Cabello v. Fernandez Larios
The trial against Pinochet operative Armando Fernandez Larios for the torture and murder of Chillean economist Winston Cabello ended in victory on October 15, 2003. A Miami jury found Fernandez, in his role as a member of the “Caravan of Death”, liable for torture, crimes against humanity, and extra judicial killing. They found Fernandez guilty of conspiring to commit, and aiding and abetting in, the torture, cruel and inhumane treatment, and extra-judicial killing of Mr. Cabello. They awarded four million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages to Elsa Cabello, Zita Cabello-Barrueto, Karin Moriarty, and Aldo Cabello. They are Winston’s mother, sisters, and brother – all of whom now live in the Bay Area.

Winston was one of the 70 or more civilians executed by the Caravan. The “Caravan of Death”, a military squad acting under orders from Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, traveled through Chile by helocopter to different towns within weeks after the 1973 Pinochet-led coup d’etat ordering the deaths of political prisoners detained by Pinochet’s military junta.

The trial marks the first time any Pinochet operative has been tried in the United States for their role in human rights abuses committed in Chile, as well as the first jury verdict for crimes against humanity in the United States. The verdict also coincided with the fifth anniversary of the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in London. Pinochet was being sought for having ordered the deaths that took place during the Caravan of Death. While Pinochet was never brought to justice, at least there was an acknowledgment by the court in this case that what the Caravan did to Winston Cabello and others constituted a crime against humanity.

A Chilean amnesty law prevented Fernandez’s prosecution in Chile, and U.S. criminal laws do not permit prosecution for summary killings committed abroad, or for torture committed abroad before 1994. The civil suit brought by Cabello family, therefore, was the only avenue available to them to pursue justice against Fernandez Larios.

Fernandez came to the United States in 1987 after reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to covering up the responsibility of the Chilean secret service for its responsibility for the 1976 car-bomb assassination of former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier and his American assistant Ronni Moffett. After serving a five-month federal prison term, Fernandez moved to Miami-Dade County.

Robert Kerrigan, of Kerrigan, Estess, Rankin & McLeod based in Pensacola, Florida, and
Leo Cunningham, partner with the firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, in Silicon Valley, California, were co-lead counsel in the case and provided their services pro bono.

The case against Fernandez Larios was born out of the large number of inquiries received by CJA following the arrest of Chilean former General Augusto Pinochet in London in mid-October 1998. CJA developed a project to respond to the needs of Chilean exiles in the U.S., many of whom wanted to support or assist in the prosecution of Pinochet or to seek redress against his subordinates known to be in the U.S. In response, CJA established satellite legal intake clinics in San Francisco, San Jose, Stockton, Los Angeles, and New York that allowed CJA to obtain information about these individuals’ experiences and needs in an effort to assess the best means of assistance.

As a result, CJA sought the release of classified information in U.S. government files related to crimes committed by Pinochet and his subordinates, helped Chileans in the U.S. to present their testimony to prosecutors in Spain and Chile and coordinated efforts with similar organizations internationally, facilitated referrals for appropriate counseling through Survivors International, a torture treatment center in San Francisco; and filled the case against Fernandez Larios on behalf the Cabello family after it was established he was living in Miami.