LATIN AMERICA REVIEW 31 AUGUST 1979[SANITIZED] - 1979/08/31

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02879489
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: August 31, 1979

National
Foreign
Assessment
Center
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Latin America
Review
31 August 1979
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PA LAR 79-022
31 August 1979
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SEMItET 3.5(c)
LATIN AMERICA REVIEW
31 August 1979
CONTENTS
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Chile: Human Rights Case
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The death of a professor following his
interrogation by the state security agency
damages Chile's human rights record and
further blackens the reputation of its
security forces. 3.5(c)
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Chile: Human Rights Case
The death of a Chilean professor following his
interrogation by the state security agency, CNI, suc-
cessor to the notorious DINA, has prompted both the
Chilean courts and the Interior Minister to order offi-
cial investigations. The incident, the most serious
human rights violation this year, severely damages
Chile's efforts to improve its human rights record and
further blackens the reputation of the security agency,
whose involvement in the Letelier assassination is cur-
rently under review by the Chilean Supreme Court.
Renato Alvarez, a suspected member of the extremist
Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), died on 21
August, six days after he was arrested by carabineros
(national police) while trying to set an incendiary
device. He was turned over to the CNI, which held him
incommunicado until rushing him to a hospital just
before his death. Habeas corpus petitions filed by
family members on 16 August had failed to prod the courts
into a prompt, assertive investigation, despite the
illegal nature of Alvarez's arrest and his obviously
poor physical condition at his arraignment on 20 August.
Only after his death did the courts appoint a special
investigation judge for the case, while Interior Minister
Fernandez initiated an internal investigation; the CNI
responded by denying Alvarez was tortured and claimed
he was received "in damaged condition," probably owing
to his struggle with carabineros at the time of his
detention.
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Chile has made real progress in correcting human
rights abuses during the past two years, and the
Alvarez case, which was immediately highlighted in the
press, is a serious blow to the government's image.
The timing is also particularly bad for the CNI. The
case comes on the eve of the Chilean Supreme Court's
ruling on the US extradition request for former DINA
chief Contreras in connection with DINA's involvement
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SEgitiT
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with the Letelier assassination; it also follows
Argentina's recent low-key reopening of its investiga-
tion of possible DINA involvement in the 1974 assassina-
tion of Chilean ex-General Prats in Argentina. The
Alvarez case could be the spark that finally compels
the Chilean Government--or, at least, the Chilean
courts--to take steps to curb the excesses of security
forces.
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31 August 1979
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