Chile's 'Caravan of Death' at heart of efforts to put Pinochet on trial

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- The Puma pounced in October 1973, its rotors thumping as the military helicopter swooped down on cities in northern Chile in the aftermath of a bloody coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

At each stop, military men in combat gear bounded from the Puma with grenades, machine guns and the Chilean corvo, a curved knife intended for close combat.

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The garb and weaponry seemed out of place for the small cities where the helicopter touched down, but investigators say they foretold what would come: a mission to shoot, slash and stab to death imprisoned political opponents, ushering in the reign of terror of Pinochet's 17-year dictatorship.

Seventy-two people were killed in the two-week, so-called Caravan of Death, which endures for many as the regime's most notorious human rights case. Chile's Supreme Court will begin deliberations Tuesday on whether Pinochet can be tried, and prosecutors say the Caravan case would be the one to carry forward.

Following the September 1973 coup that toppled Marxist president Salvador Allende, a few military officers hopscotched the country by helicopter, going to the jails and asking to see the lists of political prisoners.

"This is the mission that founded the dictatorship," said Patricia Verdugo, an investigative reporter who wrote about the caravan in a best-selling 1989 book, "The Claws of the Puma."

The Caravan of Death has been well known for years, but more details have emerged recently as investigators made it central to the charges against Pinochet.

The democratic government that succeeded Pinochet reported that 3,197 people died or disappeared during the general's 1973-1990 dictatorship. Pinochet's lawyers have said vehemently and repeatedly that he had no part in executions or disappearances ascribed to his regime.

On July 19, the Supreme Court opened hearings to determine whether Pinochet could be tried in Chile, signaling a new chapter in a legal odyssey that began with his arrest in Britain in October 1998.

Seized in London while recuperating from back surgery, the general fought a 16-month legal battle, successfully fending off a Spanish judge's extradition request on torture charges. British doctors declared Pinochet unfit for trial and he returned home March 3.

"That arrest opened the floodgates and emboldened the Chilean judiciary," said Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch in New York.

Even if Pinochet ultimately avoids trial in Chile, Brody added, "it wouldn't be a total defeat. This entire process has set a string of important precedents both for international law and the principle that no one is above the law."

Now 84, Pinochet suffers from diabetes, uses a pacemaker and had three mild strokes in London.

His lawyer, Ricardo Rivadeneira, told Chile's Supreme Court that Pinochet is in such poor health he cannot organize a proper defense. Chile normally exempts suspects from criminal proceedings only for insanity or dementia.

"I myself have not been able to have a direct contact with Gen. Pinochet," Rivadeneira said.

The Supreme Court must give final word on Pinochet's appeal of a lower tribunal ruling, which stripped the general of the immunity he enjoyed from prosecution as a senator-for-life. It is unclear if the 20 justices will first order medical tests to determine whether he is fit for stand trial, or immediately rule whether he could be tried.

Opponents contend Pinochet had clear control over the Caravan and sent a trusted "delegate" as mission leader. Alfonso Insunza, a lawyer representing relatives of a slain union activist, told the justices Pinochet was responsible "for the crimes of homicide, kidnapping and illegal burial of bodies."

But Rivadeneira said his client "never ordered any executions much less kidnappings."

Families of the victims insist trying Pinochet is the only way to attain justice. "The state has not yet confronted the central issue. This is a bedrock value for any healthy society," said Mario Silva.

His father, Hector Mario Silva Iriarte, was among 16 killed in Antofogasta on Oct. 19, 1973. A socialist in the Allende government, he surrendered to military authorities and was jailed.

"They were taken out in the night and executed in the hills near Antofogasta," said the son. "They said at the time that they were plotting against the government, but that was all a lie."

Mario Silva, who was 7 at the time, said his mother was left with five children to raise. "It was terribly painful and difficult after that because we all had depended on my father."

Nineteen of the caravan victims are still missing. Until the bodies are found, the Supreme Court has agreed the cases can be considered kidnappings, and thus "ongoing crimes" exempted from a controversial amnesty.

One of the missing is Carlos Berger, director of a radio station in Calama who defied orders to cease broadcasting the day of the coup. Twelve others from the northern city also disappeared.

Wife Carmen Hertz said she was in the radio station when the soldiers took him away. "On the day of the coup he kept transmitting. They ordered him to close up and he refused," she said.

Berger was given a 61-day jail sentence. Hertz visited every day.

He had just a few days remaining when he was plucked from jail along with his cellmates, victims of what she called a "cruel and cowardly massacre."

"Every day of my life I remember those faces."

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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