The governor of Chile’s Region V, Luis Guastavino announced Chile’s plans to keep 100 percent of any treasure found on the Robinson Crusoe Island. The announcement came as a disappointment to both the citizens of the island as well as Wagner Technologies, the company that claims to have discovered the treasure.
Wagner Technologies claims to have discovered US$10 billion in gold and jewels using a mobile geo-radar robot named “Arturito” (ST, Sept 26). Fernando Uribe-Etxeverría, president of Wagner Technologies, later announced on Oct. 3 that the company was renouncing any claims to the treasure they may have had (ST, Oct 5).
Wagner had agreed to give the government the exact coordinates of the treasure they claim to have found, however, following statements made by Rodrigo Irrazábal, a company lawyer, on Wednesday, Wagner plans to withhold the location until a new government assumes power and the company can renegotiate a deal.
Government officials have raised the possibility of levying fines if the company refuses to submit the coordinates of the treasure they maintain lies buried on Robinson Crusoe Island.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
JUDGE IN HUBER CASE STARTS NEW ROUND OF INTERROGATIONS
The investigative judge in the Col. Huber murder case, Claudio Pavez, began another round of interrogations on Friday aimed at establishing who in Chile’s military hierarchy may have been involved in the 1992 murder of former Army Chief of Acquisitions Gerardo Huber.
Pavez began by questioning Capt. Pedro Araya, former technical secretary for Chile’s Army Weapons Factory (FAMAE). Araya was sentenced on August 4th to five years and one day in prison for his role in the 1991 illegal arms shipment to Croatia. Investigators have now linked the weapons scandal to Huber’s murder.
Col. Huber disappeared from a friend’s home in Cajón del Maipo on Jan 29, 1992, shortly before he was due to testify about his role in the illegal arms shipment. Huber had previously appeared before Hernan Correa, former investigative judge in the Croatia arms case, and appeared willing to cut a deal with prosecutors.
In Araya’s August testimony he implicated that seven high-ranking Chilean generals, including then Commander-in-Chief Gen. Augusto Pinochet, were ultimately responsible for the weapons scandal. In the August investigation, none of the implicated men were found guilty.
The decision to close the case without thoroughly investigating the generals was one of the reasons cited in the military court’s unanimous decision to reopen the case on Oct. 18. The decision by the court annulled Araya’s sentence as well as the sentences of other low-level military officials found guilty of weapons trafficking.
Another reason cited by the tribunal was the omission of a key document, signed by Gen. Pinochet, ordering military divisions in Regions I, II, and IV to send “operational” military weaponry to FAMAE for eventual shipment to Sri Lanka. The order followed a Nov. 20, 1991 Defense Ministry decision, titled Resolution 470, authorizing FAMAE to ship the weapons. Part of the shipment left the country on Nov. 30, 1991; it was seized by United Nations officials en route to Croatia the next day.
The document illustrates Gen. Pinochet’s involvement in the Croatia arms case and provides a possible motive for the eventual murder of Col. Huber.
On Monday, Chilean newspapers reported that Judge Pavez was also looking into the possibility that Col. Huber was held for a week before he was murdered and tossed into the Maipo River. Pavez is now investigating the possibility that Huber was taken to the Army Intelligence School, or to former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s home El Melocotón. Both buildings are located between the Toyo Bridge, where Huber’s abandoned car was discovered, and the area of the river where his body was found.
Pavez began by questioning Capt. Pedro Araya, former technical secretary for Chile’s Army Weapons Factory (FAMAE). Araya was sentenced on August 4th to five years and one day in prison for his role in the 1991 illegal arms shipment to Croatia. Investigators have now linked the weapons scandal to Huber’s murder.
Col. Huber disappeared from a friend’s home in Cajón del Maipo on Jan 29, 1992, shortly before he was due to testify about his role in the illegal arms shipment. Huber had previously appeared before Hernan Correa, former investigative judge in the Croatia arms case, and appeared willing to cut a deal with prosecutors.
In Araya’s August testimony he implicated that seven high-ranking Chilean generals, including then Commander-in-Chief Gen. Augusto Pinochet, were ultimately responsible for the weapons scandal. In the August investigation, none of the implicated men were found guilty.
The decision to close the case without thoroughly investigating the generals was one of the reasons cited in the military court’s unanimous decision to reopen the case on Oct. 18. The decision by the court annulled Araya’s sentence as well as the sentences of other low-level military officials found guilty of weapons trafficking.
Another reason cited by the tribunal was the omission of a key document, signed by Gen. Pinochet, ordering military divisions in Regions I, II, and IV to send “operational” military weaponry to FAMAE for eventual shipment to Sri Lanka. The order followed a Nov. 20, 1991 Defense Ministry decision, titled Resolution 470, authorizing FAMAE to ship the weapons. Part of the shipment left the country on Nov. 30, 1991; it was seized by United Nations officials en route to Croatia the next day.
The document illustrates Gen. Pinochet’s involvement in the Croatia arms case and provides a possible motive for the eventual murder of Col. Huber.
On Monday, Chilean newspapers reported that Judge Pavez was also looking into the possibility that Col. Huber was held for a week before he was murdered and tossed into the Maipo River. Pavez is now investigating the possibility that Huber was taken to the Army Intelligence School, or to former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s home El Melocotón. Both buildings are located between the Toyo Bridge, where Huber’s abandoned car was discovered, and the area of the river where his body was found.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
CHILE’S EX-GOVT SPOKESMAN SPEAKS OUT ON ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
President Lagos Was Nearly Killed After 1986 Attempt On Pinochet’s Life
When dead bodies started turning up in the streets of Santiago, hours after the Sept. 7, 1986 attempted assassination of former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, Francisco Cuadra, secretary general at the time, knew that something was going on.
By the end of the night, three men were found dead, their bodies riddled with bullets, and several political opposition leaders, including current president Ricardo Lagos, were being detained for their own safety.
“That was when we realized that these were revenge killings,” Cuadra said in a recent interview with Diario Siete. “We had been given no news that the National Intelligence Center (CNI) was carrying out an operation.”
On Sept. 7, 1986, Pinochet’s motorcade came under fire by militants as it traveled through Cajon del Maipo outside of Santiago. Two vehicles were destroyed by shoulder-fired missile-launchers and five government guards were killed in the attack.
Immediately after the attempt on Pinochet’s life, government officials from multiple branches of the military regime met at La Moneda, Chile’s presidential palace, to plan the government’s response to the attack.
Because officials at the scene did not capture any militants or find any of their bodies, government officials initially had no idea who was responsible for the attack on Pinochet. Some speculated that it was a military coup; others thought it was an assassination attempt by the CIA because of the sophisticated weaponry used in the fight.
It was later confirmed that the attack was carried out by operatives from the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FMPR), a Communist militant group. Officials monitored hospitals immediately after the attack for any gunshot victims seeking medical attention in the hopes of learning more about the identity of the attackers.
“There was total confusion,” said Cuadra. “The army had to initiate Plan Cobra, an operation that deployed forces to comb the hills of Cajon del Maipo.”
While he and other government officials were waiting for news in La Moneda, Gen. Humberto Gordon, director of the CNI, sent a coded message to the CNI anti-terrorist unit via Chile’s national television station TVN. The TV announcement that ran several times that day asked members of the Papillón Sports Club to meet in Colina for a public utility service meeting.
At the “Sports Club” meeting, Álvaro Corbalán, CNI operations chief, and Manuel Provis, then chief of the Army Intelligence Battalion (BIE), gave a list of names to Jorge Vargas, Iván Quiroz, Osvaldo Pinchetti, and other CNI agents of left-wing political activists that were to be killed in response to the attack on Gen. Pinochet.
Vargas and Quiroz testified last week to the events that transpired after their meeting with Corbalán and Provis, detailing their involvement in the murders of four left-wing political activists. Government officials and the victims’ families now know exactly what happened to the men killed that night.
The killings began at 2:15 in the morning, when masked men burst into the home of Felipe Rivera, an electrician and communist activist living in Pudahuel. Rivera was seized in front of his wife, Alicia Lira, and just a few hours later his dead body was found in the street. Next, the agents went to the home of Professor Gastón Vidaurrázaga, destroying the front door of his house and ripping him out of bed half-naked. He was taken a few kilometers from his house and shot 16 times with a submachine gun.
After the first two murders, the CNI agents went to the home of José Carrasco, editor of the opposition newspaper Análisis and director of Chile’s School of Journalism. At approximately 4 a.m., Vargas and Quiroz arrived at Carrasco’s house, threw the night watchman into their van, tied Carrasco’s door to their vehicle and ripped it off its hinges. They entered the house and beat Carrasco in front of his wife and children until they woke up the neighbors, then threw Carrasco into their van and sped off. At a nearby cemetery, they forced him to kneel down in front of a mural and shot him 14 times in the back.
While CNI agents were executing political activists around the city, Lagos was detained by Investigations Police forces, part of an attempt by the Ministry of the Interior to save the lives of potential political targets.
According to Hilario Muñoz, a former officer with Chile’s Investigations Police, his team arrived at Lagos’ house around 1 a.m. As they were escorting him out, a group of CNI agents arrived and ordered the police to hand Lagos over.
“They surrounded us with their vehicles and arrogantly demanded that we turn (Lagos) over,” said Muñoz. When the police arrived with Lagos at Gen. Mackenna prison, the CNI agents returned and once again demanded that the officers step aside. “At that point we had to load the UZI machine guns we were carrying,” said Muñoz. “We didn’t think the situation was going to be resolved with words.”
After seizing Lagos, the police went to the homes of the murdered men, only to find that the CNI had already been there.
When Cuadra was asked Monday about the event, he said, “I don’t know who gave the order, but I was informed that they were going to arrest opposition political leaders with the intent to save their lives.”
At the time of the killings, Cuadra reported for the government that the murders were a “typical purge within Marxist groups.” Investigators are now expected to question Cuadra about the discrepancy between his statements in 1986 and new information taken from recent testimonies.
When dead bodies started turning up in the streets of Santiago, hours after the Sept. 7, 1986 attempted assassination of former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, Francisco Cuadra, secretary general at the time, knew that something was going on.
By the end of the night, three men were found dead, their bodies riddled with bullets, and several political opposition leaders, including current president Ricardo Lagos, were being detained for their own safety.
“That was when we realized that these were revenge killings,” Cuadra said in a recent interview with Diario Siete. “We had been given no news that the National Intelligence Center (CNI) was carrying out an operation.”
On Sept. 7, 1986, Pinochet’s motorcade came under fire by militants as it traveled through Cajon del Maipo outside of Santiago. Two vehicles were destroyed by shoulder-fired missile-launchers and five government guards were killed in the attack.
Immediately after the attempt on Pinochet’s life, government officials from multiple branches of the military regime met at La Moneda, Chile’s presidential palace, to plan the government’s response to the attack.
Because officials at the scene did not capture any militants or find any of their bodies, government officials initially had no idea who was responsible for the attack on Pinochet. Some speculated that it was a military coup; others thought it was an assassination attempt by the CIA because of the sophisticated weaponry used in the fight.
