Notorious Graduates from Chile

Augusto Pinochet is not a graduate of the School of the Americas; yet
his influence is held in high esteem. in 1991, visitors could view a
note from Pinochet, and a ceremonial sword donated by him, on display in
the office of the Commandant (Charles Call, MH, 8/9/93)

Graduates of the School of the Americas have also comprised 1 out of every 7 members of the command staff of DINA, the notorious Chilean intelligence agency responsible for many of the worst human rights atrocities during the Pinochet years. SOA grads who were members of the DINA command staff include: Luis Alberto Medina Aldea, Jorge Aro Peigneguy, Eugenio Videla, Rene Riveros, and Guillermo Salinas, as well as other officials mentioned below.

Hugo Acevedo, 1970, Combat Arms Orientation
DINA: According to testimony by Luz Arce, Acevedo was a key official in the repressive forces of the DINA. (Primera Confesi?n desde el Interior de la DINA, Revista APS, Santiago de Chile)

Ernesto Baeza Michelsen, 1964,Comando y Estado Mayor
Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998: One of 30 officials cited in the case against Augusto Pinochet for crimes of genocide, terrorism, torture, and illegal arrest. Former head of Investigations Police who allegedly chose 50 members of his institution to take part in the actions known as Covem, in which 14 people were arrested. One of the 14, a journalism student, Eduardo Jara, died as a consequence of the torture he received. (Derechos Chile)

LTC German Barriga,1986, Instructor
Repression of socialist party: According to testimony by Luz Arce, Barriga was in charge of repression of the socialist party by the DINA. (Primera Confesi?n desde el Interior de la DINA, Revista APS, Santiago de Chile). Note: On January 17, 2005, German Barriga lept to his death out of an 18th floor window of a recently finished building in downtown Santiago, Chile. He`d written a farewell letter explaining his decision. He`d been the object a few times of the "funa," a tactic that`s been developed by Chilean families of the tortured and disappeared in which a large group of people gather outside the home or office of a known torturer or murderer and create havoc with pots and pans and songs and let everyone within earshot know what this person did during the dictatorship. Barriga was also reported to have been involved in the disappearance of Jorge Mu?oz, the husband of Gladys Mar?n, the beloved ex-head of the Chilean Communist Party. For more information, visit www.lanacion.cl.

COL Pablo Belmar, 1987, Guest Instructor; 1968, Basic Arms Orientation
Course
Torture, murder of U.N. official, 1976: Directly implicated in the 1976
torture and murder of United
Nations official Carmelo Soria, whose neck was broken after he was
arrested and tortured by Chilean DINA personnel. Soria's car and body
were dumped in a Santiago canal in order to make his death appear
accidental. (Americas Watch Report, Unfinished Business: Human Rights in
Chile at the Start of the Frei Presidency, 1994) According to former
SOA instructor Maj. Joseph Blair, as a guest instructor in 1987, Belmar
was responsible for teaching the human rights component.

Alejandro Burgos, 1975, Basic Officer Orientation
Manipulation of Political Prisoners: According to testimony by Luz
Arce, Burgos was involved in a
plan to get left-wing political prisoners who had been tortured into
collaborating with the DINA to meet
with the U.S. Ambassador to show that they had changed their political
convictions. (Primera Confesi?n desde el Interior de la DINA, Revista
APS, Santiago de Chile)

COL Alfredo Canales, 1974, Basic Officer Orientation Course
Barred exhumation of body, July 14, 1994: In an event related to the
disappearance of four soldiers in 1974, Canales personally barred the
exhumation of a body believed to have been illegally buried on Army
premises. Canales had earlier given his approval to the exhumation.
(Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York Weekly News Update on
the Americas, 7/30/94)

Washington Carrasco Fernandez, 1961, Contra-Resistencia, Informacion
Militar para Oficiales
Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998: One of 30 officials cited in
the case against Augusto
Pinochet for crimes of genocide, terrorism, torture, and illegal arrest.
(Derechos Chile)

