List of political prisoners in the Chilean state (early September 2011 update)
From Liberación Total (September 3, 2011):
The following is a list of revolutionary prisoners currently locked up in the Chilean state’s prisons. This list is being constantly updated due to transfers and the different circumstances experienced by the prisoners.
Let’s also remember the situation of various fugitive comrades, among whom are Carlos Gutiérrez (charged in the Security Case), Diego Ríos, and Gabriela Curilem. We hope they never have to be added to this list and never have to set foot in prison.
Send all contributions and updates to liberaciontotal [at] riseup [dot] net.
SANTIAGO 1 PRIVATE PRISON:
Francisco Moreno
Santiago 1 Private Prison, Block 35
On July 14, 2011, Moreno was arrested during a mass student march and accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Brazilian embassy, injuring one riot cop and leaving another with serious burns.
Moreno was recognized by undercover police, who supposedly identified him by his clothes as well as a photo in which he is masked up. He was ultimately charged with felony assault, attempted homicide, and weapons possession (a Molotov cocktail).
He is currently in custody awaiting trial.
Patricio Gallardo
Alejandro Rodríguez
Santiago 1 Private Prison, Security Wing
Gallardo and Rodríguez were arrested on August 30, 2010 and charged with attacking a Prosegur armored car in September 2009. Both were MAPU Lautaro militants and political prisoners in the 1990s. Their arrests and the proceedings against them were an attempt to link them to the Bombings Case as financiers, but the maneuver came to nothing.
They are currently in custody awaiting trial.
HIGH SECURITY PRISON:
Marcelo Villarroel
High Security Prison, Special High Security Wing, H Block North
Villarroel was a MAPU Lautaro member and political prisoner in the 1990s. He is charged with taking part in the September 2007 Banco Santander robbery in Valparaíso and the October 2007 Banco Security robbery in Santiago during which repressive agent Luis Moyano died in a shootout while the perpetrators were making their escape.
After a period as a fugitive, Villarroel was arrested on March 15, 2008 together with Freddy Fuentevilla in Neuquen, Argentina. They were then deported to Chile on December 15, 2009.
He is currently in custody awaiting trial.
Juan Aliste Vega
High Security Prison, Special High Security Wing, J Block
Aliste Vega was a MAPU Lautaro member and political prisoner in the 1990s. He is charged with taking part in the September 2007 Banco Santander robbery in Valparaíso and the October 2007 Banco Security robbery in Santiago during which repressive agent Luis Moyano died in a shootout while the perpetrators were making their escape.
Aliste Vega was arrested on July 9, 2010 in Argentina and later deported to Chile on July 22, 2010. He is specifically charged with shooting at the police during the Banco Security escape.
He is currently in custody awaiting trial.
Freddy Fuentevilla
High Security Prison, Special High Security Wing, H Block North
Fuentevilla is a former member of the MIR (Leftist Revolutionary Movement). He is charged with taking part in the September 2007 Banco Santander robbery in Valparaíso and the October 2007 Banco Security robbery in Santiago during which repressive agent Luis Moyano died in a shootout while the perpetrators were making their escape.
After a period as a fugitive, Fuentevilla was arrested on March 15, 2008 together with Marcelo Villarroel in Neuquen, Argentina. They were then deported to Chile on December 15, 2009. Fuentevilla is accused of driving the motorcycle from which shots were fired at the police.
He is currently in custody awaiting trial.
Esteban Huiniguir
High Security Prison, Special High Security Wing, J Block
Huiniguir is a former MAPU Lautaro member. After his home was raided on March 29, 2008 (Young Combatant’s Day), he and other residents were arrested on charges of possession of Molotov cocktails.
Out of a blatantly absurd desire to lock him up, he was sentenced to three years and one day in prison for growing marijuana, plus another 541 days for misdemeanor drug trafficking, even though only a few plants were found at his home.
He is currently serving out his sentence.
SOUTH SANTIAGO PRISON (Former Penitentiary):
Alberto Olivares Fuenzalida
South Santiago Prison (Former Penitentiary), A Block
Olivares Fuenzalida was an FPMR (Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front) member and political prisoner during the 1990s. At the moment, he is locked up on charges stemming from a number of expropriations. In prison, he has participated in hunger strikes and protests while writing and fomenting rebellion as a member of the January 22 Collective.
