Erik Visits a (Latin) American Grave, Part 2,190

This is the grave of Jose Manuel Torres de la Cruz.

OK, this is something of an experimental grave post. I was walking around the big cemetery in Santiago. There’s going to be a lot of graves coming out of this trip, many of which are associated with Pinochet dictatorship (though not that bastard himself, he’s somewhere else). Most are victims, but a few are perpetrators. So I saw a bunch of generals from the dictatorship era and I wondered, what happens if I just choose one and look him up.

Well, unsurprisingly, what I can find out about Jose Manuel Torres de la Cruz is that he was a fascist asshole.

The only thing I can find out about Torres is that after the dictatorship, he totally lied about what happened. There’s a memory of the dictatorship webpage and it includes a historian rebuking Torres for his lies. For me at least, it automatically translates into English so the accuracy of that is probably dubious. But let me quote it:

Sergio Lausic: “As long as people like Torres de la Cruz continue to offer a biased view of the events of 11 [note: the coup was September 11, 1973]… the issue of the past and all its elements
will continue to haunt us.”

In a lengthy letter sent to the editors of La Prensa Austral, historian and academic Sergio Lausic Glasinovic, from the University of Magallanes, refuted the claims made by retired General Manuel Torres de la Cruz in an interview published last Sunday in El Magallanes. In the interview, Torres de la Cruz stated, among other things, that “there were no disappeared detainees in Magallanes.”

 Below, we present the full content of Sergio Lausic’s letter (subtitles are by La Prensa Austral).

“Mr. Editor: In relation to the interview that appeared in your newspaper on Sunday the 31st of last year and carried out with Mr. Manuel Torres de la Cruz, I would like to give my views.

          This project stems primarily from my professional interest in investigating the historical past of our Magallanes region. The opinions and information provided by the interviewee, in his capacity as former Intendant and military chief of what was then the Province of Magallanes, regarding the events before and after the military coup, cannot go unexamined and discussed. All of this is intended to offer a historical perspective on such important events, which to this day provoke significant discussions and confrontations not only regionally but also nationally, and even internationally. It is not my intention here to analyze the causes of the coup and its consequences, a matter that has already been largely clarified by researchers on the subject, whether within the broader context of the Cold War or through analyses of Chile’s internal situations. My aim is simply to point out that historical research and its execution involve consulting diverse sources of information and studying them to verify their origin and objectivity.

 For starters, the interview published in your newspaper, like others before it, is part of these sources, and all of them deserve to be consulted, which I am doing and will continue to do. In addition, we must include the various interviews conducted with the participants in these events, many of whom are still alive; the various official documents, such as the minutes of the Courts-Martial; press reports; information from state and private organizations; and also sources from foreign or international organizations (United Nations, International Red Cross, private associations, etc.) that undoubtedly have a great deal of information on these topics, some of which is now being made public. An example of this is the declassification of documents by the U.S. government, which has been so important in gaining a more complete and comprehensive understanding of these events.

Responses to statements

That is why I will limit myself to responding to some of the claims made by Mr. Torres de la Cruz, since responding to all of them would require a lengthy communication beyond the scope of this letter.
          1. The province of Magallanes, during the command of General Manuel Torres de la Cruz, from the day of the coup until his removal from office, suffered one of the most brutal and widespread human rights abuses in the region’s history, comparable to other infamous events in Magallanes. These abuses included the deprivation of liberty and individual rights, imprisonment, confinement, and torture—both psychological and physical—inflicted on hundreds of Magallanes residents. Furthermore, property was seized, such as the vehicles of several detainees, all under the guise of orders or decrees that attempted to legally justify these arbitrary actions.
          2. The detention centers used were well-known locations such as Pudeto, Cochrane, the Bahía Catalina area, Estadio Fiscal, and Ojo Bueno, as well as police stations and other military installations in the province, in Puerto Natales and Porvenir. Dawson Island deserves special mention, as it was the site of confinement for many Magallanes residents from September 11th onward, and also the location where several representatives of President S. Allende’s central government, who came from Santiago and Valparaíso, were held. This site, which was initially located at the “Compingin” camp, was moved to the new facilities at Río Chico and, on Christmas Eve of 1973, was augmented by several hundred Magallanes residents transferred from the previous detention sites. In the days leading up to September 18, particularly on the night of the 17th, a large group of detainees were transferred to Punta Arenas. There, they were subjected to degrading treatment and torture, specifically condemned by the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, as that was their status. It should be added that all of these individuals were subjected to forced labor designed to degrade them, most of whom were highly respected professionals and intellectuals both in Chile and abroad.