It was later confirmed that the attack was carried out by operatives from the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FMPR), a Communist militant group. Officials monitored hospitals immediately after the attack for any gunshot victims seeking medical attention in the hopes of learning more about the identity of the attackers.
“There was total confusion,” said Cuadra. “The army had to initiate Plan Cobra, an operation that deployed forces to comb the hills of Cajon del Maipo.”
While he and other government officials were waiting for news in La Moneda, Gen. Humberto Gordon, director of the CNI, sent a coded message to the CNI anti-terrorist unit via Chile’s national television station TVN. The TV announcement that ran several times that day asked members of the Papillón Sports Club to meet in Colina for a public utility service meeting.
At the “Sports Club” meeting, Álvaro Corbalán, CNI operations chief, and Manuel Provis, then chief of the Army Intelligence Battalion (BIE), gave a list of names to Jorge Vargas, Iván Quiroz, Osvaldo Pinchetti, and other CNI agents of left-wing political activists that were to be killed in response to the attack on Gen. Pinochet.
Vargas and Quiroz testified last week to the events that transpired after their meeting with Corbalán and Provis, detailing their involvement in the murders of four left-wing political activists. Government officials and the victims’ families now know exactly what happened to the men killed that night.
The killings began at 2:15 in the morning, when masked men burst into the home of Felipe Rivera, an electrician and communist activist living in Pudahuel. Rivera was seized in front of his wife, Alicia Lira, and just a few hours later his dead body was found in the street. Next, the agents went to the home of Professor Gastón Vidaurrázaga, destroying the front door of his house and ripping him out of bed half-naked. He was taken a few kilometers from his house and shot 16 times with a submachine gun.
After the first two murders, the CNI agents went to the home of José Carrasco, editor of the opposition newspaper Análisis and director of Chile’s School of Journalism. At approximately 4 a.m., Vargas and Quiroz arrived at Carrasco’s house, threw the night watchman into their van, tied Carrasco’s door to their vehicle and ripped it off its hinges. They entered the house and beat Carrasco in front of his wife and children until they woke up the neighbors, then threw Carrasco into their van and sped off. At a nearby cemetery, they forced him to kneel down in front of a mural and shot him 14 times in the back.
While CNI agents were executing political activists around the city, Lagos was detained by Investigations Police forces, part of an attempt by the Ministry of the Interior to save the lives of potential political targets.
According to Hilario Muñoz, a former officer with Chile’s Investigations Police, his team arrived at Lagos’ house around 1 a.m. As they were escorting him out, a group of CNI agents arrived and ordered the police to hand Lagos over.
“They surrounded us with their vehicles and arrogantly demanded that we turn (Lagos) over,” said Muñoz. When the police arrived with Lagos at Gen. Mackenna prison, the CNI agents returned and once again demanded that the officers step aside. “At that point we had to load the UZI machine guns we were carrying,” said Muñoz. “We didn’t think the situation was going to be resolved with words.”
After seizing Lagos, the police went to the homes of the murdered men, only to find that the CNI had already been there.
When Cuadra was asked Monday about the event, he said, “I don’t know who gave the order, but I was informed that they were going to arrest opposition political leaders with the intent to save their lives.”
At the time of the killings, Cuadra reported for the government that the murders were a “typical purge within Marxist groups.” Investigators are now expected to question Cuadra about the discrepancy between his statements in 1986 and new information taken from recent testimonies.
Monday, October 24, 2005
MENEM COMES IN SECOND IN ARGENTINE ELECTIONS
Carlos Menem, former president of Argentina and the senate candidate for the Justice Party (PJ) suffered a devastating defeat to Victory Front (FV) candidate Angel Maza on Sunday in his home province of La Rioja. While the 39.9 percent of the vote Menem received is enough to give him a minority seat in the senate, the poor showing at the polls all but ends his hopes for a shot at the 2007 presidential elections.
The mid term elections were widely seen as a reaffirmation of President Néstor Kirchner’s (PV) mandate. Kirchner’s wife, Cristina Fernández (FV), also won a senate seat in the capital city of Buenos Aires, the country’s most populous region, as well as his sister, Alicia Kirchner (FV) in the province of Santa Cruz. With the party’s recent gains around the country, Kirchner is expected to expand his popular social and economic programs that have helped improve Argentina’s economy over the last three years.
Kirchner was elected president in 2003 after receiving only 22 percent of the vote. While initially winning a low percentage, he was automatically declared the winner after Menem, president of Argentina between 1989 and 1999, pulled out of the second round run-off elections.
Menem had hoped that strong support in Sunday’s elections could propel him back into Argentine politics; however, the poor showing all but ends any future political career he may have had.
Part of Menem’s low polling can be attributed to corruption scandals that have dogged him since he stepped down from power in 1999. In 2001 he was arrested for illegal weapons trafficking to Ecuador and Croatia. After denying all charges in 2002 he moved to Chile with his new wife, Cecilia Bolocco, Chile’s Miss Universe 1987.
Shortly thereafter, Argentina charged Menem with tax fraud and sought his extradition from Chile. Menem managed to keep his name in the papers with a protracted legal battle between Chile and Argentina over Menem’s extradition to Argentina to face fraud charges.
Last December all arrest warrants were dropped against Menem. His wife Cecilia Bolocco remains in Chile with their two year old son Maximo.
The mid term elections were widely seen as a reaffirmation of President Néstor Kirchner’s (PV) mandate. Kirchner’s wife, Cristina Fernández (FV), also won a senate seat in the capital city of Buenos Aires, the country’s most populous region, as well as his sister, Alicia Kirchner (FV) in the province of Santa Cruz. With the party’s recent gains around the country, Kirchner is expected to expand his popular social and economic programs that have helped improve Argentina’s economy over the last three years.
Kirchner was elected president in 2003 after receiving only 22 percent of the vote. While initially winning a low percentage, he was automatically declared the winner after Menem, president of Argentina between 1989 and 1999, pulled out of the second round run-off elections.
Menem had hoped that strong support in Sunday’s elections could propel him back into Argentine politics; however, the poor showing all but ends any future political career he may have had.
Part of Menem’s low polling can be attributed to corruption scandals that have dogged him since he stepped down from power in 1999. In 2001 he was arrested for illegal weapons trafficking to Ecuador and Croatia. After denying all charges in 2002 he moved to Chile with his new wife, Cecilia Bolocco, Chile’s Miss Universe 1987.
Shortly thereafter, Argentina charged Menem with tax fraud and sought his extradition from Chile. Menem managed to keep his name in the papers with a protracted legal battle between Chile and Argentina over Menem’s extradition to Argentina to face fraud charges.
Last December all arrest warrants were dropped against Menem. His wife Cecilia Bolocco remains in Chile with their two year old son Maximo.
DONKEY RODEO REVIVES OLD TRADITIONS
There is nothing quite like four thousand donkeys charging across the desert. If you missed last week’s annual donkey rodeo in Carrizallo you missed a riveting show of traditional customs, folklore, and food from an area much changed by modern technology.
Carrizallo’s donkey rodeo dates back to Colonial times when the animal was widely used to transport the regions mineral wealth to the coast. Since modern transportation came to the mines, the donkey has taken a back seat to the 18-wheeler. Their worth now comes from their important role in a favorite local dish; donkey sausage.
At the rodeo, over 1,000 “donkeyboys” participated in events including lasso competitions, ass roping, as well as festive donkey trading where a smooth talker can find deals for as low as US$40.
The festival ended last Saturday with the traditional donkey barbeque where tourists from all over the world had a chance to sample yet another distinctive taste of Chile.
Carrizallo’s donkey rodeo dates back to Colonial times when the animal was widely used to transport the regions mineral wealth to the coast. Since modern transportation came to the mines, the donkey has taken a back seat to the 18-wheeler. Their worth now comes from their important role in a favorite local dish; donkey sausage.
At the rodeo, over 1,000 “donkeyboys” participated in events including lasso competitions, ass roping, as well as festive donkey trading where a smooth talker can find deals for as low as US$40.
The festival ended last Saturday with the traditional donkey barbeque where tourists from all over the world had a chance to sample yet another distinctive taste of Chile.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
ENDESA DEFENDS HYDROELECTRIC PROJECTS
Rafael Mateo, general manager of Electric Power and Distribution Company (ENDESA), said last week that he believes that the four new hydroelectric power plants the company plans to build in Region XI are “national projects,” and not just good business.
ENDESA has recently encountered strong criticism from environmentalists around the world in response to its plans to dam two rivers, the Pascua and Baker Rivers, in four different places in southern Chile.
In response, Robert Kennedy, president of Waterkeeper Alliance, the largest environmental network in the United States that concentrates on protecting its waters, recently gave an interview to the Chilean magazine Qué Pasa saying that if Chilean environmental groups decided to mount a campaign against the projects, his group would support the action. (Ed. Note: see today’s feature article for Robert Kennedy’s interview with Qué Pasa magazine.).
Kennedy plans to bring U.S. celebrities and Chilean politicians to the rivers in March 2006 to help raise awareness of the threatened area.
ENDESA expects to begin the project in the extreme south of Chile by 2008. Investors expect to commit more than US$4 billion to the construction of the dams. The company has announced plans to construct these dams with more regard for the environment than its last project, the Ralco Dam on the BioBio River.
The construction of the US$580 million Ralco plant was complicated by disputes with Pehuenche indigenous families, whose territory was flooded, resulting in continuous work interruptions and lawsuits (ST, Sept. 28, 2004).
Of the Ralco project, Mateo said that “the management of this project was not the best that it could have been.” However, he added, “(The new dams) are exemplary environmental projects.”
ENDESA has plans to sign a contract with Transelec, a Canadian company, to install the electric lines that will carry the power created at the plants north to the center of Chile. “We understand that Transelec has an interest in this project,” said Mateo. “Transelec is a vital point.”
ENDESA has recently encountered strong criticism from environmentalists around the world in response to its plans to dam two rivers, the Pascua and Baker Rivers, in four different places in southern Chile.
In response, Robert Kennedy, president of Waterkeeper Alliance, the largest environmental network in the United States that concentrates on protecting its waters, recently gave an interview to the Chilean magazine Qué Pasa saying that if Chilean environmental groups decided to mount a campaign against the projects, his group would support the action. (Ed. Note: see today’s feature article for Robert Kennedy’s interview with Qué Pasa magazine.).
Kennedy plans to bring U.S. celebrities and Chilean politicians to the rivers in March 2006 to help raise awareness of the threatened area.
ENDESA expects to begin the project in the extreme south of Chile by 2008. Investors expect to commit more than US$4 billion to the construction of the dams. The company has announced plans to construct these dams with more regard for the environment than its last project, the Ralco Dam on the BioBio River.
The construction of the US$580 million Ralco plant was complicated by disputes with Pehuenche indigenous families, whose territory was flooded, resulting in continuous work interruptions and lawsuits (ST, Sept. 28, 2004).
Of the Ralco project, Mateo said that “the management of this project was not the best that it could have been.” However, he added, “(The new dams) are exemplary environmental projects.”