He is currently serving out his sentence.
SUBJECT TO PREVENTIVE MEASURES:
Rodolfo Retamales
Cristián Cancino
Candelaria Cortez Monroy
Felipe Guerra
Mónica Caballero
Francisco Solar
Carlos Riveros
Camilo Pérez
Andrea Urzúa
Diego Morales
Vinicio Aguilera
Pablo Morales
The defendants are charged with belonging to a fantasy criminal organization. Among them are anarchists, antiauthoritarians, people who have been active in occupied social centers, and former members of armed groups. They were all arrested on August 14, 2010, mixed up in the so-called Bombings Case, and charged as members of a terrorist cell responsible for carrying out 29 bombings.
None of them are currently in prison, but all are awaiting trial, either on probation (having to regularly sign in at their local police station) or under house arrest. The most frequently updated sites with information about their case are solidaridadporlxspresxs.blogspot.com and libertadalos14a.blogspot.com.
MAPUCHE POLITICAL PRISONERS:
Their situations and the list are continually being updated here.
Communiqué for attack on Chilean embassy in Uruguay
From Culmine (September 3, 2011):
Yesterday morning, Thursday, September 1, we decided to attack the Chilean embassy in Uruguay, introducing flammable material through the door, which caused a fire.
We condemn the repression carried out by the Piñera government and any government of the moment. We condemn the existence of all governments.
The disinformation media have hardly said anything about our attack, wanting to conceal solidarity and rebellion. They’ve said nothing about the two deaths during the general strike, 18-year-old Mario Parraguez Pinto and 16-year-old Manuel Gutierrez, gunned down by bullets shot by murderous Carabineros.
Our attack is another display of solidarity with the comrades struggling in territory dominated by the Chilean state.
—Some antiauthoritarians
Molotov attack on Chilean embassy in Uruguay
From Viva la Anarquía (September 2, 2011):
At around 3 a.m. on Thursday, September 1, a Molotov cocktail detonated against the doors of the Chilean embassy at 575 25 de Mayo between Juan Carlos Gómez and Ituzaingo in Old Montevideo. According to authoritarian sources, the incendiary device was thrown by unknown perpetrators on a motorcycle. This is the second incident of this type within the last few months.
String of arsons in Chile claimed by International Revolutionary Front [UPDATED with fourth arson]
From Liberación Total (August 8, 2011):
Responsibility claim for arsons. Vindication for the actions of our comrade Luciano Pitronello. Our reflections.
We are the seed of a tenacious plant. And it’s because of the road we’ve traveled and the need to keep fighting that today, although bruised, we feel somewhat more mature than yesterday. We are thus undertaking, with all our hearts, to let loose some reflections and claim responsibility for our actions as well as those of our comrade-in-ideas Luciano Pitronello, so that they might spread and be discussed in any corner of the world.
These days, it seems that a negative idea has taken root: thinking that everyone involved in the struggle goes through periods of advance and retreat, ups and downs. And although we may think that way, feeling that times are dark for us right now, there still exists the need to regroup, ensure that the unpleasant experiences of the past aren’t repeated, learn lessons, and use every possible means to avoid the bottom of the pit.
We’ve now written something about this, through which we hope our point of view comes across as clearly as possible. We don’t want to overlook any comrade’s practice. This is only what we are thinking and doing, but we are always open to discussion because the struggle is nourished by diversity. It’s the different types and ways of understanding the war that allow us to pave our way.
Firstly, we recognize the existence of an inexplicable quality born within our hearts, that drives us even to risk our lives. It’s the need to be free that makes us hurl ourselves into the void, often without thinking of any consequences. That valiant warrior spirit keeps conflict alive in its most brilliant (but neither its only nor its principal) splendor: our violence against their violence.
