Original article: Cadena perpetua para teniente coronel (r) del Ejército por asesinato de 17 campesinos en las Termas de Chihuio en 1973

Life Sentence for Retired Colonel Convicted of Murdering 17 Farmers in 1973 Chihuio Massacre

The visiting minister of human rights cases at the Santiago Court of Appeals, Paola Plaza, has sentenced Marco Antonio Rubén Rodríguez, a retired colonel of the Army, to life imprisonment for his role in the qualified homicides of 17 farmers, including a minor, which took place in October 1973 in the Termas de Chihuio area, in the municipality of Futrono.

In her ruling, the magistrate found the former officer guilty of the qualified homicides of Carlos Maximiliano Acuña Inostroza, José Orlando Barriga Soto, José Rosamel Cortés Díaz, Neftalí Rubén Durán Zúñiga, Luis Arnaldo Ferrada Sandoval, Eliecer Sigisfredo Freire Caamaño, Narciso Segundo García Cancino, Juan Walter González Delgado, Daniel Méndez Méndez, Sebastián Mora Osses, Pedro Segundo Pedreros Ferreira, Rosendo Rebolledo Méndez, Ricardo Segundo Ruiz Rodríguez, Carlos Vicente Salinas Flores, Rubén Vargas Quezada, and the 17-year-old minor, Fernando Adrián Mora Gutiérrez.

«The magistrate ordered the defendant to be placed in preventive detention, despite this being a first-instance ruling, due to the severity of the sentence, the gravity of the crimes for which he was convicted, and the potential risk of him evading justice,» the Judicial Power bulletin reported.

The investigation led by Minister Plaza revealed that «in order to conceal the massacre, military and administrative authorities proceeded to conduct fake death registrations with the Civil Registry and Identification Service for various victims of this incident, indicating that the deaths occurred in the remote mountainous area of Liquiñe, attributing the fatalities to ‘unspecified causes’ dated October 9, 1973.»

«To lend an appearance of legality to these registrations, the mandatory appearance of conscripted soldiers from the ‘Cazadores’ Cavalry Regiment was required before the Civil Official, who were registered as living at the same military facility in Valdivia, forcing them to falsely testify as ‘witnesses for the validation of death’, despite having no knowledge of the victims,» the inquiry adds.

Check the details of Minister Paola Plaza’s investigation HERE

We will continue to provide updates.