[A-List] Fw: [LAsolidarity] Chilean SOA Graduate Fails to Report to Prison

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MessageFrom: Joao Da Silva 
Subject: [LAsolidarity] Chilean SOA Graduate Fails to Report to Prison


 

CHILEAN SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS GRADUATE FAILS TO REPORT TO PRISON 

 

The U.S. Army Trained General was Sentenced to Five Years for Crimes against Humanity

 

Santiago, Chile - School of the Americas (SOA) trained General Raul Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann failed to report to fulfill his 5 year sentence in a Chilean prison today. He was last seen by his family on Sunday, June 12. He is now considered a fugitive and some reports say he may have committed suicide to avoid prison.

 

This is the first sentence for "Don Elias", as he was known within the "Brigada Puren", from a Chilean court. On June 23, 1995, a Roman court condemned Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann "in absentia" to 20 years' imprisonment for coordinating the assassination attempt against Christian Democrat politician and former Chilean Vice-President Bernardo Leighton. He and his wife, Ana Fresno, were shot and seriously wounded in September 1975 in Rome. 

 

The former Chief of the Exterior of the DINA (Direccion Nacional de Inteligencia - a military intelligence agency) was sentenced to five years for his involvement in the disappearance of 21-year old left wing militant Luis Dagoberto San Martin in 1974. He is also a suspect in plotting the assassination of General Carlos Prats and his wife Sofia Cuthbert in Buenos Aires, Argentina and further sentencing is still pending.

 

As Chief of Exterior for the DINA, Gen. Iturriaga Neumann played a significant role in Operation Condor together with other high profile SOA graduates from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In his book, "The Condor Years: How Pinochet and His Allies Brought Terrorism to Three Continents" (The New Press, 2004), investigative reporter John Dinges claims that the U.S. Army School of the Americas, provided material and logistical support to facilitate communications between the military intelligence agencies involved in the operations to target political dissidents abroad. General Iturriaga Neumann attended the School of the Americas in Panama in 1965 for a Basic Airborne Course.

 

The retired General was scheduled to enter the Cordillera Penitentiary on June 12, 2007 where other former military officers who were involved in human rights violations during the military dictatorship (1973-1990) are currently serving their sentences. Among the detainees are General Miguel Krassnoff and Brigadier Fernando Lauriani who are also graduates of the School of the Americas; Krassnoff attended the SOA for an "Urban Counter-Insurgency" course in 1974 and Lauriani attended in 1971 for "Combat Arms Orientation 0-37".

 

###

 

 


----
Joao Da Silva
Communications Coordinator
School of the Americas Watch
WWW.SOAW.ORG


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