Operation Colombo: 40 ex military officers to face court summons this Tuesday

SANTIAGO.- Tomorrow, Judge Victor Montiglio will summon 98 people, both military and civilian, for their alleged participation in the so-called “Operation Colombo”, which has been denounced as an intelligence maneuver carried out by the Chilean Secret Police (DINA) at the beginning of the military regime as a way to cover up the disappearance of political dissidents.

The announcement comes from judicial sources who have indicated that the charges will include 40 ex Army officers, 30 ex National Police officers, 10 former city police officers, two former marines, as well as former members of the Chilean Air Force and civilians, even including the doormen who worked at DINA detention centers.

The summons will begin tomorrow (Tuesday) by way of a process that has yet to be entirely clarified.

Charges concerning Operation Colombo have already been brought against various DINA leaders and agents, including Generals Manuel Contreras and César Manríquez (a former Sub Secretary of War), and Brigadier Commander Pedro Espinoza, in connection with the premeditated kidnapping of 47 people, the majority of whom were members of the MIR.