ENDESA has plans to sign a contract with Transelec, a Canadian company, to install the electric lines that will carry the power created at the plants north to the center of Chile. “We understand that Transelec has an interest in this project,” said Mateo. “Transelec is a vital point.”
NEW JUDGE FOR RIGGS BANK CASE
Judge Jorge Zepeda has been named to replace Sergio Muñoz on the Riggs Bank case, the special investigation into former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s secret bank accounts. Judge Muñoz left the investigation after being appointed to Chile’s Supreme Court last Tuesday (ST, Oct. 20).
Zepeda’s fist move after assuming control of the investigation was to reiterate an order requiring Gen. Pinochet’s wife, Lucía Hiriart, and his youngest son, Marco Antonio, to present themselves to the police for booking procedures: to have a mug shot photographs and fingerprints taken.
Muñoz had previously given the pair five days to comply with the order or risk being arrested. Marco Antonio appeared at the Civil Registrar’s offices on Friday. Hiriart has yet to comply with the order.
Pinochet’s family members are being investigated for their role in the complex money laundering scheme discovered in 2004 by a U.S. senate money laundering report. The report found that Washington, D.C.-based Riggs Bank helped the former dictator hide between US$4 and 8 million in bribes and illegal commissions related to the sale of Chilean military weaponry (ST, Oct 10). Before leaving the case, Muñoz determined Pinochet’s secret wealth to be about US$27 million.
Zepeda’s fist move after assuming control of the investigation was to reiterate an order requiring Gen. Pinochet’s wife, Lucía Hiriart, and his youngest son, Marco Antonio, to present themselves to the police for booking procedures: to have a mug shot photographs and fingerprints taken.
Muñoz had previously given the pair five days to comply with the order or risk being arrested. Marco Antonio appeared at the Civil Registrar’s offices on Friday. Hiriart has yet to comply with the order.
Pinochet’s family members are being investigated for their role in the complex money laundering scheme discovered in 2004 by a U.S. senate money laundering report. The report found that Washington, D.C.-based Riggs Bank helped the former dictator hide between US$4 and 8 million in bribes and illegal commissions related to the sale of Chilean military weaponry (ST, Oct 10). Before leaving the case, Muñoz determined Pinochet’s secret wealth to be about US$27 million.
CNI AGENTS CONFESS TO MURDERS
Two Pinochet-era secret police agents confessed last week to the murder of four Pinochet opponents immediately after the Sept. 7, 1986 attempt on Gen. Pinochet’s life. The executions were part the government’s effort to seek revenge against political opponents in the wake of the failed assassination attempt.
But for the timely intervention of the police, Ricardo Lagos, then a political leader, may well have been the group’s fifth victim.
Jorge Vargas and Iván Quiroz, former agents of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), Chile’s secret police, confessed to the murders of José Carrasco, Felipe Rivera, Gastón Vidaurrázaga, and Abraham Muskatblit.
The murders came after the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FMPR), a left-wing opposition group, attacked Pinochet’s motorcade as it traveled through the Maipo River canyon, just outside of Santiago. The group killed 5 of Pinochet’s guards but failed to assassinate the general.
According to the killers’ confessions, Gen. Humberto Gordon, then director of the CNI, called a meeting of the heads of CNI security operations teams to coordinate the military regime’s response to the attack. Following the meeting, Álvaro Corbalán, CNI operations chief, and Manuel Provis, then chief of the Army Intelligence Battalion (BIE), gave a list of names to Vargas and Quiroz of opposition members to be executed.
Of the four men murdered, José Carrasco has received the most attention because of his prominent role as a journalist and editor. The agents arrived at Carrasco’s home the morning of Sept. 8, 1986 at 4:15 a.m., barging through his front door off with a police van. They then dragged him out of the house in front of his entire family and took him to a nearby cemetery, where they shot him in the back.
Felipe Rivera and Gastón Vidaurrázaga were also murdered that night and executed in a similar fashion to Carrasco. Abraham Muskatblit was seized in the middle of the night two days later; his dead body, found a few hours later, was littered with more than a dozen gunshot wounds.
Another person on the list – Luis Toro, an attorney with the Catholic Church’s human rights organization, the Vicaria of Solidarity – escaped execution because his house was well barricaded and because neighbors bravely intervened from their own homes, turning on lights and calling out to the secret police operatives.
President Ricardo Lagos also might have been killed immediately after the Pinochet assassination attempt, were it not for the intervention of police officer Hilario Muñoz, a former student of Lagos. According to Muñoz, as soon as he saw the list of names of those that were to be executed, he sent a team of police officers to Lagos’ house to bring him into the station for “investigation.” Lagos remained jailed for four days.
After seizing Lagos, the police went to the other homes, only to find that the CNI had already been there.
Following the confessions, President Lagos last week acknowledged that he had come very close to losing his life in 1986 and expressed remorse that the police arrived late at the houses of the other murdered men.
But for the timely intervention of the police, Ricardo Lagos, then a political leader, may well have been the group’s fifth victim.
Jorge Vargas and Iván Quiroz, former agents of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), Chile’s secret police, confessed to the murders of José Carrasco, Felipe Rivera, Gastón Vidaurrázaga, and Abraham Muskatblit.
The murders came after the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FMPR), a left-wing opposition group, attacked Pinochet’s motorcade as it traveled through the Maipo River canyon, just outside of Santiago. The group killed 5 of Pinochet’s guards but failed to assassinate the general.
According to the killers’ confessions, Gen. Humberto Gordon, then director of the CNI, called a meeting of the heads of CNI security operations teams to coordinate the military regime’s response to the attack. Following the meeting, Álvaro Corbalán, CNI operations chief, and Manuel Provis, then chief of the Army Intelligence Battalion (BIE), gave a list of names to Vargas and Quiroz of opposition members to be executed.
Of the four men murdered, José Carrasco has received the most attention because of his prominent role as a journalist and editor. The agents arrived at Carrasco’s home the morning of Sept. 8, 1986 at 4:15 a.m., barging through his front door off with a police van. They then dragged him out of the house in front of his entire family and took him to a nearby cemetery, where they shot him in the back.
Felipe Rivera and Gastón Vidaurrázaga were also murdered that night and executed in a similar fashion to Carrasco. Abraham Muskatblit was seized in the middle of the night two days later; his dead body, found a few hours later, was littered with more than a dozen gunshot wounds.
Another person on the list – Luis Toro, an attorney with the Catholic Church’s human rights organization, the Vicaria of Solidarity – escaped execution because his house was well barricaded and because neighbors bravely intervened from their own homes, turning on lights and calling out to the secret police operatives.
President Ricardo Lagos also might have been killed immediately after the Pinochet assassination attempt, were it not for the intervention of police officer Hilario Muñoz, a former student of Lagos. According to Muñoz, as soon as he saw the list of names of those that were to be executed, he sent a team of police officers to Lagos’ house to bring him into the station for “investigation.” Lagos remained jailed for four days.
After seizing Lagos, the police went to the other homes, only to find that the CNI had already been there.
Following the confessions, President Lagos last week acknowledged that he had come very close to losing his life in 1986 and expressed remorse that the police arrived late at the houses of the other murdered men.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
COLONIA DIGNIDAD LEADER CONFESSES
Harmutt Hopp, second-in-command at Colonia Dignidad, confessed to Chilean investigators Monday that Álvaro Vallejos, a left-wing leader “disappeared” by the Pinochet military regime in 1974, was in fact brought to the colony, a charge that colony leaders have long denied. Colonia Dignidad was a right-wing paramilitary compound occupied by German immigrants who belonged to has long been suspected of collaborating with the former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet during the 17-year rule of his military regime.
Hopp was detained by Chilean investigators in May on charges of human rights violations following the March arrest of former colony leader Paul Schäfer, outside of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Schäfer was wanted on charges of serial child molestation (ST, August 29).
Since Hopp’s arrest, police have found an extraordinary amount of sophisticated military weaponry buried on the property as well as over 30,000 individual intelligence profiles, compiled by the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA), the secret police blamed for thousands of tortures and disappearances during the military regime.
Last week, Jorge Zepeda, the lead investigator in the case, announced plans to move forward with the excavation of three more sites on the property believed to contain the bodies of 30 political prisoners thought to have been executed at the Colonia Dignidad compound during the dictatorship.
Hopp’s confession marks the first time that any of the former colony leaders have implicated their former leader in crimes that took place at the colony compound. According to Cecilia Pastén, a judicial functionary present at the hearing, Hopp also confessed that members of the Colony knowingly participated in the buried weapons scandal, a charge he previously denied.
Chilean officials are also beginning investigations into colony bank accounts held by Schäfer and the colony in various banks on the Caribbean Islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis. However, strict secrecy laws regarding banking procedures may make the investigation impossible.
In related news, Ewald Frank, Colonia Dignidad’s German evangelical preacher, was deported from Chile on Tuesday after trying to enter the country to take part in a wedding of two colony members. Chile’s Ministry of the Interior deemed Frank a public nuisance and evoked the Law of Foreign Visitors to send him back to Germany.
Hopp was detained by Chilean investigators in May on charges of human rights violations following the March arrest of former colony leader Paul Schäfer, outside of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Schäfer was wanted on charges of serial child molestation (ST, August 29).
Since Hopp’s arrest, police have found an extraordinary amount of sophisticated military weaponry buried on the property as well as over 30,000 individual intelligence profiles, compiled by the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA), the secret police blamed for thousands of tortures and disappearances during the military regime.
Last week, Jorge Zepeda, the lead investigator in the case, announced plans to move forward with the excavation of three more sites on the property believed to contain the bodies of 30 political prisoners thought to have been executed at the Colonia Dignidad compound during the dictatorship.
Hopp’s confession marks the first time that any of the former colony leaders have implicated their former leader in crimes that took place at the colony compound. According to Cecilia Pastén, a judicial functionary present at the hearing, Hopp also confessed that members of the Colony knowingly participated in the buried weapons scandal, a charge he previously denied.
Chilean officials are also beginning investigations into colony bank accounts held by Schäfer and the colony in various banks on the Caribbean Islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis. However, strict secrecy laws regarding banking procedures may make the investigation impossible.
In related news, Ewald Frank, Colonia Dignidad’s German evangelical preacher, was deported from Chile on Tuesday after trying to enter the country to take part in a wedding of two colony members. Chile’s Ministry of the Interior deemed Frank a public nuisance and evoked the Law of Foreign Visitors to send him back to Germany.
COLONIA DIGNIDAD LEADER CONFESSES
Harmutt Hopp, second-in-command at Colonia Dignidad, confessed to Chilean investigators Monday that Álvaro Vallejos, a left-wing leader “disappeared” by the Pinochet military regime in 1974, was in fact brought to the colony, a charge that colony leaders have long denied. Colonia Dignidad was a right-wing paramilitary compound occupied by German immigrants who belonged to has long been suspected of collaborating with the former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet during the 17-year rule of his military regime.
Hopp was detained by Chilean investigators in May on charges of human rights violations following the March arrest of former colony leader Paul Schäfer, outside of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Schäfer was wanted on charges of serial child molestation (ST, August 29).
