| Enrique Arancibia Clavel | |
| Birth Date: | 13 October 1944 |
| Birth Place: | Chile |
| Death Date: | 28 April 2011 (aged 66) |
| Death Place: | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Death Cause: | Stab wounds |
Enrique Arancibia Clavel (13 October 1944 – 28 April 2011)[1] was a Chilean DINA security service agent who assassinated General Carlos Prats and his wife in 1974.
Arancibia was convicted of the assassinations in Argentina. After spending 20 years in prison, Arancibia was granted parole in July 2007. However, in April 2011, he was found stabbed to death in his apartment in Buenos Aires.[2]
Arancibia was associated with the right-wing group responsible for the botched kidnapping of Chilean Army Chief of Staff René Schneider in 1970, which resulted in Schneider's death. General Schneider had supported Allende's election and advocated for an apolitical military through the Schneider Doctrine. However, Arancibia was not directly linked to Schneider's assassination. After the incident, Arancibia fled Chile and lived in unofficial exile in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During his time in Argentina, Arancibia acted as a liaison between DINA and the Argentine secret police.[3]
Arancibia became involved in the assassination of Prats and his wife, who had sought refuge in Argentina following General Pinochet's 1973 coup. General Prats, who had served as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces during Salvador Allende's administration, strongly criticized the coup that overthrew Allende. This assassination was part of Operation Condor, a campaign of political repression and terror implemented in 1975 by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America against left-wing opponents. Arancibia received assistance from Michael Townley in planning and executing the attack, which reportedly involved Italian terrorist Stefano Delle Chiaie as well. Eventually, the Italian testified against both Townley and Arancibia.[4]
In 1978, shortly after Townley's extradition to the United States for the murder of diplomat Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C. in 1976, Argentine intelligence officers arrested Arancibia for espionage. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1974 assassination of General Prats in Buenos Aires. The Argentine court confirmed this sentence in August 2004, ruling that crimes against humanity, including those committed during the Dirty War, have no statute of limitations in Argentina.[5] [6]
While Townley was also involved in General Prats' assassination, he was never tried for the crime. Townley served 62 months of a 10-year sentence for his role in the assassination of Orlando Letelier. Townley's plea bargain for confessing to the Letelier assassination granted him immunity from further prosecution, preventing his extradition to Argentina on charges related to Prats' assassination.[7] [8]
Additionally, in 2004, an Argentine court convicted Arancibia and sentenced him to 12 years for the kidnapping of Laura Elgueta and another Chilean woman in Buenos Aires.[9] Elgueta later served as the press chief for former Minister of Defense Vivianne Blanlot. Although the Prats case remained open in Chile, Arancibia was released on parole in July 2007 due to technical reasons after spending nearly 20 years in prison in Argentina.
Arancibia was found dead in Buenos Aires in April 2011. It was revealed posthumously that he was gay.[10] [11] [12]