Through this text, we mainly want to call for new methods, materials, and knowledge to be incorporated into the violent struggle against authority. We would never dare to judge or oppose comrades who launch themselves into attack without better knowledge or infrastructure. We’re not interested in becoming professional at anything, but we are motivated by the need to intensify the war while preserving our lives and the lives of our comrades. So even if actions always involve the possibility of accidents like Mauri’s death or Luciano’s situation (which are clearly indicative of heightened conflict against authority), to us those accidents also represent a giant step backward because each attacking individuality is in itself an act of liberation, and we must use every means to avoid losses in the course of antiauthoritarian action. It’s not good to treat those tragedies as normal, even though fighters have to learn to live with them.
Secondly, it thus follows that when an individual decides to get organized and make the shift toward violent action—whether that organization takes collective or individual form—the more deeply one gets involved in the battle, the more one needs a certain minimum knowledge of methods and materials to allow for increased, sustained impact. We must be clear that said infrastructure is constructed in relation to the goals of autonomy and liberation, and it never should be considered an end in itself. Building up infrastructure is crucial to our safety, which allows us to perpetuate our actions as much as possible, thereby advancing the struggle.
We need a cushion to land on when situations get complicated, and we need to appropriate methods and knowledge that will improve our mobility, but both needs shouldn’t for any reason nullify our present. The struggle continues, and part of this war involves advancing with regard to materials. While we can’t obsess over it, we also shouldn’t overlook what we still lack.
We will continue to attack authority, maximizing our safety measures and choosing from among the enormous range of existing possibilities for attack, always increasing the diversity and breadth of our actions. Right now we choose to use fire. What will you choose?
We claim responsibility for the following actions carried out just last week:
- Leaving a homemade incendiary device, quick and easy to prepare, at the entrance to the Local Police Courthouse in La Cisterna on the chilly evening of Wednesday, August 3 (we don’t know how much damage was caused).
- Torching a Banco de Chile near the Plaza de Armas in downtown Santiago on the blazing evening of Thursday, August 4 (damaging the facade).
- Setting fire to a Banco Santander in the same area on the same evening of August 4 (damaging the interior, which the press said had been looted).
- Carrying out an arson at the Olavarría Ltd. luxury car dealership in La Reina during the early hours of August 9.
FOR POWER, FIRE.
FOR LUCIANO, OUR HEARTS.
—International Revolutionary Front (Southern Fire Columns)
P.S. We send warm greetings of solidarity to our comrades around the world, especially those being charged, tried, or sentenced by the authorities, like our brothers and sisters in Greece and Switzerland and the Chilean comrades involved in the “Bombings Case.” We won’t forget them.
Two Citizen Safety guard posts torched in Santiago, Chile
From Liberación Total (July 29, 2011) via mass media:
During the evening of Thursday, July 28, two Santiago Municipality Citizen Safety guard posts were attacked.
The first attack happened at around 10 p.m., when masked perpetrators threw Molotov cocktails at a guard post located at the intersection of Calle Erasmo Escala and Calle Maipú. The resulting fire partially damaged the exterior, and the municipal guard stationed there sustained minor injuries after cutting himself while exiting through the window.
The second attack took place 20 minutes later, just meters from the first, at another Citizen Safety guard post located at the intersection of Calle Martínez de Rosas and Calle Maturana. There, the masked perpetrators forcibly removed the municipal guard before dousing the guard post with gasoline and pelting it with Molotov cocktails. The resulting fire completely destroyed the guard post.
Carabineros and Investigative Police (PDI) “intelligence” agents arrived at the scene of both incidents to investigate in an attempt to determine the perpetrators’ identities. Prosecutor Humberto Vásquez is leading the investigation, and he used the press to call on citizens to collaborate with the authorities’ information gathering, especially if any video recordings of the attacks exist.
Also present was Santiago mayor Pablo Zalaquett. The extreme rightist classified the incidents as anarchist attacks, adding that “those responsible will rot in prison” as an example to anyone else who dares to subvert authority.
The following text was found on leaflets at the sites of both attacks:
REVENGE ATTACK
We condemn and avenge the beating of an unnamed comrade by Citizen Safety during the June 23 march.
We have witnessed how Citizen Safety, in complicity with the Carabineros, harasses and persecutes street vendors.
These municipal functionaries have been transformed into Zalaquett’s police, and since they are police, we will attack them as such.
No aggression will go unanswered.