Since Hopp’s arrest, police have found an extraordinary amount of sophisticated military weaponry buried on the property as well as over 30,000 individual intelligence profiles, compiled by the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA), the secret police blamed for thousands of tortures and disappearances during the military regime.
Last week, Jorge Zepeda, the lead investigator in the case, announced plans to move forward with the excavation of three more sites on the property believed to contain the bodies of 30 political prisoners thought to have been executed at the Colonia Dignidad compound during the dictatorship.
Hopp’s confession marks the first time that any of the former colony leaders have implicated their former leader in crimes that took place at the colony compound. According to Cecilia Pastén, a judicial functionary present at the hearing, Hopp also confessed that members of the Colony knowingly participated in the buried weapons scandal, a charge he previously denied.
Chilean officials are also beginning investigations into colony bank accounts held by Schäfer and the colony in various banks on the Caribbean Islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis. However, strict secrecy laws regarding banking procedures may make the investigation impossible.
In related news, Ewald Frank, Colonia Dignidad’s German evangelical preacher, was deported from Chile on Tuesday after trying to enter the country to take part in a wedding of two colony members. Chile’s Ministry of the Interior deemed Frank a public nuisance and evoked the Law of Foreign Visitors to send him back to Germany.
Hopp was detained by Chilean investigators in May on charges of human rights violations following the March arrest of former colony leader Paul Schäfer, outside of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Schäfer was wanted on charges of serial child molestation (ST, August 29).
Since Hopp’s arrest, police have found an extraordinary amount of sophisticated military weaponry buried on the property as well as over 30,000 individual intelligence profiles, compiled by the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA), the secret police blamed for thousands of tortures and disappearances during the military regime.
Last week, Jorge Zepeda, the lead investigator in the case, announced plans to move forward with the excavation of three more sites on the property believed to contain the bodies of 30 political prisoners thought to have been executed at the Colonia Dignidad compound during the dictatorship.
Hopp’s confession marks the first time that any of the former colony leaders have implicated their former leader in crimes that took place at the colony compound. According to Cecilia Pastén, a judicial functionary present at the hearing, Hopp also confessed that members of the Colony knowingly participated in the buried weapons scandal, a charge he previously denied.
Chilean officials are also beginning investigations into colony bank accounts held by Schäfer and the colony in various banks on the Caribbean Islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis. However, strict secrecy laws regarding banking procedures may make the investigation impossible.
In related news, Ewald Frank, Colonia Dignidad’s German evangelical preacher, was deported from Chile on Tuesday after trying to enter the country to take part in a wedding of two colony members. Chile’s Ministry of the Interior deemed Frank a public nuisance and evoked the Law of Foreign Visitors to send him back to Germany.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
CHILE’S RELATIONS WITH THE U.S. “COULD NOT BE BETTER”
U.S. Ambassador Craig Kelly Applauds “Win-Win” Relationship
Following a speech entitled “Hurricane Katrina and the Other Tempests: Iraq, Castro, and Chávez,” U.S. Ambassador to Chile Craig Kelly fielded questions on Tuesday about U.S. interests in Chile and explained recent world events from a U.S. government perspective.
Kelly gave a very positive appraisal of U.S.-Chile relations, citing a doubling of commercial enterprises over the past several years between the two countries as a “win-win” situation. “Our relationship could not be any better,” Kelly said.
Media at the meeting questioned the ambassador’s stance, pointing out the tense relationships between the countries after Chile refused to support the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, as well as the recent scandal surrounding the Washington, D.C-based Riggs Bank, which helped former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet launder millions of dollars in illegal weapons sales commissions.
Kelly acknowledged disagreement over the Iraq invasion, but pointed out that Chile is now fully participating in the reconstruction of Iraq. Regarding the Riggs Bank’s participation in hiding Pinochet’s suspect wealth, the ambassador noted that the U.S. has fully cooperated in the investigations into Gen. Pinochet’s secret fortune.
To further bolster his positive assessment of the two nation’s relationship, Kelly noted there has been a doubling in bilateral trade between Chile and the U.S since the two countries signed a free trade agreement in 2003. Prior to that year, U.S. agriculture exports to Chile faced an eight percent tariff that put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage, behind the European Union, Canada, and Mercosur countries in South America.
According to Kelly, the positive results of Chile’s free trade agreement with the U.S. were an influential factor in helping pass the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) in the U.S. House of Representatives this past July. The controversial trade agreement was narrowly passed by one vote.
While increased U.S. business relations between the countries was the meeting’s focal point, other issues touched upon included the upcoming elections in Chile, as well as questions related to U.S. views of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the U.S. embargo on Cuba.
Ambassador Kelly refused to make any specific statement about Chile’s upcoming December elections, which will likely be won by center-left Concertación leader Michelle Bachelet. He said that any comments by the U.S. ambassador could be seen as intervention in Chile’s national politics. However, Kelly did say that he believed the election was “another indication of the strong democracy here in Chile.”
When asked about the U.S. position regarding the democratically elected government of Hugo Chávez, Kelly stuck to the State Department line that “democratically elected countries should govern democratically.”
Relations between the U.S. and Venezuela have been strained since allegations that the George W. Bush administration helped fund opposition groups that briefly overthrew Chavez in April, 2002. Most recently, U.S. Evangelical Christian preacher Pat Robertson called on the Bush administration to assassinate Chavez, because it would be “a whole lot cheaper than starting a war” (ST, Aug. 25). U.S. government officials called Robertson’s remarks “completely baseless and without fact” and said they “do not represent the views of the United States.”
Journalists at the meeting also questioned Kelly regarding the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Last week, several leaders of Iberoamerican states condemned the embargo at the annual Iberoamerican Summit in Salamanca, Spain (ST, Oct. 11). When asked what he thought about the condemnation, Kelly simply laughed off the question. “It’s not the first time we have heard this criticism,” he said.
Following a speech entitled “Hurricane Katrina and the Other Tempests: Iraq, Castro, and Chávez,” U.S. Ambassador to Chile Craig Kelly fielded questions on Tuesday about U.S. interests in Chile and explained recent world events from a U.S. government perspective.
Kelly gave a very positive appraisal of U.S.-Chile relations, citing a doubling of commercial enterprises over the past several years between the two countries as a “win-win” situation. “Our relationship could not be any better,” Kelly said.
Media at the meeting questioned the ambassador’s stance, pointing out the tense relationships between the countries after Chile refused to support the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, as well as the recent scandal surrounding the Washington, D.C-based Riggs Bank, which helped former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet launder millions of dollars in illegal weapons sales commissions.
Kelly acknowledged disagreement over the Iraq invasion, but pointed out that Chile is now fully participating in the reconstruction of Iraq. Regarding the Riggs Bank’s participation in hiding Pinochet’s suspect wealth, the ambassador noted that the U.S. has fully cooperated in the investigations into Gen. Pinochet’s secret fortune.
To further bolster his positive assessment of the two nation’s relationship, Kelly noted there has been a doubling in bilateral trade between Chile and the U.S since the two countries signed a free trade agreement in 2003. Prior to that year, U.S. agriculture exports to Chile faced an eight percent tariff that put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage, behind the European Union, Canada, and Mercosur countries in South America.
According to Kelly, the positive results of Chile’s free trade agreement with the U.S. were an influential factor in helping pass the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) in the U.S. House of Representatives this past July. The controversial trade agreement was narrowly passed by one vote.
While increased U.S. business relations between the countries was the meeting’s focal point, other issues touched upon included the upcoming elections in Chile, as well as questions related to U.S. views of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the U.S. embargo on Cuba.
Ambassador Kelly refused to make any specific statement about Chile’s upcoming December elections, which will likely be won by center-left Concertación leader Michelle Bachelet. He said that any comments by the U.S. ambassador could be seen as intervention in Chile’s national politics. However, Kelly did say that he believed the election was “another indication of the strong democracy here in Chile.”
When asked about the U.S. position regarding the democratically elected government of Hugo Chávez, Kelly stuck to the State Department line that “democratically elected countries should govern democratically.”
Relations between the U.S. and Venezuela have been strained since allegations that the George W. Bush administration helped fund opposition groups that briefly overthrew Chavez in April, 2002. Most recently, U.S. Evangelical Christian preacher Pat Robertson called on the Bush administration to assassinate Chavez, because it would be “a whole lot cheaper than starting a war” (ST, Aug. 25). U.S. government officials called Robertson’s remarks “completely baseless and without fact” and said they “do not represent the views of the United States.”
Journalists at the meeting also questioned Kelly regarding the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Last week, several leaders of Iberoamerican states condemned the embargo at the annual Iberoamerican Summit in Salamanca, Spain (ST, Oct. 11). When asked what he thought about the condemnation, Kelly simply laughed off the question. “It’s not the first time we have heard this criticism,” he said.
Monday, October 17, 2005
PINOCHET’S SECRET FORTUNE OFFICIALLY TIED TO CHILE’S ARMS SALES
Investigators In Huber Murder Seek Information from Riggs Bank Case
Chilean government prosecutors officially linked former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s secret fortune to illegal commissions and bribes he received from military weapons sales that took place while he was the commander in chief of Chile’s army.
In a presentation before the Supreme Court last Thursday, María Teresa Muñoz, prosecutor for the Metropolitan Region of the State Defense Council (CDE), presented evidence linking Pinochet’s secret bank accounts to Chilean weapons sales.
The move comes after more than a year of investigations into a complex scheme first brought to light by a U.S. Senate money laundering report accusing the Washington, D.C.-based Riggs Bank of helping the former dictator launder between US$4 and $8 million (ST, July 16, 2004). Since the report was made public, Chilean prosecutors have discovered totals of over US$26 million more in various secret bank accounts, offshore holdings companies located in the Cayman and Virgin Islands, and multiple Swiss bank accounts.
In a presentation on October 6 to defense and plaintiffs’ attorneys, Judge Sergio Muñoz gave a detailed explanation of the findings in the Riggs Bank case so far, leading to the CDE’s allegations last Thursday (ST, Oct 10).
In a separate but related military investigation into the 1992 murder of Colonel Gerardo Huber, former Chief of Acquisitions for the Army, Judge Claudio Pavez, the lead investigator in the military case, requested information from Judge Muñoz regarding bank accounts opened in the name of Gerardo Huber and his widow, Adriana Polloni, in the New York branch of the Banco de Chile.
The U.S. government fined the Banco de Chile US$3 million last Wednesday for aiding Pinochet in laundering his illegal fortune. The bank is owned by Andronico Luksic, an influential Chilean businessman who has made headlines recently after a Peruvian court issued an international arrest warrant against him for his part in bribing officials in former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori’s administration (ST, Oct. 13).
The military investigation led by Judge Pavez is trying to close in on those responsible for the murder of Col. Huber 13 years ago. It is now clear that the murder was related to an illegal arms sales to Croatia in 1991. Sources working with investigators said that Arturo Silva, former member of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DINE) as well as the man indicted for the 1995 kidnapping/murder of Eugenio Berrios (a Pinochet-era secret police chemist believed to have developed the lethal sarin gas) was questioned last Friday about a possible connection between the modus operandi of Huber’s murder and that of Berrios’.
