Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar was a Chilean economist, politician and diplomat during the presidency of Salvador Allende. A refugee from the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, Letelier accepted several academic positions in Washington, D.C. following his exile from Chile. In 1976, agents of Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the Pinochet regime's secret police, assassinated Letelier in Washington via the use of a car bomb. These agents had been working in collaboration with members of the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations, an anti-Castro militant group.
The Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional or DINA was the secret police of Chile during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The DINA has been referred to as "Pinochet's Gestapo". Established in November 1973 as a Chilean Army intelligence unit headed by Colonel Manuel Contreras and vice-director Raúl Iturriaga, the DINA was then separated from the army and made an independent administrative unit in June 1974 under the auspices of Decree 521. The DINA existed until 1977, after which it was renamed the Central Nacional de Informaciones or CNI.
Juan Manuel "Mamo" GuillermoContreras Sepúlveda was a Chilean Army 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 convicted of the murder of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier in Washington, DC, and sentenced to seven years in prison, which he served until 2001. At the time of his death, Contreras was serving 59 unappealable sentences totaling 529 years in prison for kidnapping, forced disappearance, and assassination.
Michael Vernon Townley is an American-born former agent of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the secret police of Chile during the regime of Augusto Pinochet. In 1978, Townley pleaded guilty to the 1976 murders of Orlando Letelier, former Chilean ambassador to the United States, and Ronni Karpen Moffitt, Letelier's co-worker at the Institute for Policy Studies. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, serving 62 months. As part of his plea bargain, Townley received immunity from further prosecution; he was not extradited to Argentina to stand trial for the 1974 assassination of Chilean General Carlos Prats and his wife in Buenos Aires.
Virgilio Pablo Paz Romero is a Cuban exile and militant who was involved in the 1976 assassination of former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C. Paz Romero was one of two people accused of detonating a remote-controlled car bomb that killed Letelier and a colleague in Washington's Sheridan Circle.
Rengo is a city and commune located in the Zona Central of Chile, situated in the Cachapoal Province of the O'Higgins Region at a distance of 28 km (17 mi) south of the city of Rancagua and 114 km (71 mi) south of the national capital Santiago. It was named after the courageous Toqui Rengo for his particular bravery at the Battle of Lagunillas.
Sheridan Circle is a traffic circle in the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Embassy Row.
Pedro Opaso Letelier was a Chilean politician and provisional vice president of Chile in 1931.
René Letelier Martner (1915–2006) was a Chilean chess player with the title of International Master. His finest international tournament win was in 1954, when he took the UNESCO tournament in Montevideo as clear first ahead of joint Ossip Bernstein and Miguel Najdorf, beating both in their individual game.
On 21 September 1976, Orlando Letelier, a leading opponent of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, was assassinated by car bombing, in Washington, D.C. Letelier, who was living in exile in the United States, was killed along with his work colleague Ronni Karpen Moffitt, who was in the car with her husband Michael. The assassination was carried out by agents of the Chilean secret police (DINA), and was one among many carried out as part of Operation Condor. Declassified U.S. intelligence documents confirm that Pinochet directly ordered the killing.
Juan Carlos Letelier Pizarro is a former football striker from Chile, who was nicknamed "Pato" and/or "Lete". He played for his native country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. He played 57 times for his country scoring 18 goals between 1979 and 1989, scoring the last goal against Algeria at the 1982 World Cup.
Olivar is a commune in Chile, located in the O'Higgins Region, 10 km south of Rancagua, and administered by the municipality of Olivar. The main economic activities range from agriculture and food production, especially apples for exportation.
The Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award is awarded annually by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). It is awarded to those advancing the cause of human rights in the Americas. The Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award commemorates Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt, who in 1976 were assassinated in Washington, D.C. by agents of the Chilean secret service. It was first presented in 1978.
The Battle of Sángrar or Combat of Sangra was fought on June 26, 1881, in the Peruvian central Andes, during the Letelier expedition, the first of its type during the sierra campaign of the War of the Pacific, sent to eliminate the Peruvian resistance growing over there after the fall of Lima and conducted by Andrés Cáceres. An 80–man Chilean detachment led by Cpt. Jose Araneda fell to the attacking force commanded by Col. Manuel Encarnación Vento at Sángrar.
Ash Point is a rounded low ice-free point forming the southeast side of the entrance to Discovery Bay in the northeast of Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica with an adjacent ice-free area of 201 hectares. Letelier Bank is lying off Ash Point, while Bascopé Point is situated 460 m (503 yd)to the southwest, with the 1 km (0.62 mi) wide Rojas Cove indenting for 310 m (339 yd) the coast between that point and Guesalaga Peninsula. The area was visited by early 19th century sealers.
The following lists events that happened during 1932 in Chile.
The following lists events that happened during 1976 in Chile.
Familia moderna is a Chilean television series based on the American sitcom Modern Family which aired on ABC. It is produced and broadcast by Mega since December 3, 2015, starring Patricio Contreras, Mariana Loyola, Nicolás Saavedra and Álvaro Escobar in the lead roles.
Fabiola Alicia Letelier del Solar was a Chilean lawyer, noted for her activism and defense of human rights in Chile and Latin America. She was the founder and president of CODEPU (1980–1998), and a plaintiff lawyer in the case surrounding her brother Orlando Letelier's assassination in 1976. On 23 July 2018, she was awarded the National Human Rights Prize, awarded by the National Institute of Human Rights.
José Antonio Letelier Henríquez is a Chilean football coach and former professional goalkeeper. He was the head coach of the Chile women's national football team from 2015 to 2023. He is currently in charge of Peruvian side Alianza Lima (women).