Sergio Espioza Davies, 1972, Combat Arms Orientation
Participation in Secretive War Tribunals, 1973: In October 1998, Human
Rights Watch wrote a letter
to the Secretary General of the United Nations requesting the removal of
Espinoza Davies as head of the
United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan because of
his role as a member of
secretive war tribunals which judged political opponents during the
Pinochet dictatorship. In one case in
October 1973, Espinoza’s tribunal sentenced six socialist leaders to
death after an irregular proceeding.
Four of the men were executed the next morning. (Human Rights Watch)

LTC Alfonso Faundez Norambuena, 1969, Chilean Officer Orienation
Concentration Camp: Faundez was active in the Villa Grimaldi
concentration camp in which nearly
4,500 prisoners were held. (Presos Pol?ticos de Chile)

1LT Armando Fernandez Larios, 1970, Combat Arms Orientation
"Caravan of death," 1973: Fernandez Larios was second in command to
General Sergio Arellano Stark,
whose tour of northern cities in 1973 resulted in dozens of summary
executions. (Americas Watch Report, Chile in Transition, 1989)
Assassination of former defense minister Prats and his wife, 1974:
Fernandez Larios was one of two DINA agents charged with assassinating
General Carlos Prats Gonz?lez, who was defense minister under the regime
Augusto Pinochet overthrew. Prats and his wife were killed by a car
bomb in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Americas Watch Report, Unfinished
Business: Human Rights in Chile at the Start of the Frei Presidency,
1994)
Assassination of former foreign minister Orlando Letelier, 1976:
Indicted in 1979 by U.S. grand jury for involvement in the Letelier
assassination in Washington, D.C., three years earlier. (Letelier,
Allende's foreign minister, was also murdered by a car bomb.) (Americas
Watch Report, Chile in Transition, 1989)

Humberto Gordon Rubio, 1954, Infantry Weapons; 1954, Operaciones y
Mantenamiento de Radio; 1955, Tank Gunnery Course
Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998: One of 30 officials cited in
the case against Augusto Pinochet for crimes of genocide, terrorism,
torture, and illegal arrest. Former head of the CNI secret police and
also former member of the military Junta. (Derechos Chile)

MAJ Carlos Herrera Jim?nez, 1971, Combat Arms Orientation
Torture, murder, 1984; murder, 1982: Sentenced in December 1991 for the
torture and murder of a transport worker in La Serena. Also implicated
in the abduction and murder of trade unionist Tucapel Jim?nez in 1982.
(Americas Watch Report, Unfinished Business: Human Rights in Chile at
the Start of the Frei Presidency, 1994)

Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, 1965, Basic Airborne Course
Exploitation of political prisoners: According to testimony by Luz
Arce, Iturriaga and other officers of
the DINA used political prisoners that had been tortured into
collaboration as secretaries and analysts in
their offices. (Primera Confesi?n desde el Interior de la DINA, Revista
APS, Santiago de Chile)

Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998: One of 30 officials cited in
the case against Augusto
Pinochet for crimes of genocide, terrorism, torture, and illegal arrest.
(Derechos Chile)

1LT Miguel Krassnoff, 1974, Urban Counterinsurgency Course
Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998: One of 30 officials cited in
the case of Augusto Pinochet for crimes of genocide, terrorism, torture,
and illegal arrest. A former member of the DINA, Krassnoff was known by
political prisoners held and tortured at Villa Grimaldi, Tress Alamos
and Cuatro Alamos. Implicated in the death by torture of former Spanish
diplomat Carmelo Soria in 1976. Took part in the assault on the
residence of former president Salvador Allende who was deposed by the
Army in Sept. 1973. (Derechos Chile)