Berrios was one of a number of former Pinochet-era men smuggled out of Chile in the years after the transition to democracy. Most disappeared immediately after being subpoenaed or indicted for crimes committed during the 17-year military regime. While some, such as Pinochet’s oldest son Augusto Jr., reappeared unscathed, many, like Berrios, were never seen alive again.
In Jan of 1992, Col. Huber was questioned by then-lead investigator Hernan Carrea about his role in an illegal weapons sale to Croatia. In the interview, Huber implicated Gen. Carlos Krumm, a high-ranking military official at the time, as the man responsible for ordering him to begin work on the illegal arms exportation. Following this interview Col. Huber was called to testify before a special tribunal investigating the crime but disappeared one week after speaking to Carrera. Huber’s body was found three weeks later floating in the Maipo River outside of Santiago.
As Pavez continues his investigation into the murder of Col. Huber, other mysterious deaths are resurfacing as possibly linked to the cover-up of the illegal arms sale.
Carrera himself died suddenly in a military hospital, 11 months after Huber’s death. He was replaced by Judge Ricardo Galvez, now a member of Chile’s Supreme Court, who closed the investigation shortly after Carrera’s death.
Blas Meriño, Col. Huber’s former chauffeur, also died unexpectedly after reportedly committing suicide inside his car in August of 1995. Judge Pavez has reopened the case after learning that the pistol Meriño reportedly killed himself with was found in the passenger seat of his car. Those close to Meriño say he was left-handed and would probably not have used his right hand to commit suicide.
Officials hope to learn more about the perpetrators of Col. Huber’s murder by studying records gleaned from investigations into the Riggs Bank case. Chile’s Supreme Court is due to decide whether or not to strip Gen. Pinochet of his immunity from prosecution in the Riggs Bank case this week, which may help shed light on the other crimes surrounding the weapons sales.
Chilean government prosecutors officially linked former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s secret fortune to illegal commissions and bribes he received from military weapons sales that took place while he was the commander in chief of Chile’s army.
In a presentation before the Supreme Court last Thursday, María Teresa Muñoz, prosecutor for the Metropolitan Region of the State Defense Council (CDE), presented evidence linking Pinochet’s secret bank accounts to Chilean weapons sales.
The move comes after more than a year of investigations into a complex scheme first brought to light by a U.S. Senate money laundering report accusing the Washington, D.C.-based Riggs Bank of helping the former dictator launder between US$4 and $8 million (ST, July 16, 2004). Since the report was made public, Chilean prosecutors have discovered totals of over US$26 million more in various secret bank accounts, offshore holdings companies located in the Cayman and Virgin Islands, and multiple Swiss bank accounts.
In a presentation on October 6 to defense and plaintiffs’ attorneys, Judge Sergio Muñoz gave a detailed explanation of the findings in the Riggs Bank case so far, leading to the CDE’s allegations last Thursday (ST, Oct 10).
In a separate but related military investigation into the 1992 murder of Colonel Gerardo Huber, former Chief of Acquisitions for the Army, Judge Claudio Pavez, the lead investigator in the military case, requested information from Judge Muñoz regarding bank accounts opened in the name of Gerardo Huber and his widow, Adriana Polloni, in the New York branch of the Banco de Chile.
The U.S. government fined the Banco de Chile US$3 million last Wednesday for aiding Pinochet in laundering his illegal fortune. The bank is owned by Andronico Luksic, an influential Chilean businessman who has made headlines recently after a Peruvian court issued an international arrest warrant against him for his part in bribing officials in former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori’s administration (ST, Oct. 13).
The military investigation led by Judge Pavez is trying to close in on those responsible for the murder of Col. Huber 13 years ago. It is now clear that the murder was related to an illegal arms sales to Croatia in 1991. Sources working with investigators said that Arturo Silva, former member of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DINE) as well as the man indicted for the 1995 kidnapping/murder of Eugenio Berrios (a Pinochet-era secret police chemist believed to have developed the lethal sarin gas) was questioned last Friday about a possible connection between the modus operandi of Huber’s murder and that of Berrios’.
Berrios was one of a number of former Pinochet-era men smuggled out of Chile in the years after the transition to democracy. Most disappeared immediately after being subpoenaed or indicted for crimes committed during the 17-year military regime. While some, such as Pinochet’s oldest son Augusto Jr., reappeared unscathed, many, like Berrios, were never seen alive again.
In Jan of 1992, Col. Huber was questioned by then-lead investigator Hernan Carrea about his role in an illegal weapons sale to Croatia. In the interview, Huber implicated Gen. Carlos Krumm, a high-ranking military official at the time, as the man responsible for ordering him to begin work on the illegal arms exportation. Following this interview Col. Huber was called to testify before a special tribunal investigating the crime but disappeared one week after speaking to Carrera. Huber’s body was found three weeks later floating in the Maipo River outside of Santiago.
As Pavez continues his investigation into the murder of Col. Huber, other mysterious deaths are resurfacing as possibly linked to the cover-up of the illegal arms sale.
Carrera himself died suddenly in a military hospital, 11 months after Huber’s death. He was replaced by Judge Ricardo Galvez, now a member of Chile’s Supreme Court, who closed the investigation shortly after Carrera’s death.
Blas Meriño, Col. Huber’s former chauffeur, also died unexpectedly after reportedly committing suicide inside his car in August of 1995. Judge Pavez has reopened the case after learning that the pistol Meriño reportedly killed himself with was found in the passenger seat of his car. Those close to Meriño say he was left-handed and would probably not have used his right hand to commit suicide.
Officials hope to learn more about the perpetrators of Col. Huber’s murder by studying records gleaned from investigations into the Riggs Bank case. Chile’s Supreme Court is due to decide whether or not to strip Gen. Pinochet of his immunity from prosecution in the Riggs Bank case this week, which may help shed light on the other crimes surrounding the weapons sales.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
CHILE PRESIDENT CONFIRMS HAITI CHIEF’S LINK TO SECRET POLICE
Government officials acknowledged Gen. Eduardo Aldunate’s service as an agent for the National Intelligence Center (CNI), Chile’s former secret police during the military dictatorship, on Sunday. Gen. Aldunate is the second-in-command of the United Nations (UN) international peacekeeping mission in Haiti.
The government’s statement came a week after Carmen Soria, the daughter of Carmelo Soria, a UN official murdered in 1976 by agents from the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA), met with Defense Minister Jaime Ravinet where she alleged that Gen Aldunate was a member of the DINA and may have played a role in the murder of her father.
The DINA was the intelligence agency responsible for thousands of tortures and executions in the first several years of Gen. Pinochet’s military dictatorship. The agency was replaced by the CNI in 1977 after Gen. Pinochet lifted the state of siege enforced by the regime following the 1973 military coup.
The newly created CNI then assumed all information collection responsibilities from the DINA as well as broadening their powers to become the equivalent of the United States’ CIA, FBI, and Secret Service all rolled into one.
Soria’s accusations were summarily dismissed by the Defense Minister, who followed the meeting with an interview on Sunday in La Tercera, a major national newspaper in Chile, where he accused Soria of “manipulating an old crime for malicious reasons.” When asked if Gen. Aldunate could have been a member of DINA without the government knowing about it, Ravinet replied, “This has been totally denied.”
Soria’s accusations stem from a speech given in 1993 by Carlos Labarca, an ex-official of the DINA, who claimed that Gen. Aldunate was a member of the DINA’s Mulchen Brigade, the group found responsible for the murder of Sorias’s father.
After Ravinet dismissed Soria’s allegations, Diario Siete, another Chilean newspaper presented officials at the presidential palace with a number of documents proving that Aldunate was a member of the CNI, that he took an active role in the 1973 invasion of La Moneda, and that later he published numerous articles and opinion pieces defending Pinochet’s repressive policies.
The government’s statement came a week after Carmen Soria, the daughter of Carmelo Soria, a UN official murdered in 1976 by agents from the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA), met with Defense Minister Jaime Ravinet where she alleged that Gen Aldunate was a member of the DINA and may have played a role in the murder of her father.
The DINA was the intelligence agency responsible for thousands of tortures and executions in the first several years of Gen. Pinochet’s military dictatorship. The agency was replaced by the CNI in 1977 after Gen. Pinochet lifted the state of siege enforced by the regime following the 1973 military coup.
The newly created CNI then assumed all information collection responsibilities from the DINA as well as broadening their powers to become the equivalent of the United States’ CIA, FBI, and Secret Service all rolled into one.
Soria’s accusations were summarily dismissed by the Defense Minister, who followed the meeting with an interview on Sunday in La Tercera, a major national newspaper in Chile, where he accused Soria of “manipulating an old crime for malicious reasons.” When asked if Gen. Aldunate could have been a member of DINA without the government knowing about it, Ravinet replied, “This has been totally denied.”
Soria’s accusations stem from a speech given in 1993 by Carlos Labarca, an ex-official of the DINA, who claimed that Gen. Aldunate was a member of the DINA’s Mulchen Brigade, the group found responsible for the murder of Sorias’s father.
After Ravinet dismissed Soria’s allegations, Diario Siete, another Chilean newspaper presented officials at the presidential palace with a number of documents proving that Aldunate was a member of the CNI, that he took an active role in the 1973 invasion of La Moneda, and that later he published numerous articles and opinion pieces defending Pinochet’s repressive policies.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
ARTURITO INVENTOR SURPRISES STUDENTS
Manuel Salinas, inventor of the famous Arturito robot that claims to have discovered gold on Robinson Crusoe Island, walked out of his own scientific presentation on Wednesday after students and professors at the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (USM) laughed at his speech.
Those present at the meeting criticized the presentation as being too brief and uninformative. The speech lasted five minutes.
After Salinas finished, those present bombarded the inventor with questions about how the robot functioned. After several rounds of less than satisfactory responses, one physics professor, Patricio Häberle, stood up and said, “there is no way that this robot can function in the way that (Salinas) has described to us.”
While the robot is credited with discovering a large weapons cache at Colonia Dignidad, a right-wing paramilitary compound in the south of Chile, as well as the body of businessman Francisco Yuraszeck, who went missing in 2004, many still seem hesitant to believe the robot is capable of everything Salinas claims it can do.
Those present at the meeting criticized the presentation as being too brief and uninformative. The speech lasted five minutes.
After Salinas finished, those present bombarded the inventor with questions about how the robot functioned. After several rounds of less than satisfactory responses, one physics professor, Patricio Häberle, stood up and said, “there is no way that this robot can function in the way that (Salinas) has described to us.”
While the robot is credited with discovering a large weapons cache at Colonia Dignidad, a right-wing paramilitary compound in the south of Chile, as well as the body of businessman Francisco Yuraszeck, who went missing in 2004, many still seem hesitant to believe the robot is capable of everything Salinas claims it can do.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
SEARCH FOR BODIES TO BEGIN AT CHILE’S COLONIA DIGNIDAD
30 Prisoners “Disappeared” By Pinochet’s Military Regime May Finally Be Found
Judicial officials expect this week to begin the search for the bodies of political prisoners thought to have been killed at the Colonia Dignidad compound during the 17-year Pinochet’s military dictatorship. This newest chapter in the Colonia Dignidad saga follows the arrest of former colony leader Paul Schäfer in March and the discovery of an illegal weapons cache in August.
