The ''Caso Degollados'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

: "Slit-Throat Case") was a politically motivated series of murders of opposition members that took place in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

in 1985, during

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 ...

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the ...

. The murders caused a huge

political scandal In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt, unet ...

Events of the case

On March 30, 1985 three

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

members were savagely murdered. The bodies of Santiago Nattino, Manuel Guerrero Ceballos and José Manuel Parada were discovered near Santiago's airport, their throats slashed. Nattino, a painter and supporter of the AGECH teachers' union, had been kidnapped on March 28, while AGECH leader Guerrero, and Parada, a Vicaría de la Solidaridad staff member, were abducted on March 29. The brutal triple murder, which came to be known as ''Caso Degollados'', evoked widespread indignation and compelled the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

to appoint Judge José Cánovas Robles as special prosecutor to investigate the crime. Only four months later, the investigation carried out by Judge Cánovas led to the arrest of two colonels, one major, two captains and two non-commissioned officers of the national police force ''(carabineros)''. The aftermath of this case provoked, on August 2, 1985, the resignation of General

César Mendoza General César Leonidas Mendoza Durán (September 11, 1918 – September 13, 1996) was a member of the Government Junta which ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, representing the country-wide police force, the ''Carabineros de Chile''. M ...

, Director General of the Carabineros and Member of Government Junta since the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

of September 11, 1973 as well as the dissolution of DICOMCAR, an agency of the Carabineros that had allegedly carried out the kidnappings and assassinations. In its 1985 special report, the

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme'' ...

stated that it hoped that “the case now under way will lead to the identification and punishment of the persons responsible for the execution of so culpable an act.” Eventually six members of the police secret service were indicted and sentenced to life for the murders.

References

{{chile-poli-stub Political scandals in Chile Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990) 1985 in Chile Carabineros de Chile Massacres in Chile Deaths by blade weapons

Events of the case

See also

References