-2022

IDENTITY CARD: 6.904.172-8 of VALPARAISO DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: December 10, 1952, Valparaíso PROFESSION: Social Worker MARITAL STATUS: Single

I was detained on December 11, 1973, in Valparaíso, around eleven in the morning, at the house of an aunt where I had been residing for some time. At the time of the coup d'état in September 1973, I was a student at the School of Agrarian Execution Engineering at the University of Chile, Temuco campus, but my school was closed, like the entire university, in the period following the coup.

I then decided to travel to the city of Valparaíso, where my family was. On December 11, upon arriving at my house, I found a group of about ten detectives from the Valparaíso Investigations police who were waiting for me.

Outside, there were marines belonging to a corps identified by the name "Cossacks." Faced with the resistance my family put up against my arrest, the detectives indicated that I was wanted by the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco.

They violently raided both my aunt's house and a nearby house that belonged to my mother, where they destroyed numerous pieces of furniture and belongings. They took me in a car to the Investigations Headquarters, where they left me behind some sandbags until nightfall.

At that moment, they put me in a car, and after driving around Valparaíso and Viña del Mar numerous times, they transferred me to Santiago. They put me into a facility that I assume to be the Santiago Public Prison.

The following day, a group of three detectives took me to the Railway station and then, by train, to the city of Temuco. In this city, they handed me over to the detectives, who put me in a cell located in the basement of the Investigations Headquarters.

I was alone there, but I could hear the screams and crying of companions, essentially men, who were in the neighboring cells. I was never able to identify anyone. Later, a group of soldiers came to get me and took me in a truck to the Tucapel Regiment.

They took me to an office where the Military Prosecutor, whose last name was Novoa, introduced himself and interrogated me. He told me that I was accused of being a member of the MIR and that he wanted me to tell him about my activities.

Indeed, it was public knowledge in Temuco that I had worked in the MIR, fundamentally in the university sphere. They took me to the Good Shepherd Correctional House, where they kept me incommunicado. I do not know how long I was in this situation, but I believe it must have been between 30 and 45 days.

My cell was completely dark, there was an old mattress on the floor, and the hygienic conditions were deplorable, or rather, non-existent. The food they gave us was totally unsanitary; on one occasion, I saw worms in the plate, so I practically stopped eating.

During all this time, I was in a pitiful state. I suffered especially from the lack of minimum hygiene conditions. I was never able to change my clothes, let alone wash myself. My body had a bad odor, and my hair was a matted mass since I had never been able to wash it.

I had to hold my pants up constantly with my hands since I had lost a huge amount of weight. After this period, they took me back to the Regiment. In this place, I met Captain UBILLA, who was in charge of the interrogations.

He interrogated me again about my activities and threatened to execute me by firing squad. This individual knew about my university activities since, according to him, I had confronted his wife, who was a right-wing militant.

UBILLA ordered that I be blindfolded, and then I was taken to a room where they removed some of my clothing, laid me face down, and then gave me an injection of something I did not know. I was afraid because I did not know what product it was and that they were possibly going to kill me.

I only remember that my head spun and that later I woke up, hearing from afar the conversations of the soldiers who said that I was not giving the information they wanted and that they were going to take me back into incommunicado detention.

I was taken back to the Correctional House and this time I found myself in "Libre Plática" (General Population). In general, there were thirteen of us women, but when they carried out raids, we went up to fifty, all in a single dormitory.

Among us were three pregnant women. Given that the food continued to be inedible—we saw that they made the soups with animal heads that were rotting in the sun, full of flies—we detainees made an official complaint.

The response was to take away all our food: we were never given food again. Our family members had to take full responsibility for our maintenance. At that time, we were also required to pay for the electricity we consumed.

On the other hand, they punished us constantly and suspended our visits. I believe that at the beginning of 1974, they transferred me to the First War Council that was held for the MIR in Temuco. The Military Prosecutor was PODLECH.