Jorge Zepeda, the judge investigating the case, will be coordinating the excavations from the nearby city of Parral, where Chile’s Legal Medical Service and investigative experts have set up a temporary base to process the forensic evidence police expect to find.
Colonia Dignidad was right-wing paramilitary compound founded by German immigrants in 1961 near Parral in southern Chile. Its leaders are suspected of collaborating with former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet and Chile’s secret police force, the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA), during the military regime’s 17-year rule.
Investigators have pinpointed three locations within the Colony’s compound where human bones, jewelry, shoes, and other personal belongings of political prisoners are suspected to be buried. The information came from the testimony of Efraín Vedder, a member of the Colony who escaped from the compound in December 2002.
The three sites are located in an area that was dug up by members of Colonia Dignidad in the late 1970s on the pretext of removing televisions previously buried underground. Vedder claims that the remains are located approximately five meters below ground.
In earlier excavations, police investigators discovered two large weapons caches buried on the property, the largest illegal arsenal ever uncovered in Chile. Police also discovered an underground bunker filled with over 30,000 archives of intelligence profiles created by the Chilean secret police (ST, June 20). Further excavations had been delayed until now by rainy winter weather in the south of Chile.
Other testimony provided by former colony members, as well as information from the archives discovered in the underground bunker, have allowed government officials to estimate that at least 30 people were executed and buried inside the compound.
Families of victims who disappeared in Colonia Dignidad hope that the upcoming excavations will shed light on the fate of their loved ones. Many expect that officials will find the body of Juan Maino, a left-wing political activist who was detained by the DINA in 1976 and was last seen alive at Colonia Dignidad.
Another high-profile disappearance linked to the Colony is U.S. citizen Boris Weisfeiler. Weisfeiler was a Russian-born mathematics professor who disappeared in January 1985 while camping in southern Chile near Colonia Dignidad. Pinochet-era investigations concluded that he drowned in a river.
But according to documents declassified by the U.S. State Department in June 2000, Weisfeiler was picked up by a military patrol and taken to the compound. Two years later, an informant reported to the U.S. embassy in Santiago that Weisfeiler was still alive but was being tortured and held in animal-like conditions inside the compound.
After the 1990 restoration of democracy in Chile, the Colony lost its special charitable status and investigations into the Colony’s connection to human rights abuses during the military regime began.
Paul Schäfer, leader and administrator of the Colony for over 40 years, was recently detained on an international arrest warrant in Argentina after an eight-year man hunt (ST, March 11). Schäfer is currently in police custody on charges of serial child molestation at the compound (ST, Oct. 5). Further criminal charges could result from discoveries made by investigators in the upcoming excavations.
After Schäfer fled the country, the colony was operated by other colony leaders until the top lieutenants, including hospital director Dr. Harmut Hopp were arrested in May. The Chilean government officially took control of the compound in August (ST, Aug. 29).
Chilean officials recently appointed Herman Schwember as the new administrator of the former Colonia Dignidad property. Schwember is a Chilean citizen of German descent who is leading the effort to reintegrate the 300 members of the former colony into Chilean society. Many of the former colony members speak only German and have psychological problems related to the extreme isolation maintained on the property.
When asked how he would act if requested to report members of the colony who may have taken part in human rights violations, Schwember said, “I have a legal obligation to report crimes, if I did not, it would make me an accomplice to them.”
Judicial officials expect this week to begin the search for the bodies of political prisoners thought to have been killed at the Colonia Dignidad compound during the 17-year Pinochet’s military dictatorship. This newest chapter in the Colonia Dignidad saga follows the arrest of former colony leader Paul Schäfer in March and the discovery of an illegal weapons cache in August.
Jorge Zepeda, the judge investigating the case, will be coordinating the excavations from the nearby city of Parral, where Chile’s Legal Medical Service and investigative experts have set up a temporary base to process the forensic evidence police expect to find.
Colonia Dignidad was right-wing paramilitary compound founded by German immigrants in 1961 near Parral in southern Chile. Its leaders are suspected of collaborating with former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet and Chile’s secret police force, the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA), during the military regime’s 17-year rule.
Investigators have pinpointed three locations within the Colony’s compound where human bones, jewelry, shoes, and other personal belongings of political prisoners are suspected to be buried. The information came from the testimony of Efraín Vedder, a member of the Colony who escaped from the compound in December 2002.
The three sites are located in an area that was dug up by members of Colonia Dignidad in the late 1970s on the pretext of removing televisions previously buried underground. Vedder claims that the remains are located approximately five meters below ground.
In earlier excavations, police investigators discovered two large weapons caches buried on the property, the largest illegal arsenal ever uncovered in Chile. Police also discovered an underground bunker filled with over 30,000 archives of intelligence profiles created by the Chilean secret police (ST, June 20). Further excavations had been delayed until now by rainy winter weather in the south of Chile.
Other testimony provided by former colony members, as well as information from the archives discovered in the underground bunker, have allowed government officials to estimate that at least 30 people were executed and buried inside the compound.
Families of victims who disappeared in Colonia Dignidad hope that the upcoming excavations will shed light on the fate of their loved ones. Many expect that officials will find the body of Juan Maino, a left-wing political activist who was detained by the DINA in 1976 and was last seen alive at Colonia Dignidad.
Another high-profile disappearance linked to the Colony is U.S. citizen Boris Weisfeiler. Weisfeiler was a Russian-born mathematics professor who disappeared in January 1985 while camping in southern Chile near Colonia Dignidad. Pinochet-era investigations concluded that he drowned in a river.
But according to documents declassified by the U.S. State Department in June 2000, Weisfeiler was picked up by a military patrol and taken to the compound. Two years later, an informant reported to the U.S. embassy in Santiago that Weisfeiler was still alive but was being tortured and held in animal-like conditions inside the compound.
After the 1990 restoration of democracy in Chile, the Colony lost its special charitable status and investigations into the Colony’s connection to human rights abuses during the military regime began.
Paul Schäfer, leader and administrator of the Colony for over 40 years, was recently detained on an international arrest warrant in Argentina after an eight-year man hunt (ST, March 11). Schäfer is currently in police custody on charges of serial child molestation at the compound (ST, Oct. 5). Further criminal charges could result from discoveries made by investigators in the upcoming excavations.
After Schäfer fled the country, the colony was operated by other colony leaders until the top lieutenants, including hospital director Dr. Harmut Hopp were arrested in May. The Chilean government officially took control of the compound in August (ST, Aug. 29).
Chilean officials recently appointed Herman Schwember as the new administrator of the former Colonia Dignidad property. Schwember is a Chilean citizen of German descent who is leading the effort to reintegrate the 300 members of the former colony into Chilean society. Many of the former colony members speak only German and have psychological problems related to the extreme isolation maintained on the property.
When asked how he would act if requested to report members of the colony who may have taken part in human rights violations, Schwember said, “I have a legal obligation to report crimes, if I did not, it would make me an accomplice to them.”
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
OCENANA ADVERTISEMENT YANKED FROM BILLBOARD
Chilean publicity company Publicitaria.cl unexpectedly pulled an Oceana environmental video advertisement off a prominent billboard in downtown Santiago on Tuesday. The previously approved video was critical of one the country’s most powerful business groups, Celulosa Arauco y Constitución (Celco).
Representatives from the publicity company could only state that the ad did not comply with their editorial policy. Marcel Claude, executive director of Oceana, immediately denounced the move as being politically motivated and accused the municipality of Santiago of pressuring Publicitaria.cl to remove the sign.
“It seems ridiculous that they are talking about an editorial line when they saw the video, approved it, and let it run for four days” said Claude.
The ad in question shows dead bodies of rare black-necked swans allegedly killed by industrial waste dumped in the Cruces River by Celco’s Valdivia pulp and paper plant. The plant was closed down last June after local community groups blamed the company for contaminating the city of Valdivia’s drinking water and polluting the nearby Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary, home to the swans.
Following the plant’s closing, the company sought permission by President Ricardo Lagos to install a pipeline to route their waters away from the Cruces River and into ocean waters offshore of Corral. The plan was approved, as well a request to increase its arsenic emissions from .001 mg/l to .05 mg/l, the maximum permitted for drinking water in Chile (ST, Sept. 9).
Recently, 400 hundreds new cases of dead black-neck swans were reported in the Cruces river resort of Niebla, located downstream from the plant. Celco still maintains that the deaths have nothing to do with their emissions.
In the midst of all this controversy, Oceana has been working to raise public awareness about the environmental damage caused by the company. The recently pulled advertisement was intended to bring the environmental issue to the attention of citizens in the capital.
After the ad was pulled, Claude announced that Oceana would take legal action against the municipality for its alleged role in pressuring Publicitaria.cl to remove the ad.
Representatives from the publicity company could only state that the ad did not comply with their editorial policy. Marcel Claude, executive director of Oceana, immediately denounced the move as being politically motivated and accused the municipality of Santiago of pressuring Publicitaria.cl to remove the sign.
“It seems ridiculous that they are talking about an editorial line when they saw the video, approved it, and let it run for four days” said Claude.
The ad in question shows dead bodies of rare black-necked swans allegedly killed by industrial waste dumped in the Cruces River by Celco’s Valdivia pulp and paper plant. The plant was closed down last June after local community groups blamed the company for contaminating the city of Valdivia’s drinking water and polluting the nearby Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary, home to the swans.
Following the plant’s closing, the company sought permission by President Ricardo Lagos to install a pipeline to route their waters away from the Cruces River and into ocean waters offshore of Corral. The plan was approved, as well a request to increase its arsenic emissions from .001 mg/l to .05 mg/l, the maximum permitted for drinking water in Chile (ST, Sept. 9).
Recently, 400 hundreds new cases of dead black-neck swans were reported in the Cruces river resort of Niebla, located downstream from the plant. Celco still maintains that the deaths have nothing to do with their emissions.
In the midst of all this controversy, Oceana has been working to raise public awareness about the environmental damage caused by the company. The recently pulled advertisement was intended to bring the environmental issue to the attention of citizens in the capital.
After the ad was pulled, Claude announced that Oceana would take legal action against the municipality for its alleged role in pressuring Publicitaria.cl to remove the ad.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
KFC TO EXPAND FRANCHISES IN CHILE
(Oct. 11, 2005) Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), owned by fast food giant Universal Foods, announced plans to expand its presence in the Chilean restaurant market over the next three years. Executives at KFC Chile hope to make the company a major player in the fast food market by increasing the number of franchises in the country.
Jorge Gustavo, the new general manager of KFC Chile was appointed to lead Universal Foods’ growth in the domestic fast food market. Since taking charge of the company, KFC Chile has named Pablo Toledo, former vice president of PepsiCo in Latin America, as well Cristián Solís de Ovando, former general manager of Santiago’s Commerce Stock, to the board of directors. The company plans to increase its sales nationally by 15 percent within three years by opening between 3 to 5 new restaurants annually.
