The Arrest: 2. The Disappeared

Summary

The History Podcast – The Arrest: 2. The Disappeared

Host: BBC Radio 4 (Philippe Sands)
Date: December 2, 2025

---

Overview

Episode 2, "The Disappeared", delves into the harrowing early years of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s regime, focusing on the personal tragedy of Laura Gonzalez Vera and her husband, Carmelo Soria, a UN official who became a victim of forced disappearance and murder. This episode blends intimate personal testimony with the broader legal efforts to hold Pinochet accountable decades later, exploring trauma, impunity, and the struggle for justice under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

---

1. Setting the Scene: Pinochet’s Chile (01:08–04:21)

• The Backdrop

  • Late 1970s Santiago, amid the aftermath of Pinochet’s seizure of power.
  • Introduction of Carmelo Soria and Laura Gonzalez Vera, living in tension and fear as the regime tightens its grip.

• Repression in Action

  • Chile’s secret police, DINA, are investigating Carmelo’s workplace.
  • Atmosphere of surveillance, intimidation, and sudden violence.

• Quote:

  “There were people who informed direct to the DINA. The DINA placed people there.”
  – Unnamed Speaker, 02:04

---

2. Personal Accounts – Laura and Carmelo (04:21–07:38)

• Laura and Carmelo’s Relationship

  • Their bond formed in Spain and Chile, steeped in political idealism.
  • Both were early supporters of Salvador Allende, Chile’s socialist president.

• Downfall of Allende & Rise of Pinochet

  • Recollections of the military coup on September 11, 1973:
    • “On September 11, we were at home. We woke up at 6:30. We played the radio. So at 7 we already knew about the coup.”
      – Laura Gonzalez Vera, 06:31
  • The bombing and violence at La Moneda Palace, Allende’s suicide, and the swift consolidation of military power.

---

3. The Disappearance and Death of Carmelo Soria (07:38–11:00)

• Life Under Threat

  • Carmelo’s confidence in his international status and his outspoken defense of the victims of repression.

• The Abduction

  • Carmelo vanishes after leaving work early with a headache.
  • Laura’s mounting anxiety and the unhelpful police response:
    • “I started to worry at 10 at night, so I called the hospital emergency rooms and he wasn’t there.”
      – Laura, 08:46

• Discovery

  • Carmelo’s car found in a canal; daughters are sent to search the water for their father.

  • Laura describes the family’s trauma:

    • “And I found Laura there, sitting on the sidewalk. And she says, they killed that Madaro papa.”
      – Laura, 10:50

• Confirmation

  • Autopsy later confirms torture and murder by secret police; the crash was a cover-up.

---

4. Exile and the Fight for Justice (11:00–14:06)

• Fleeing Chile

  • Following Carmelo’s murder, Laura and family suffer harassment and persecution, ultimately forcing them to flee to Spain.

• The Universal Jurisdiction Strategy

  • In the mid-1990s, Laura and other exiles collaborate with Spanish lawyers led by Juan Garces and prosecutor Carlos Castresana to bring a case against Pinochet.

  • Focus on Carmelo Soria’s case, a Spanish victim, as a legal catalyst.

  • Notable moment:

    • “In my focus from the very beginning.”
      – Prosecutor Carlos Castresana, 12:31

• Autopsy as Evidence

  • Laura’s insistence on observing the autopsy ensures evidence of torture is preserved, becoming pivotal in the legal case.

---

5. The Legal Battle in Spain: Turning the Tide (14:06–15:08)

• Urgent Legal Action

  • October 1998: With Pinochet in London, Garces seeks urgent action from the Spanish courts, racing against time and bureaucratic indifference.
  • Tensions as legal and political obstacles threaten to stall the case:
    • “His reaction was positive and he indicated that I could formulate the request. But at the same time, I felt that, given his personality, I wasn’t sure.”
      – Juan Garces, 14:06

• Institutional Resistance

  • The episode highlights resistance within the Spanish judiciary and the fragility of international justice mechanisms.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