We were a large group of detainees. A general accusation was made against the MIR and all its militants. In the War Council room, they had hung an immense "MIR Organizational Chart," where we were all located.

The charges were general, and in essence, we were accused of having belonged to the MIR. A lawyer was appointed, a retired gentleman who I remember was trembling incessantly. As we were passing by, he asked us our names: that was all the contact we had with him.

When he started to read the names, before he finished reading the list, the military interrupted him, telling him that "the time for the defense had ended." I found myself sentenced to five years in prison.

The sentences ranged from five to twenty-five years. We learned later that this War Council was questioned by international institutions, and they immediately transferred us to a second War Council. This time, a special lawyer came to see me in prison; I had only one interview with him.

Although he defended me in the council, I ended up with a nine-year prison sentence. PODLECH was again the prosecutor in this Council. I remained in the Correctional House until May 1976, that is, two and a half years.

I was the last person who was in that prison. In May, they transferred me to Santiago to a prison from where they expelled me, by virtue of Decree 504. On June 20, 1976, I left for France. Only in January 1990 was I authorized to return to my country.

I want to testify especially about the detention of RUBEN EDUARDO MORALES JARA, a great friend of mine who is currently disappeared. On September 5, 1973, before the coup d'état, while several friends were at his house, a truck of soldiers from the Tucapel Regiment arrived to detain him.

After checking us, they looked for Rubén MORALES and took him away. To this day, he remains disappeared. Regarding this case, which is cited in the Rettig Report, I want to add that at the beginning of 1974, during a transfer from the Prison to the Regiment, a guard who knew me from before approached me and secretly informed me that "Rubén was in the Temuco Public Prison until September 17, 1973," and that they had taken him out from there "and he had never returned."

Paris, July 24, 2002

Source: archivochile.com, 7/24/2002

Date: 07-24-2002

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, convicted five former members of the Army, including a former Brigadier of that institution, for the murder of Rubén Eduardo Morales Jara, a 29-year-old university professor and member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).

The crime was perpetrated in September 1973, in the commune of Temuco, in the days following the coup d'état, although Rubén Morales had been detained since before the overthrow of Allende.

In the ruling (case file 114.047), the visiting minister sentenced former Army non-commissioned officers Román Aquiles Barros Mardones, José Albino Krause Álvarez, and Luis Hernán Peña Andaur to 12 years in prison as perpetrators of the crime.

He also sentenced Jaime Guillermo García Covarrubias, a former Army Brigadier and former member of the DINA-CNI, to 5 years in prison, and former non-commissioned officer Juan Carlos Figueroa Claus to 4 years in prison, as accomplices to the crime of qualified homicide of the university professor.

García Covarrubias had begun his repressive career as a student at the School of the Americas in 1970. After his repressive performance in Temuco, he was promoted to the DINA by Manuel Contreras, who appointed him head of Counterintelligence, a role he continued in the CNI.

In 1988, he was appointed Undersecretary General of Government by Pinochet, and between 1995 and 1997, he was director of the War Academy; in November 2013, he had already been prosecuted for the qualified homicide of 7 other victims caused in Temuco by the dictatorial repression.

The minister on special assignment applied to García Covarrubias, Figueroa Claus, Barros Mardones, Krause Álvarez, and Peña Andaur the legal accessory penalties of permanent absolute disqualification from public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification from professional titles for the duration of the sentence, plus the payment of court costs.

During the investigation stage, Minister Mesa Latorre established the following facts:

"That in August 1973, the Minister of the Interior at the time, Jaime Tohá, contacted the lawyer for the Carabineros of the Temuco Prefecture, Hernán Morales Gómez, to take charge as an ad hoc Military Prosecutor of a summary proceeding that would be substantiated in the investigation to be carried out regarding the existence of an alleged guerrilla school in the town of Nehuentúe, in the coastal sector of Carahue.