Universal Foods owns 100 percent of Chilean KFCs as well as 50 percent of the Dominos Pizza restaurants in Chile. KFC Corporation has about 13,000 outlets in 90 countries around the world.
Jorge Gustavo, the new general manager of KFC Chile was appointed to lead Universal Foods’ growth in the domestic fast food market. Since taking charge of the company, KFC Chile has named Pablo Toledo, former vice president of PepsiCo in Latin America, as well Cristián Solís de Ovando, former general manager of Santiago’s Commerce Stock, to the board of directors. The company plans to increase its sales nationally by 15 percent within three years by opening between 3 to 5 new restaurants annually.
Universal Foods owns 100 percent of Chilean KFCs as well as 50 percent of the Dominos Pizza restaurants in Chile. KFC Corporation has about 13,000 outlets in 90 countries around the world.
COMMUNIST PARTY MEETS WITH MILITARY
(Oct. 11, 2005) Leaders from Chile’s Communist Coalition Party, Juntos Podemos Más, met with Commander in Chief Juan Emilio Cheyre last Thursday for the first time in thirty-two years. The reunion between the leaders is a major step forward for Chile’s reconciliation process.
The meeting is a testament to how far the country has come since former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet stepped down as commander of Chile’s armed forces in 1998. During the years of his military dictatorship, the communist party was branded an “internal enemy” and many of its members were tortured, killed, or exiled for their political beliefs.
Juntos Podemos Más is a political coalition between the legally constituted Communist Party (PC), the Humanist Party (PH) and other social and political organizations of the left.
Tomás Hirsch, the presidential candidate for the group, along with Guillermo Teiller, head of the PC, and Efrén Osorio, head of the PH, met in Gen. Cheyre’s office at the armed forces headquarters in Santiago to begin the process of reconciling decades of animosity between their respective organizations.
The coalition presented a text to Cheyre that outlined what their group feels are the principle responsibilities of Chile’s military in the now democratic society.
“The Armed Forces should defend the territorial, maritime, and aerial integrity and be inspired by the (Simon) Bolivarian dream to create a united Latin American state.” The text also called on the military to “protect Chile from threats against its sovereignty and national security, coming principally from the United States and their imperialist intentions to subdue third world countries.”
Gen. Cheyre responded cordially that he would read the document with interest and expressed a desire to meet with the leaders in the future. He also designated Gen. Juan Miguel Fuente-Alba, chief of the Center for Military Investigations and Studies, to take charge of facilitating further contact between the extra-parliamentary political groups of the left and the Armed Forces.
Guillermo Teiller said that there were moments of closeness as well as moments of tension, such as when the subject to the military coup and human rights abuses were brought up. Teiller himself spent two years in a military prison after Gen Pinochet’s coup ousted former President Salvador Allende in 1973. In 1982 he was appointed the communist party’s military liaison to the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR), the group responsible for the 1986 attempt on Gen. Pinochet’s life.
Gen. Cheyre has been very conscious of the military’s role in human rights abuses that took place under the military dictatorship of Gen. Pinochet. He formally apologized to the nation on Sept. 11, 2003, the 30 year anniversary of the military coup, for crimes committed by the institution during the authoritarian years of the regime.
Military officials described the meeting as Gen. Cheyre’s attempt to close the circle of gestures he has made to the human rights community during his tenure as commander in chief. Cheyre is due to step down from the post in five months.
The meeting is a testament to how far the country has come since former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet stepped down as commander of Chile’s armed forces in 1998. During the years of his military dictatorship, the communist party was branded an “internal enemy” and many of its members were tortured, killed, or exiled for their political beliefs.
Juntos Podemos Más is a political coalition between the legally constituted Communist Party (PC), the Humanist Party (PH) and other social and political organizations of the left.
Tomás Hirsch, the presidential candidate for the group, along with Guillermo Teiller, head of the PC, and Efrén Osorio, head of the PH, met in Gen. Cheyre’s office at the armed forces headquarters in Santiago to begin the process of reconciling decades of animosity between their respective organizations.
The coalition presented a text to Cheyre that outlined what their group feels are the principle responsibilities of Chile’s military in the now democratic society.
“The Armed Forces should defend the territorial, maritime, and aerial integrity and be inspired by the (Simon) Bolivarian dream to create a united Latin American state.” The text also called on the military to “protect Chile from threats against its sovereignty and national security, coming principally from the United States and their imperialist intentions to subdue third world countries.”
Gen. Cheyre responded cordially that he would read the document with interest and expressed a desire to meet with the leaders in the future. He also designated Gen. Juan Miguel Fuente-Alba, chief of the Center for Military Investigations and Studies, to take charge of facilitating further contact between the extra-parliamentary political groups of the left and the Armed Forces.
Guillermo Teiller said that there were moments of closeness as well as moments of tension, such as when the subject to the military coup and human rights abuses were brought up. Teiller himself spent two years in a military prison after Gen Pinochet’s coup ousted former President Salvador Allende in 1973. In 1982 he was appointed the communist party’s military liaison to the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR), the group responsible for the 1986 attempt on Gen. Pinochet’s life.
Gen. Cheyre has been very conscious of the military’s role in human rights abuses that took place under the military dictatorship of Gen. Pinochet. He formally apologized to the nation on Sept. 11, 2003, the 30 year anniversary of the military coup, for crimes committed by the institution during the authoritarian years of the regime.
Military officials described the meeting as Gen. Cheyre’s attempt to close the circle of gestures he has made to the human rights community during his tenure as commander in chief. Cheyre is due to step down from the post in five months.
Monday, October 10, 2005
CELCO CHIEFS MEET WITH EU REPRESENTATIVES
Celco chiefs met with European Union (EU) members of Parliament in Santiago on Wednesday after Chile’s government decided no to let them visit the environmentally hazardous pulp and paper plant in Valdivia.
At the meeting, Celco presented the EU officials with their plans to minimize the environmental impact the plant would have on the area. Europeans had raised concerns that weak environmental laws in Chile gave an unfair advantage to Chilean exports.
Celco has become the poster child for Chile’s environmental policy after industrial waste from the plant contaminated the Cruces River. In the aftermath of the contamination, environmentalist and community groups accused the government of being complicit in the pollution by not enforcing higher standards (ST, Jan 13).
The issue has yet to be decided, but EU officials have expressed concern over claims that Celco’s effluent contaminated the City of Valdivia’s water supply and caused a drastic reduction in rare black-neck swan population in the nearby Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary.
At the meeting, Celco presented the EU officials with their plans to minimize the environmental impact the plant would have on the area. Europeans had raised concerns that weak environmental laws in Chile gave an unfair advantage to Chilean exports.
Celco has become the poster child for Chile’s environmental policy after industrial waste from the plant contaminated the Cruces River. In the aftermath of the contamination, environmentalist and community groups accused the government of being complicit in the pollution by not enforcing higher standards (ST, Jan 13).
The issue has yet to be decided, but EU officials have expressed concern over claims that Celco’s effluent contaminated the City of Valdivia’s water supply and caused a drastic reduction in rare black-neck swan population in the nearby Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary.
Friday, October 07, 2005
LAGOS CRITICIZES CHILE’S NATIONAL TV
(Oct. 7, 2005) President Ricardo Lagos criticized Chile’s national television station (TVN) yesterday for airing sensationalist news stories. The president questioned why 48 percent of TVN’s news coverage on Tuesday evening dealt with crime and delinquency.
“The first five and most important stories [on TVN] were about delinquency” said Lagos, “this is absolutely inadequate.”
This controversy has grown out of Independent Democratic Union (UDI) presidential candidate Joaquín Lavin’s criticism of the government’s new crime initiative. Lavin has spoken out against Lagos’ Socialist Party (PS), as well as their presidential candidate Michele Bachelet as being too soft on crime.
“I assure you that criminal offenders prefer to vote for Michelle Bachelet because they know that she will have the same soft hand that President Lagos has had” said Lavin last week.
The UDI candidate has been trying to put forth a platform to differentiate himself from the other right-wing presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera, member of the National Renovation Party (RN), after recent polls show national support for his candidacy fell from 22 percent to 20 percent, while Piñera increased his support from 14 percent to 19 percent. Michele Bachelet, the Socialist Party (PS) presidential candidate, is leading all of the polls with 45 percent of the popular vote (ST, Sept.28).
Lavin has promised, that if elected, he will make crime a priority his government. He has proposed a new crime initiative know as the “three strikes your out” law. The proposal seeks to eliminate provisional liberty for repeat offenders and modify the penal system.
Many politicians including President Lagos have accused Lavin of playing politics with the topic and have asked all of the candidates to raise the level of debate, focusing on serious issues confronting the nation.
Francisco Vidal, Minister of the Interior, agreed with Lagos that Chileans need to take the subject of delinquency seriously, and not just use it to play politics. Vidal’s office is in charge of reducing crime in Chile.
“If someone thinks this is the best way to collaborate with the right-wing campaign, they are within their rights,” said Vidal, “but my concern is permanent, it is not a political election theme.”
TVN could not be reached for comment.
“The first five and most important stories [on TVN] were about delinquency” said Lagos, “this is absolutely inadequate.”
This controversy has grown out of Independent Democratic Union (UDI) presidential candidate Joaquín Lavin’s criticism of the government’s new crime initiative. Lavin has spoken out against Lagos’ Socialist Party (PS), as well as their presidential candidate Michele Bachelet as being too soft on crime.
“I assure you that criminal offenders prefer to vote for Michelle Bachelet because they know that she will have the same soft hand that President Lagos has had” said Lavin last week.
The UDI candidate has been trying to put forth a platform to differentiate himself from the other right-wing presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera, member of the National Renovation Party (RN), after recent polls show national support for his candidacy fell from 22 percent to 20 percent, while Piñera increased his support from 14 percent to 19 percent. Michele Bachelet, the Socialist Party (PS) presidential candidate, is leading all of the polls with 45 percent of the popular vote (ST, Sept.28).
Lavin has promised, that if elected, he will make crime a priority his government. He has proposed a new crime initiative know as the “three strikes your out” law. The proposal seeks to eliminate provisional liberty for repeat offenders and modify the penal system.
Many politicians including President Lagos have accused Lavin of playing politics with the topic and have asked all of the candidates to raise the level of debate, focusing on serious issues confronting the nation.
Francisco Vidal, Minister of the Interior, agreed with Lagos that Chileans need to take the subject of delinquency seriously, and not just use it to play politics. Vidal’s office is in charge of reducing crime in Chile.
“If someone thinks this is the best way to collaborate with the right-wing campaign, they are within their rights,” said Vidal, “but my concern is permanent, it is not a political election theme.”
TVN could not be reached for comment.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
WAGNER RENOUNCES CLAIMS TO CHILE’S BURIED TREASURE
(Oct. 4, 2005) A new twist in the story of buried treasure on Robinson Crusoe Island that has kept Chile and the world in suspense for the last three weeks surfaced Monday after Wagner Technologies renounced all claims to the treasure supposedly worth US$10 billion.
Wagner Technologies, the company who claims they discovered the treasure, met late Monday with government officials in Valparaíso in what was expected to be a contentious debate over the rights to the treasure.
