Manuel Contreras
| Manuel Contreras | |
|---|---|
Manuel Contreras
|
|
| Born |
Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda 4 May 1929 Santiago, Chile |
| Died |
7 August 2015 (aged 86) Santiago, Chile |
| Cause of death | Multiple organ failure |
| Residence | -Military Hospital, Providencia (Sep. 1978-Oct. 1979) -Punta Peuco, Tiltil (Oct. 1995-Jan. 2001) -House arrest, Peñalolén (Jan. 2001-Jan. 2005) -Penal Cordillera, Peñalolén (Jan. 2005-Sep. 2013) -Punta Peuco, Tiltil (Sep. 2013-Aug. 2014) -Military Hospital, La Reina (Aug. 2014 until his death) |
| Other names | El Mamo |
| Known for | Head of secret police |
| Criminal penalty | 529 years in prison |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Conviction(s) | Kidnapping, forced disappearance, assassination, illegal association with criminal intent |
Juan Manuel Guillermo "Mamo" Contreras Sepúlveda (4 May 1929 – 7 August 2015) was a Chilean military officer and the former head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. In 1995 he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the murder in Washington, D.C., USA of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier, which he served until 2001.
At the time of his death in August 2015, Contreras was serving 59 unappealable sentences totaling 529 years in prison for kidnapping, forced disappearance and assassination.
From 1973 to 1977, Contreras led the agency on an international hunt to track down and kill the political opponents of the Junta, particularly members of the Communist and Socialist parties and the former guerrilla group and political party Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). According to the report "CIA activities in Chile" released on September 19, 2000, the US government policy community approved CIA's contact with Contreras from 1974 to 1977 to accomplish the CIA's mission in Chile in spite of his role in human rights abuses. By 1975 American intelligence reporting had concluded that Contreras was the principal obstacle to a reasonable human rights policy within the Pinochet government, but the CIA was directed to continue its relationship with Contreras, even giving Contreras a one-time payment in 1975. The CIA became concerned with Contreras' role in the assassination of former Salvador Allende cabinet member and ambassador to Washington Orlando Letelier and his American assistant, Ronni Karpen Moffit in Washington, DC, on 21 September 1976. The CIA was said to have gathered specific, detailed intelligence reporting alleging Contrera's involvement in ordering the Letelier assassination, but the purported material remains classified and has been withheld at the request of the US Department of Justice (CIA, 2000) CIA contacts with Contreras continued until 1977.
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