Thus, once legally notified of his appointment, he appeared before the commander of the Tucapel Regiment, Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased), who assigned him an office inside the Military Unit Command and ordered that Lieutenant Jaime Guillermo García Covarrubias, the Regiment's adjutant, serve as secretary and actuary.

In that place, he proceeded to interrogate the detainees who had been brought by military patrols of the Temuco Tucapel Regiment from Nehuentúe, after the guerrilla school operating there had been dismantled.

That Rubén Eduardo Morales Jara, a mathematics professor and member of the MIR, was detained by a military patrol of the Temuco Tucapel Regiment on September 4 or 5, 1973, in compliance with an order issued by the Military Prosecutor's Office, headed by lawyer Hernán Morales Gómez, in case file 1.198-73 for violation of the Arms Law.

Said detention was carried out at Morales's home located at Padre Luis de Valdivia Street No. 120, Población Dreves, Temuco. The detainee was taken to the aforementioned Regiment and placed at the disposal of the Prosecutor's Office the following day.

In that place, he gave an investigative statement and cross-examinations were carried out on different dates between September 6 and 8, 1973, remaining in detention and incommunicado in the public prison of this city during that period, to finally be declared a defendant for the aforementioned crime, as recorded from page 329 to page 339.

During that period, he was visited by his wife and friends in the Temuco Prison, until September 11, 1973, when those visits were denied.

That by September 1973, in the 8th Infantry Regiment 'Tucapel' of Temuco, there existed the Second Section of Information and Intelligence, which was in charge of Captain Nelson Manuel Uldaricio Ubilla Toledo (deceased), under whose command some non-commissioned officers of that institution also performed duties, work that was reinforced after September 11, 1973, with the addition of Investigations and Carabineros officials, 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, enlisted men, and conscripts of the Regiment joined the intelligence tasks.

That Rubén Morales Jara was seen in poor physical condition inside the Tucapel Regiment after September 11, 1973, in the facilities where the interrogation rooms maintained by the Intelligence Section operated and where detainees were subjected to torture.

He was also seen in the guard room at the entrance to the Regiment. On one of those occasions, at night, Lieutenant Jaime Guillermo García Covarrubias, who was also secretary to the ad hoc Military Prosecutor in charge of the case in which Rubén Morales Jara was being prosecuted, was at the military unit's guard post.

At a certain moment, Sub-lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce (deceased), an officer of the Second Hunter Company, appeared at that place, having received the order to execute the detainee Morales Jara. For this, he formed a patrol composed of at least five enlisted soldiers who held the rank of corporal and sergeant, among whom were: Ernesto René Oberg Parra (deceased), Luis Hernán Peña Andaur, Juan Carlos Figueroa Claus, Román Aquiles Barros Mardones, and José Albino Krause Álvarez.

Lieutenant Jaime García, once informed of the mission entrusted to Espinoza Ponce, ordered the detainee Morales Jara to be loaded into a 3/4 military vehicle in which the patrol traveled toward a bridge located over the Quepe River.

At that place, they got out with Morales Jara, whom they placed in front of the bridge railing. There, Sub-lieutenant Espinoza fired two shots at the detainee with his service weapon. Immediately, two enlisted soldiers threw Morales Jara's body into the waters of the Quepe, but upon realizing that he was still alive, they fired bursts of gunfire at him with their weapons.

After this, the patrol returned to the Tucapel Regiment, where Sub-lieutenant Espinoza reported the fulfillment of the order to the officer who had given him such instruction.

That during the celebration of the 1973 national holidays, information was broadcast over the radio reporting the escape of the prisoner Rubén Morales Jara while he was being transported by a military patrol from the Tucapel Regiment to the Temuco prison."

Source: resumen.cl, August 10, 2020

Date: 08-10-2020

Former Army Brigadier prosecuted for the homicide of a professor in Temuco in 1973

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases of the Temuco Court of Appeals, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, subjected former Army Brigadier Jaime Guillermo García Covarrubias to prosecution and preventive detention as an accomplice to the crime of qualified homicide of Rubén Morales Jara, perpetrated in the Commune of Temuco during the month of September 1973.

