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Original article: El día que el Caso Quemados estremeció a Chile: Los horrores de la dictadura y la memoria activa por justicia

The Crime That Shocked Chile

On July 2, 40 years ago, the Quemados Case sent shockwaves through Chile. Carmen Gloria Quintana and Rodrigo Rojas De Negri were brutally attacked by a military patrol: beaten, doused in fuel, set on fire, and left for dead, as highlighted by Amnesty International Chile in a commemorative video.

Rodrigo, just 19 years old, died four days later, while Carmen Gloria miraculously survived.

Watch the Amnesty International video:

“I Am Disappointed”: Carmen Gloria Quintana Reflects on 40 Years Since the Quemados Case and the Rise of Denialism

In an interview with Radio Universidad de Chile, Carmen Gloria Quintana expressed: “Right now, we are witnessing a global regression in the universality of human rights and the commitment of States to uphold them. I am disappointed because I thought Chile had learned something from the events during the dictatorship, and I feel that we are currently seeing a marked regression in the State’s commitment to human rights.”

Delayed Justice and Cover-Up

“It took 38 years for justice to occur. Only in January 2024, thanks to Fernando Guzmán, a conscript who broke the silence agreements, was the case reopened,” Quintana recounted. The Supreme Court confirmed 20-year prison sentences for four individuals responsible, though one remains a fugitive. “When justice is so delayed, is there also a violation of the victims’ human rights?” she questioned.

American researcher Peter Kornbluh revealed in an article published by CIPER Chile that Pinochet was involved in covering up the crime. According to a declassified U.S. intelligence cable, the Director General of Carabineros, Rodolfo Stange, submitted a report identifying the Army patrol unit responsible for the burning. However, Pinochet “refused to accept the report.” “There are enough historical records preserved to counter the lies that continue to be spread,” Kornbluh wrote.

Denialism and Memory

Carmen Gloria Quintana voiced her concerns over the rise of denialism: “It’s frightening that people cannot comprehend, because feeling that the State does not protect your rights, but instead persecutes, tortures, burns, and makes you disappear for your beliefs, is something terrible.” She also criticized President Kast’s government for having dismissed “most of the technicians working on the search for the disappeared.”

“Social protest is the only way people have to voice their objections when their rights are infringed upon by the State. Everything that occurred during the social unrest was clearly a systematic violation of human rights under Piñera’s government,” she asserted. When discussing potential pardons for those convicted of crimes against humanity, she was adamant: “How can we pardon such serious crimes? It sends a terrible message to the new generations.”

Active Memory and Non-Repetition

The Paz y Justicia Service (SERPAJ Chile) commemorated the date with a call to maintain “active memory.” “Memory is not a static exercise of the past; it is a living and necessary tool to build true guarantees against repetition,” they stated.

“Rodrigo Rojas De Negri in our memory. Carmen Gloria Quintana in our daily work. For a future of truth, justice, reparation, and peace!” SERPAJ asserted.

Peter Kornbluh, in a column for CIPER Chile, concluded his personal homage to Rodrigo Rojas: “Those who continue to whitewash Pinochet’s dictatorship for political benefit should take this anniversary to visit my young friend Rodrigo Rojas’ grave in the General Cemetery. From there, Rodrigo and the numerous victims of the dictatorship surrounding him continue to speak to all Chileans about the horrors of the past and the possibilities for the future.”

La entrada 40 Years After the ‘Quemados Case’: Remembering the Atrocities of Dictatorship and the Fight for Justice in Chile se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.