Torture sites

3. The most well-known interrogation sites in Punta Arenas, with the consequent physical and psychological torture, were the Casa del Deportista, adjacent to the Gymnasium of the Sports Confederation, the so-called “palace of laughter”, due precisely to the brutality of the interrogation procedures, located on Colón Avenue, plus the units already mentioned, as well as others in Puerto Natales and Porvenir.

          4. The so-called Courts-Martial have been one of the most serious accusations of grave human rights violations, a situation denounced and condemned by the United Nations on numerous occasions, particularly by its Third Committee. This stems primarily from the arbitrary application of legislation regarding a “state of war” to prisoners who allegedly acted in peacetime, that is, before September 11, the date of the declaration of a state of internal war. Therefore, courts-martial were not applicable. Furthermore, the legislation of the Law of Internal Defense of the State regarding penalties was amended, increasing the number of years for acts committed before the events in question, a situation that represents one of the most flagrant abuses in this area. Moreover, well-known figures in regional politics, opponents of President Allende, were appointed as prosecutors, which, once again, invalidated the investigations and accusations. All of this violated fundamental human rights, including those enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic.

          In short, there is a very long list of situations that demonstrate the complete opposite of what Mr. Manuel Torres de la Cruz asserts in the interview.
In conclusion, it can be stated that the massive number of arrests in Magallanes far exceeded the proportion of arrests in the rest of Chile, considering the low population density. These detainees suffered serious and systematic human rights violations; a majority of them were even tortured by state agents, more with the intention of inflicting psychological damage and long-lasting political effects than of obtaining classified “intelligence” information. This is based on the detainees’ own statements, information that any team working in these matters can obtain through scientific methods, plus the journalistic information of the time, full of background information on the matter… Mr. Torres de la Cruz’s transfer to Santiago and his subsequent forced retirement, as well as his thwarted political ambitions, would be another important source of historical analysis, which could be among the anecdotes of the coup era, helping to understand the mentality and ambitions of these figures who held unchecked political power at the time.

Courts-martial

          The “courts-martial” can be considered entirely spurious due to the aforementioned circumstances. Even the deaths of “prisoners of war” in Tierra del Fuego under still-unexplained circumstances, the subsequent deaths of some individuals due to mistreatment, the psychological and moral damage inflicted on the victims and their families, and the defamation of personal honor that has yet to be repaired, were among the most serious human rights abuses committed in Magallanes during the political, administrative, and military jurisdictional command held by Manuel Torres de la Cruz, beginning on September 11, 1973. All of the above is supported by the aforementioned historical sources, which therefore refute his claims.
          The interview is invaluable, and I congratulate the Director for providing and highlighting, especially for younger generations of Chileans, information and figures who, at a certain point in our history, disregarded even the most basic rights of thousands of Chileans, and in this case, of Magallanes residents—rights they claimed to be defending with the military coup. Today, more and more details are emerging about one of the darkest periods in Chilean history, and indeed, in the history of humanity. I believe it is necessary to look to the future and achieve true reconciliation, as the Catholic Church advocates. However, as long as individuals like Torres de la Cruz continue to present a biased view of the events of September 11th, and report without acknowledging the existence of the most fundamental facts being denounced, while ignoring their historical responsibilities, the past and all its elements will continue to haunt us.
          Thank you very much for your time.

 Sergio Lausic Glasinovic”.

Source: Prensa Austral, January 5, 2001

So yeah, this was a stone cold murderous fascist piece of shit. Burn in Hell motherfucker.

I don’t know when this guy died. I hope it was painful. I’m not finding anymore about him in fact, but this is more than enough for a grave post.

Jose Manuel Torres de la Cruz is buried in Santiago General Cemetery, Santiago, Chile. I hope in the afterlife, vultures eat his liver every day while he feels all the pain he inflicted on the Chilean population.

If you would like this series to visit supporters of the actions of pieces of shit like Torres de la Cruz in the United States, you can donate to cover the required expenses here. Henry Kissinger is in Arlington and Nathaniel Davis, US ambassador to Chile at the time of the coup, is in Keene, New York. Previous posts in this series are archived here and here.