LTC Fernando Lauriani, 1971, Combat Arms Orientation Course
Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998: One of 30 officials cited in
the case of Augusto Pinochet for crimes of genocide, terrorism, torture,
and illegal arrest. (Derechos Chile)
Kidnapping, disappearance, 1974: Implicated in the 1974 kidnapping and
disappearance of brothers
Juan Carlos and Jorge Elias Andr?nico Antequera, Lauriani's was one of
the few cases of military crimes
to be tried after Pinochet's brutal dictatorship. Unfortunately,
Pinochet brought all of his influence to
bear and the case was finally handed to a military court, which, of
course, absolved Lauriani and closed
the case. (Americas Watch Report, Unfinished Business: Human Rights in
Chile at the Start of the Frei Presidency, 1994)

COL Jaime Lepe Orellana, 1968, Basic Arms Orientation Course
Torture, murder of U.N. official, 1976: Directly implicated in the 1976
torture and murder of United
Nations official Carmelo Soria, whose neck was broken after he was
arrested by Chilean DINA
personnel. Soria's car and body were dumped in a Santiago canal in
order to make his death appear
accidental. At the time the case was reopened in 1991, Lepe was General
Pinochet's personal secretary.
(Americas Watch Report, Unfinished Business: Human Rights in Chile at
the Start of the Frei Presidency, 1994)

GEN Augusto Lutz, 1966, Comando y estado mayor
Coup: Lutz was one of the military officials who participated with
Pinochet in the coup against the
Allende government. (Juicio a Pinochet en Espa?a, Equipo Nizkor)

Odlanier Mena, 1970, Comando y Estado Mayor
Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998: One of 30 officials cited in
the case of Augusto Pinochet
for crimes of genocide, terrorism, torture, and illegal arrest.
(Derechos Chile)
Exploitation of prisoners: Luz Arce, a political prisoner who was
torutred by DINA officials, testified
that Mena offered her freedom in exchange for working three years as a
spy for the DINA. (Primera Confesi?n desde el Interior de la DINA,
Revista APS, Santiago de Chile)

LTC Manuel Rolando Mosqueira Jarpa, 1970, Combat Arms Orienation
Concentration camp: Mosqueira was active in the Villa Grimaldi
concentration camp in which more
than 4500 people were held. (Presos Pol?ticos de Chile)

COL Manuel Provis Carrasco, 1970, Combat Arms Orienation
Concentration camp: Provis was active in the Villa Grimaldi
concentration camp in which more than
4500 people were held. (Presos Pol?ticos de Chile)

COL Marco Antonio Saez Saavedra, 1970, Combat Arms Orientation
Concentration camp: Saez was active in the Villa Grimaldi concentration
camp in which more than
4500 people were held. (Presos Pol?ticos de Chile)

MAJ Guillermo Humberto Salinas Torres, 1974, Curso de Armas Combinadas
para Cadetes
Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998: One of 30 officials cited in
the case of Augusto Pinochet
for crimes of genocide, terrorism, torture, and illegal arrest.
(Derechos Chile)
Assassination, 1976: Salinas was linked to the assassination of Spanish
citizen Carmelo Soria.
However, due to Pinochet’s amnesty laws, the case was stayed. (Caso
Carmelo Soria, Equipo Nizkor)

Carlos Parera Silva, 1969, Irregular Warfare Operations
DINA: According to testimony by Luz Arce, Silva was one of the key
actors within the repressive forces of the DINA. (Primera Confesi?n
desde el Interior de la DINA, Revista APS, Santiago de Chile)

Rene Patricio Quilhot Palma, 1971, Combat Arms Orientation
Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998: One of 30 officials cited in
the case of Augusto Pinochet
for crimes of genocide, terrorism, torture, and illegal arrest.
(Derechos Chile)

COL Jose Zara, 1965, Basic Airborne; 1970, Basic Officer Orientation
Linked to Pratts assassination: According to lawyers working on the
case, Zara, as undersecretary of
the Foreign Relations department of the DINA, provided logistical
support for the assassination of the
ex-Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean army, General Carlos Prats and his
wife. (Situaci?n de derechos humanos en Chile durante el primer semestre
del 1996, Arzobispado de Santiago)