Marcelo Luis Manuel Moren Brito (July 27, 1935 – September 11, 2015) was a Chilean retired

Army colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and former agent of the

Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional The Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional ( en, National Intelligence Directorate) or DINA was the secret police of Chile during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The DINA has been referred to as "Pinochet's Gestapo". Established in November ...

(DINA), the defunct Chilean

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...

, during the

Pinochet dictatorship Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

from 1973 to 1990. During the rule of

Dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

, Moren Brito, who was nicknamed "el Coronta" and "el Ronco," was the chief of operations at DINA, as well as the head of the

Villa Grimaldi Villa Grimaldi is considered the most important of DINA’s (Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional, the Chilean secret police during the Pinochet regime) many complexes that were used for the interrogation and torture of political prisoners during ...

, DINA's feared detention center in

Peñalolén Peñalolén (Mapudungun "fraternal meeting place") is a Chilean commune in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on November 15, 1984. History The commune was founded on November 15, 1984. Drug arrests During 2019, Chi ...

, where thousands of

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s were interrogated and tortured. He was a member of a

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are ...

of Chilean Army officers who carried out the 1973

Caravan of Death The Caravan of Death ( es, Caravana de la Muerte) was a Chilean Army death squad that, following the Chilean coup of 1973, flew by helicopters from south to north of Chile between September 30 and October 22, 1973. During this foray, members of t ...

, in which at least 75 individuals in military custody were executed, including the singer

Víctor Jara Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a broad array of works, rang ...

. Moren Brito was accused of the widespread abductions, disappearances, murder and the torture of

political opponent A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

s of the Pinochet regime. ''

La Tercera ''La Tercera'' ( es, The Third One), formerly known as ''La Tercera de la Hora'' ('the third of the hour'), is a daily newspaper published in Santiago, Chile and owned by Copesa. It is ''El Mercurio''s closest competitor. ''La Tercera'' is part o ...

'', the daily Chilean newspaper, wrote that Moren Briten was "associated with some of the cruelest actions of

repression Repression may refer to: * Memory inhibition, the ability to filter irrelevant memories from attempts to recall * Political repression, the oppression or persecution of an individual or group for political reasons * Psychological repression, the p ...

against dissidents of the military government of Augusto Pinochet." Moren Brito was convicted of

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

and sentenced to more than 300 years in prison. He was incarcerated for life at

Punta Peuco Prison Punta Peuco Prison (''Penal de Punta Peuco''), officially Centro de Detención Preventiva y Cumplimiento Penitenciario Especial Punta Peuco, is a prison located in the municipality of Tiltil, Santiago Metropolitan Region. Punta Peuco is a specia ...

, which was constructed in 1995 specifically for individuals convicted of human rights abuses. He died from multiple organ failure at

Hospital Militar de Santiago A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergenc ...

, where he had been admitted earlier in the week due to declining health, on September 11, 2015, at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moren Brito, Marcelo 1935 births 2015 deaths Chilean people convicted of crimes against humanity Chilean anti-communists Chilean people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Chilean detention Chilean Army officers Chilean colonels People of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990) People from Temuco