---

• On Pinochet’s Purge

  “They were killing so many important people.”
  – Laura Gonzalez Vera, 04:21

• On Political Faith and Disillusionment

  “What made me fall in love with Carmelo was conversation. He told me about how his life was before and about Spain.”
  – Laura, 05:31

• The Trauma of Searching

  “The two daughters were given long bamboo sticks to prod the water to look for their father’s body.”
  (Narration, 09:31)

• Breaking the Silence

  “I mean, I was already convinced he had been kidnapped.”
  – Laura, 10:19

• On Legal Persistence

  “I had the case of Carmelo Soria in my focus from the very beginning.”
  – Prosecutor Carlos Castresana, 12:31

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------|-------------| | Scene-setting & DINA repression | 01:08–04:21 | | Laura & Carmelo’s backstory | 04:21–06:31 | | Coup & Allende’s death | 06:31–07:38 | | Disappearance & family ordeal | 07:38–11:00 | | Exile, legal strategy & universal jurisdiction | 11:00–14:06 | | The rush to activate Spanish legal system| 14:06–15:08 |

---

Tone and Style

The episode is measured but intimate, mixing Philippe Sands’ clear-eyed, empathetic narration with the personal pain and resilience of Laura Gonzalez Vera. The narrative carefully balances the gravity of the human rights abuses with the hope embedded in the pursuit of justice, without sensationalism or melodrama.

---

For New Listeners

This episode stands as both a deeply personal account of loss under dictatorship and a gripping legal drama, laying bare the emotional scars and high-stakes complexities of seeking justice against impunity. It's a powerful, accessible narrative for anyone interested in history, law, or human rights struggles.

For those eager to follow the hunt for Pinochet and the global fight against state-sponsored disappearance, this episode is essential listening.

Transcript

[A]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

[B]

What do you think makes the perfect snack?

[C]

Hmm, it's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.

[D]

Could you be more specific?

[C]

When it's cravinient.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter, available right down the street at AM pm. Or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just a second at a.m. pM.

[B]

I'm seeing a pattern here.

[C]

Well, yeah, we're talking about what I.

[D]

Crave, which is anything from AM pm.

[C]

What more could you want? Stop by AM PM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's Cravenians ampm. Too much good stuff.

[A]

At the BBC we go further so you see clearer. Through frontline reporting, global stories and local insights, we bring you closer to the world's news as it happens. And it starts with a subscription to BBC.com giving you unlimited articles and videos ad free podcasts, the BBC News channel streaming live 24. 7 plus hundreds of acclaimed documentaries. Subscribe to trusted independent journalism and storytelling from the BBC. Find out [e-mail] join.

[B]

You'Re about to listen to the History podcast. The Arrest episodes will be released daily wherever you get your podcasts. But if you're in the uk, you can listen to the whole series right now, first on BBC Sounds. It's 1976, late in the evening in the Chilean capital Santiago, not long after General Pinochet seized power In a suburban home on the affluent northern edges of the city, Laura Gonzalez Vera, a medical doctor, and her husband, Carmelo Soria, head of a United nations office, are asleep. A call at this hour can't be good news. Carmelo answers the phone. It's a security guard from his office.

[D]

There were people who informed direct to the DINA the dinner placed people there.

[B]

The guard tells him that Chile's secret police have been poking around the offices, asking questions. The Direction de Intelligentsia Nacional. The DINA enforces obedience to the regime and roots out opponents with great brutality.

[D]

One day they came to bring a boy who was a member of mir, a militant group. Then, on the way out, he was killed.

[B]

Carmelo has seen the DINA agents around his UN building, but the security guard on the phone tells him they've now spotted the office with Carmelo's name on the door.

[D]

So they say. And that Pajaro, he also works here.

[B]

Pajaro. That means literally a bird. But in colloquial Spanish, it can also mean a shady character.

[D]

Then Carmelo says, very well, they know where to look for me. And he hung up.