According to Fernando Uribe-Etxeverría, lawyer for Wagner Technologies, the company does not believe it is capable of excavating the treasure; all the company wanted was the free press.
This abrupt turn of events surprised government officials who were prepared to discuss excavation permits and decide how to partition the treasure with the company. Wagner instead agreed to turn over the coordinates to the government on the condition that if the treasure is excavated, a portion would be given to a number of Chilean charities, as well as the island’s residents.
Uribe-Etxeverría’s announcement also surprised journalists because of the commotion the company generated with threats to withhold the location of the treasure unless the government agreed to give them a cut of the loot (ST, Oct. 3).
Wagner still maintains that “Arturito,” a mobile robot designed by one of their engineers, detected the presence of 800 metric tons of gold and jewels on the west side of Robinson Crusoe Island in southern Chile. Wagner claims that the treasure is located in a very difficult-to-reach spot that requires divers to enter through sub-marine caves on the island’s coast.
Wagner representatives said the company is withdrawing from the controversy that surrounded their claims because of the difficulty involved in removing the treasure.
“There is no company in the country capable of excavating this treasure,” said Uribe-Etxeverría. “For this, you will need something bigger: the State.” He also added that for Wagner, the treasure did not represent a business opportunity. Instead, the company’s exploration was meant to publicize the extraordinary capabilities of their robot.
Arturito operates like a robotic bloodhound. He is programmed to search for a particular substance, water, gold, even DNA. Using a variety of tools from geo-radar to a “gamma-camera,” capable of differentiating between atomic molecules, he searches a specified area for the presence the programmed substance. According to Manuel Salinas, designer of the robot, with the right sample, Arturito could help police find missing persons, wanted criminals, water in the desert; if it is there, he can find it.
Debates have also surfaced in Chile over what treasure is actually buried on the island.
Robinson Crusoe Island is located along the Spanish colonial navigation route that connected Spain’s Latin American colonies with Europe. In this time period Spain was mining vast amounts of silver and gold from the Andean nations of Peru and Bolivia for transport to Europe. These ships were a favorite of pirates operating in the South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
One popular legend holds that the Spanish navigator Juan Esteban Ubilla y Echeverría, in charge of transporting the treasure back to Spain, landed on the island in 1715 and interred it instead. Sometime afterwards, an English pirate named Cornelius Webb unearthed the treasure and reburied it somewhere else.
Another legend claims that the treasure was stolen from the Aztec Empire in Mexico by Spanish conquistadores. Yet a third theory holds that it was the bounty taken off the Spanish Galleon “Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo” in 1741 by the English Lord George Anson.
The island first became famous for hosting the real-life character of Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe,” Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailing master marooned on the island between 1704 and 1709. Selkirk was pirating the Spanish off the coast of South America in the early 1700s when his ship was badly damaged by a series of fights with the Spanish armada.
Fearing that the ship would soon sink, he asked the captain to set him ashore at the next port and ended up stranded off the coast of Chile on an uninhabited island in the Juan Fernandez archipelago. Selkirk was later picked up by English privateers and continued pirating Spanish fleets until 1712 when he finally made his triumphant return to Scotland, a very rich man.
Wagner Technologies, the company who claims they discovered the treasure, met late Monday with government officials in Valparaíso in what was expected to be a contentious debate over the rights to the treasure.
According to Fernando Uribe-Etxeverría, lawyer for Wagner Technologies, the company does not believe it is capable of excavating the treasure; all the company wanted was the free press.
This abrupt turn of events surprised government officials who were prepared to discuss excavation permits and decide how to partition the treasure with the company. Wagner instead agreed to turn over the coordinates to the government on the condition that if the treasure is excavated, a portion would be given to a number of Chilean charities, as well as the island’s residents.
Uribe-Etxeverría’s announcement also surprised journalists because of the commotion the company generated with threats to withhold the location of the treasure unless the government agreed to give them a cut of the loot (ST, Oct. 3).
Wagner still maintains that “Arturito,” a mobile robot designed by one of their engineers, detected the presence of 800 metric tons of gold and jewels on the west side of Robinson Crusoe Island in southern Chile. Wagner claims that the treasure is located in a very difficult-to-reach spot that requires divers to enter through sub-marine caves on the island’s coast.
Wagner representatives said the company is withdrawing from the controversy that surrounded their claims because of the difficulty involved in removing the treasure.
“There is no company in the country capable of excavating this treasure,” said Uribe-Etxeverría. “For this, you will need something bigger: the State.” He also added that for Wagner, the treasure did not represent a business opportunity. Instead, the company’s exploration was meant to publicize the extraordinary capabilities of their robot.
Arturito operates like a robotic bloodhound. He is programmed to search for a particular substance, water, gold, even DNA. Using a variety of tools from geo-radar to a “gamma-camera,” capable of differentiating between atomic molecules, he searches a specified area for the presence the programmed substance. According to Manuel Salinas, designer of the robot, with the right sample, Arturito could help police find missing persons, wanted criminals, water in the desert; if it is there, he can find it.
Debates have also surfaced in Chile over what treasure is actually buried on the island.
Robinson Crusoe Island is located along the Spanish colonial navigation route that connected Spain’s Latin American colonies with Europe. In this time period Spain was mining vast amounts of silver and gold from the Andean nations of Peru and Bolivia for transport to Europe. These ships were a favorite of pirates operating in the South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
One popular legend holds that the Spanish navigator Juan Esteban Ubilla y Echeverría, in charge of transporting the treasure back to Spain, landed on the island in 1715 and interred it instead. Sometime afterwards, an English pirate named Cornelius Webb unearthed the treasure and reburied it somewhere else.
Another legend claims that the treasure was stolen from the Aztec Empire in Mexico by Spanish conquistadores. Yet a third theory holds that it was the bounty taken off the Spanish Galleon “Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo” in 1741 by the English Lord George Anson.
The island first became famous for hosting the real-life character of Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe,” Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailing master marooned on the island between 1704 and 1709. Selkirk was pirating the Spanish off the coast of South America in the early 1700s when his ship was badly damaged by a series of fights with the Spanish armada.
Fearing that the ship would soon sink, he asked the captain to set him ashore at the next port and ended up stranded off the coast of Chile on an uninhabited island in the Juan Fernandez archipelago. Selkirk was later picked up by English privateers and continued pirating Spanish fleets until 1712 when he finally made his triumphant return to Scotland, a very rich man.
Monday, October 03, 2005
HUBER INTERSECTS WITH RIGGS
(Oct. 3, 2005) The long and complex web of illegal arms trafficking is beginning to unravel as Special Investigator Claudio Pavez and Attorney Sergio Muñoz discover more clues surrounding decades of arms purchases, bribes, and murders. New facts are shedding light on the mysterious death of Colonel Gerardo Huber, who disappeared in January 1992 only to turn up three weeks later floating dead in the Maipo River.
Since Judge Pavez determined that Col. Huber was in fact murdered and did not commit suicide as initially reported by military investigators (ST, Sept. 20), the trail of clues and testimony has led him to conclude that Huber’s death was definitely related to the illegal arms shipments to Croatia in December 1991.
Facts from the Huber case now connect the homicide with the Riggs Bank case, a secret money laundering scheme that Pinochet used to hide illegal arms commissions he and others have been receiving since at least 1991. The web of payments and secret accounts was initially discovered by a U.S. Senate money laundering report in 2004 (ST, July 16, 2004), however, full details surrounding the complex network are still being uncovered.
Investigators believe that Pinochet used his position as former commander in chief of Chile’s armed forces to negotiate a number of very high-profile arms deals with European arms manufactures BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace) and Belgium Mirage. The companies contracted with Chile to produce military weaponry for world export during the 1990s and, it seems, agreed to pay Gen. Pinochet and his inner-circle handsomely for their role in the contracts.
While still unclear, Sergio Muñoz, chief investigator in the Riggs bank case and recently-nominated member to Chile’s Supreme Court, believes that Pinochet has received at least US$ 27 million in illegal commissions from arms sales that he laundered in at least 91 different bank accounts and holding companies around the world. Last Thursday, Judge Muñoz interrogated all five of Pinochet’s children about any possible involvement they may have had in the fraud.
Recent discoveries and documents recovered from the myriad bank accounts are enabling investigators to learn more about what exactly took place during Pinochet’s time as commander of the armed forces.
One recent discovery connects General Luis Iracabal, former Director of the Chilean Army Weapon Factory, to an offshore investment company in the Virgin Islands that received illegal arms commissions during the 1990s. After investigators linked Iracabal to Pinochet’s illegal weapons deals, attention then turned to other crimes he may have committed.
A possible link may connect Iracabal’s 1979 trip to Spain to set up an arms purchase center for Chile’s military regime to the mysterious death of a distant relative of his, Rodrigo Anfruns, a six-year-old boy at the time. Pinochet’s secret military intelligence service, DINA, has long been suspected of having a role in the murder, but until now no one could find a motive. Iracabal left for Spain immediately after the boy went missing.
Since Judge Pavez determined that Col. Huber was in fact murdered and did not commit suicide as initially reported by military investigators (ST, Sept. 20), the trail of clues and testimony has led him to conclude that Huber’s death was definitely related to the illegal arms shipments to Croatia in December 1991.
Facts from the Huber case now connect the homicide with the Riggs Bank case, a secret money laundering scheme that Pinochet used to hide illegal arms commissions he and others have been receiving since at least 1991. The web of payments and secret accounts was initially discovered by a U.S. Senate money laundering report in 2004 (ST, July 16, 2004), however, full details surrounding the complex network are still being uncovered.
Investigators believe that Pinochet used his position as former commander in chief of Chile’s armed forces to negotiate a number of very high-profile arms deals with European arms manufactures BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace) and Belgium Mirage. The companies contracted with Chile to produce military weaponry for world export during the 1990s and, it seems, agreed to pay Gen. Pinochet and his inner-circle handsomely for their role in the contracts.
While still unclear, Sergio Muñoz, chief investigator in the Riggs bank case and recently-nominated member to Chile’s Supreme Court, believes that Pinochet has received at least US$ 27 million in illegal commissions from arms sales that he laundered in at least 91 different bank accounts and holding companies around the world. Last Thursday, Judge Muñoz interrogated all five of Pinochet’s children about any possible involvement they may have had in the fraud.
Recent discoveries and documents recovered from the myriad bank accounts are enabling investigators to learn more about what exactly took place during Pinochet’s time as commander of the armed forces.
One recent discovery connects General Luis Iracabal, former Director of the Chilean Army Weapon Factory, to an offshore investment company in the Virgin Islands that received illegal arms commissions during the 1990s. After investigators linked Iracabal to Pinochet’s illegal weapons deals, attention then turned to other crimes he may have committed.
A possible link may connect Iracabal’s 1979 trip to Spain to set up an arms purchase center for Chile’s military regime to the mysterious death of a distant relative of his, Rodrigo Anfruns, a six-year-old boy at the time. Pinochet’s secret military intelligence service, DINA, has long been suspected of having a role in the murder, but until now no one could find a motive. Iracabal left for Spain immediately after the boy went missing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)