At the time, the accused held positions at the Tucapel Regiment in the city of Temuco.

The then-Army captain continued his repressive career under the wing of "Mamo" Contreras as head of DINA Counterintelligence. In 1988, he was appointed Undersecretary General of Government by Pinochet, and between 1995 and 1997, he was director of the War Academy; of course, before all that, he had been a student at the School of the Americas in 1970.

In November 2013, he had already been prosecuted for the qualified homicide of 7 other victims caused in Temuco by the dictatorial repression.

Given the merit of the evidence (in case file No. 114.047), the investigating minister granted the former senior Army officer release on bail, currently complying with precautionary measures of national travel restriction and monthly signing at the corresponding Court.

In the month of October just passed, Minister Mesa had already subjected 4 former uniformed officers to prosecution and preventive detention for this crime. Luis Hernán Peña Andaur, Román Aquiles Barros Mardones, and José Albino Krause Álvarez were prosecuted as perpetrators, and Juan Carlos Figueroa Claus as an accomplice to the crime of qualified homicide of Morales Jara.

During the investigation stage, Minister Mesa established the following facts:

A) That in August 1973, the Minister of the Interior at the time, Jaime Tohá, contacted the lawyer for the Carabineros of the Temuco Prefecture, Hernán Morales Gómez, to take charge as an ad hoc Military Prosecutor of a summary proceeding that would be substantiated in the investigation to be carried out regarding the existence of an alleged guerrilla school in the town of Nehuentúe, in the coastal sector of Carahue.

Thus, once legally notified of his appointment, he appeared before the Commander of the Tucapel Regiment, Col. Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (R.I.P.), who assigned him an office inside the Military Unit Command and ordered that the Regiment's Adjutant Lieutenant serve as secretary and actuary.

In that place, he proceeded to interrogate the detainees who had been brought by military patrols of the Temuco Tucapel Regiment from Nehuentúe, after the guerrilla school operating there had been dismantled.

B) That Rubén Eduardo Morales Jara, a Mathematics professor and member of the MIR, was detained by a military patrol of the Temuco Tucapel Regiment on September 4 or 5, 1973, in compliance with an order issued by the Military Prosecutor's Office, headed by lawyer Hernán Morales Gómez, in case file 1198-73 for violation of the Arms Law.

Said detention was carried out at Morales's home located at Pedro Luis Valdivia Street No. 120, Población Dreves, Temuco. The detainee was taken to the aforementioned regiment and placed at the disposal of the Prosecutor's Office the following day.

In that place, he gave an investigative statement and cross-examinations were carried out on different dates between September 6 and 8, 1973, remaining in detention and incommunicado in the public prison of this city during that period, to finally be declared a defendant for the aforementioned crime, as recorded from page 329 to page 339.

During that period, he was visited by his wife and friends in the Temuco Prison, until September 11, 1973, when those visits were denied.

C) That immediately after the military pronouncement of September 11, 1973, the armed and security forces took control of the city of Temuco. This change in the country's institutionality caused a significant alteration in the work that lawyer Hernán Morales Gómez was carrying out in the investigation under his jurisdiction, since due to his closeness to the outgoing regime, the new authorities began to distrust him.

For this reason, he gradually lost influence in the decisions that were made regarding the detainees and defendants in his case, limiting himself only to signing the resolutions that were drafted in the Military Prosecutor's Office in charge of Army Major Luis Jofré Soto (R.I.P.), which also operated inside the Tucapel regiment.

