Chile: Information on the left-wing group FPL, its membership and its relationship with authorities

Please find attached several news articles that add to the information provided in Response to Information Request CHL20261.E of 30 March 1995, available through the Refinfo database and at your Regional Documentation Centre.

The attached reports refer to the arrest and sentencing of leaders of the Lautaro group. The documents refer to it under various acronyms, including FRPL, FPL and MJL. The first two stand for Fuerzas Rebeldes y Populares Lautaro, while the third acronym stands for Movimiento Juvenil Lautaro.

Two attachments report that the group first surfaced in 1983, during the dictatorship of general Augusto Pinochet, and continued their urban guerrilla warfare after democracy was restored in 1990 (AFP 16 June 1994; Notisur 24 June 1994).

 Another source reports that the Lautaro group is "virtually the only presence of the armed left in Chile," and that its actions have led "many members of the political left to accuse the group of infiltration by security forces" (IPS 29 June 1994). At the same time, the group is held responsible by authorities for more than 600 criminal acts, including "25 murders, 30 attacks on police barracks, and hundreds of raids on banks, shops and stores from which it has netted more than 1.4bn pesos (US$3.3bn)" (Latin America Regional Reports 11 Aug. 1994). Another source also reports that over 600 terrorist crimes have been attributed to the group, stating that "in less than five years, the [Movimiento Juvenil Lautaro] killed 25 police and assaulted some 300 banks and businesses, stealing over one million dollars" (IPS 29 June 1994).

According to the Chilean police in June 1994, the arrest of the top leadership of the group at that time "may well result in the total demise of Lautaro," adding that "since January 1991, police have killed or arrested 23 members of the Lautaro leadership" (Notisur 24 June 1994). Another source reports that the June 1994 arrests "raised to 53 the number of the group's most important members put behind bars since 1991" (Latin America Regional Reports 11 Aug. 1994). The document adds that "14 of those in gaol comprised the entire national leadership of the group, including its four deputy leaders ... nine members of the central committee" and "all the members of the Lautaro leaderships in the Concepcion and Osorno regions, some 500 and 950 kilometres south of Santiago" (ibid.). Finally, the source states that the group may not be dead yet, as "there are many brigands still free," adding that "these are people who felt lost when their leaders were captured but might now be searching for new ones" (ibid.).

The most recent report available on the Lautaro group refers to the arrest of three active members in January 1995 in Santiago (Televisión Nacional de Chile 11 Jan. 1995). The three were reportedly receiving instructions from leaders in prison and had committed "actions designed to show that they still exist; that is, they have acted as a propaganda brigade" (ibid.). The three have been accused of attacks on payment centres and Mormon temples, and setting buses on fire (ibid.). The police is reported to believe that "the three detainees comprised the last operational extremist cell in the capital" (ibid.).

Further recent (1994-95) details on the group's organization or remaining membership could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 16 June 1994. "Chilean Rebel Leader Behind Bars." (NEXIS)

Inter Press Service (IPS). 29 June 1994. "Chile: Armed Left Virtually Disappears With Arrest of Leader." (NEXIS)

Latin America Regional Reports: Southern Cone. 11 August 1994. "Entire Lautaro Leadership in Gaol; Terrorist Group Still Not Dead Despite 'Mortal Blow'." (NEXIS)

Notisur-Latin American Political Affairs. 24 June 1994. "Chile: Arrest of Lautaro Leaders Could Mean a Mortal Blow to Guerrilla Group." (NEXIS)

Television Nacional de Chile-Imagen Internacional [Santiago, in Spanish]. 11 January 1995. "Carabineros Arrest Lautaro Movement Cell Members." (FBIS-LAT-95-008 12 Jan. 1995, pp. 38-39)

Attachments

Agence France Presse (AFP). 5 August 1994. "Military Court Sentences Five Guerrillas to Death." (NEXIS)

_____. 16 June 1994. "Chilean Rebel Leader Behind Bars." (NEXIS)

Inter Press Service (IPS). 29 June 1994. "Chile: Armed Left Virtually Disappears With Arrest of Leader." (NEXIS)

Latin America Regional Reports: Southern Cone. 11 August 1994. "Entire Lautaro Leadership in Gaol; Terrorist Group Still Not Dead Despite 'Mortal Blow'." (NEXIS)

Notisur-Latin American Political Affairs. 26 August 1994. "Chile: Leader of Guerrilla Group Sentenced to Death." (NEXIS)

_____. 24 June 1994. "Chile: Arrest of Lautaro Leaders Could Mean a Mortal Blow to Guerrilla Group." (NEXIS)

Reuters. 15 June 1994. BC Cycle. "Chilean Police Capture Head of Guerrilla Group." (NEXIS)

Television Nacional de Chile-Imagen Internacional [Santiago, in Spanish]. 11 January 1995. "Carabineros Arrest Lautaro Movement Cell Members." (FBIS-LAT-95-008 12 Jan. 1995, pp. 38-39)