D) That by September 1973, in the 8th Infantry Regiment "Tucapel" of Temuco, there existed the Second Section of Information and Intelligence, which was in charge of Captain Nelson Manuel Uldaricio Ubilla Toledo (R.I.P.), under whose command some non-commissioned officers of that institution also performed duties, work that was reinforced after September 11, 1973, with the addition of Investigations and Carabineros officials, 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, enlisted men, and conscripts of the regiment joined the intelligence tasks.

E) That Rubén Morales Jara was seen in poor physical condition inside the Tucapel regiment after September 11, 1973, in the facilities where the interrogation rooms maintained by the intelligence section operated and where detainees were subjected to torture.

He was also seen in the guard room at the entrance to the regiment. On one of those occasions, at night, the Regiment's Adjutant Lieutenant, who was also Secretary to the ad hoc Military Prosecutor in charge of the case in which Rubén Morales Jara was being prosecuted, was at the military unit's guard post.

At a certain moment, Sub-lieutenant Manuel Espinoza Ponce (R.I.P.), an officer of the Second Hunter Company, appeared at that place, having received the order to execute the detainee Morales Jara. For this, he formed a patrol composed of at least five enlisted soldiers who held the rank of Corporal and Sergeant, among whom were Corporal Ernesto René Oberg Parra (R.I.P.) and the defendants in the case Luis Hernán Peña Andaur, Juan Carlos Figueroa Claus, Román Aquiles Barros Mardones, and José Albino Krause Álvarez.

The Regiment's Adjutant Lieutenant, once informed of the mission entrusted to Espinoza Ponce, ordered the detainee Morales Jara to be loaded into a 3/4 military vehicle in which the patrol traveled toward a bridge located over the Quepe River.

At that place, they got out with Morales Jara, whom they placed in front of the bridge railing. There, Sub-lieutenant Espinoza fired two shots at the detainee with his service weapon. Immediately, two enlisted soldiers threw Morales Jara's body into the waters of the Quepe, but upon realizing that he was still alive, they fired bursts of gunfire at him with their weapons.

After this, the patrol returned to the Tucapel regiment, where Sub-lieutenant Espinoza reported the fulfillment of the order to the officer who had given him such instruction.

F) That during the celebration of the 1973 national holidays, information was broadcast over the radio reporting the escape of the prisoner Rubén Morales Jara while he was being transported by a military patrol from the Tucapel regiment to the Temuco prison.

Said news was heard by the ad hoc Prosecutor Hernán Morales Gómez while he was spending the holidays in Pucón. Given the magnitude of the event, as it concerned a prisoner in his case and he having given no order to transport him to the tribunal, he immediately appeared at the Tucapel regiment and, on September 19, issued a resolution in the case acknowledging the aforementioned event, as recorded on page 340 of the case file, calling to testify the soldier in command of the patrol that was supposedly in charge of transporting Morales Jara.

However, the Commander of the Tucapel regiment, Col. Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse, prevented him from continuing with the investigation, ordering him to stop inquiring into that matter. The ad hoc Prosecutor Morales Gómez submitted his resignation from the position, which was rejected by Iturriaga, forcing him to continue with his duties; indicating to him, furthermore, that "they were in times of war and that he would decide when he should leave the position," the resolution points out.

Source: resumen.cl, 1/20/2016

Date: 01-20-2016

Commemorative plaque inaugurated at the Ufro with the names of former students and teachers who were victims of the dictatorship, 09/15/2014, El Periodico

For the director of the Center for Studies and Promotion of Human Rights at the Ufro, Angélica Hernández, this plaque is an act of justice and equity for their families.

In an emotional ceremony, the new commemorative plaque was inaugurated, incorporating the names of two teachers and eight students from the University of Chile and the State Technical University who were victims of the military dictatorship.

Nearly a hundred people, including university authorities, students, academics, and staff, gathered at the site to accompany the families of the victims who commemorate the fallen during the military dictatorship every year.

For the director of the Center for Studies and Promotion of Human Rights at the Ufro, Angélica Hernández, this plaque is an act of justice and equity for their families. "This act of commemoration, which is added to the inauguration of this memorial, is an act of justice for the families who do not want to forget their victims, and we as a society must remember their testimonies so that this never happens again."

Meanwhile, Carlos Oliva, president of the Association of Forcibly Disappeared and Political Execution Victims of La Araucanía, pointed out that this act settles a debt they had with the university for years. "It seems important to us that the university has fulfilled its promise, as it was a debt of about eight years since this initiative arose to complete the names that were missing from the plaque; therefore, we recognize that what was promised was fulfilled," he pointed out.

The activity was organized by the Center for Studies and Promotion of Human Rights of the University of La Frontera, in collaboration with the Student Federation (Feufro), the Association of Staff (Afuf), and the Academic Guild Association (AGA).

Source: elperiodico.cl, 9/15/2014

Date: 09-15-2014

Plaque inaugurated in tribute to teachers who fell during the dictatorship at the Education building

As an act of memory framed within the "50 Years of the Coup" roundtable, which is led by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage by presidential mandate, a tribute ceremony was held for the teachers who fell, held at the facilities of the Regional Ministerial Secretariat (Seremi) of Education.

At the event, the regional head of Culture, Eric Iturriaga Gutiérrez, highlighted the actions of the inter-institutional roundtable that includes social organizations in what he described as an instance of reflection: "This is not just about one day or one month; it is a country debt of reconciliation with history, thinking of the new generations." He announced that in the field of Education, the installation of plaques will soon take place at the Arturo Prat University in Victoria and at the general cemetery in Gorbea.

Meanwhile, Paulina Cartagena, National Vice President of the Teachers' Union of Chile, indicated that "without a doubt, spaces for memory, development, and the promotion of human rights have to do with the development and debate that we teachers from all over the country engage in.

We are promoters of peace, respect, and the eradication of any type of discrimination (...) denialism and hate speech."

The testimony delivered publicly for the first time by María Leonor Olate Mercado, granddaughter of the teacher María Arriagada, one of the 13 teachers whose names are engraved on the plaque installed in the institutional building located at 574 General Mackenna Street in Temuco, was noteworthy.

For her part, María Isabel Mariñanco, Seremi of Education, highlighted the participation of students from the Alonso de Ercilla and San Juan de Temuco schools, who provided the perspective of memory and future that the Ministry seeks to install regarding history: "The historical background of this event is not properly addressed in the curriculum and school textbooks.

So, the Government has initiated a Pedagogical Congress (...) where relevant topics for our country, such as these, are reflected and are a contribution to a new curriculum that we hope will be finished by 2026 and will be a contribution to a more inclusive, understanding, and egalitarian society."

Regarding the names present on the plaque, it was indicated that these were established in coordination with the Araucanía Teachers' Union, the National Association of Ministry of Education Staff (ANDIME), and the Gabriela Mistral Bulletin, corresponding to teachers who were detained, executed, or disappeared in the regional territory, according to the consolidated list ratified in the book "Asignatura Pendiente" (Pending Subject) by researcher Pamela Sánchez Nieto, which contains information confirmed by union data and present in the Valech Commission.

The teachers who appear on the commemorative plaque are:

Rubén Eduardo Morales Jara, Einar Enrique Tenorio Fuentes, Daniel Mauricio Sepúlveda Contreras, Omar Roberto Venturelli Leonelli, Maria Arriagada Jerez, Luis Gastón Lobos Barrientos, Bernarda Rosalba Vera Contardo, and Juan de Dios Riquelme Riquelme (Teachers Forcibly Disappeared between 1973 and 1990).

In addition to: Pedro Ríos Castillo, Manuel Gastón Francisco Elgueta Elgueta, Jecar Nehgme Cornejo, Rachel Elizabeth Venegas Illanes, and Manuel Segundo Melin Pehuén (Teachers Politically Executed between 1973-1990).

Source: cultura.gob.cl, 09-14-2023

Date: 09-14-2023