[B]

I'm Philippe sands and from BBC Radio 4 and the History podcast, this is the Arrest, the inside story of the race to apprehend Augusto Pinochet and bring him to justice. Episode 2 the Disappeared. Nearly five decades later, I'm in the living room of Laura's Santiago home as she tells me her story. Laura is now in her late 80s, a woman with energy and strength and purpose. She's as lively as her patterned white shirt and colorful skirt. But I sense, too, the weariness, the weight of the memories. And occasionally, very occasionally, an acute expression of pain and of grief emerges.

[D]

They were killing so many important people.

[B]

In the weeks and months after he seized power in Chile, Augusto Pinochet oversaw the rounding up of political opponents. He was committed to a total purge of those who were communists or otherwise opposed to his rule. And this started with supporters of Chile's previous leader, the democratically elected Socialist president, Salvador Allende. To many Chileans, he'd been an economic disaster. But not to Laura and not to Carmelo, her husband, who was born in Spain and lived through the Spanish Civil War and the early years of General Franco's rule before he emigrated to Chile. Carmelo and Laura met in 1949. They were young members of a politically active social circle that included writers, publishers and poets. Laura recalls trips to a particular Santiago cafe where she and Carmelo would meet and talk and share ideas.

[D]

I loved the things he told me. What made me fall in love with Carmelo was conversation. He told me about how his life was before and about Spain.

[B]

In 1956, they married, and in due course they had three children. Both were supporters of Allende when he became president in 1970. But the euphoria didn't last long. By 1973, the country was in something of a crisis, political and economic, and opposition to the president was mounting. There were protests. Allende had brought senior army officers into his government in an attempt to deter a revolt. He appointed General Pinochet as head of the army. And then the military turned on him.

[D]

On September 11, we were at home. We woke up at 6:30. We played the radio. So at 7 we already knew about the couple.

[B]

By 9:00am, Chile's Armed Forces, led by Pinochet, had taken control of the country. Allende refused to step down, holed up at La Moneda, the presidential palace in the center of Santiago. So the army bombed it.

[D]

He asks that there be a ceasefire, a truce, for the women to come out. And then Allende tells the doctors to get out because they are More useful outside than here. But there is one doctor, and he comes back for a gas mask. And when he comes back, he sees a room that has been left open and sees Allende there.

[B]

President Allende had taken his own life. Two days later, the military junta dissolved Congress and outlawed political parties that supported him. And then people started to disappear, taken to detention centers like 38 Londres Street. An ordinary looking building in central Santiago. Carmelo, though, was undaunted.

[D]

He had a crazy confidence. He had the protection of an international official.

[B]

And Laura says he wasn't afraid to discuss the situation in Chile with those he thought could help. He took risks, she tells me. On the morning of July 14, 1976, Carmelo Soria went to work. He called home that afternoon to say he had a headache and would be coming home early. He never did.

[D]

I started to worry at 10 at night, so I called the hospital emergency rooms and he wasn't there.

[B]

Laura called friends too, but no one had seen him. The next morning, after waking in an empty bed, she went to the police to report her husband missing. The police noted Carmelo's name, but said they couldn't do anything until he'd been missing for 48 hours. And then later in the day.

[D]

They call a cop calls to say that a body has turned up. A body and a car.

[B]

There's been an accident. The police said Carmelo's car, a Volkswagen with UN diplomatic number plates, had been spotted in a canal that skirts Santiago's northern neighborhoods. Laura's two daughters, Carmen, who was 16 then, and her older sister, another Laura, went to the canal. The police hadn't actually found Carmelo by this point, just the car and his scarf and a wallet. The two daughters were given long bamboo sticks to prod the water to look for their father's body. Their mother, in the meantime, went to find a lawyer.

[D]

I mean, I was already convinced he had been kidnapped.

[B]

For one thing, the crash site isn't on Carmelo's usual route home from work. She can only hope that it was staged, that her husband is still alive somewhere. But as she heads to Carmelo's UN offices in the hope of more news or help, she spots one of her daughters. And her worst fears are realized.

[D]

And I found Laura there, sitting on the sidewalk. And she says, they killed that Madaro papa.

[B]

A few hundred meters from the car, under a bridge. The police have now found a body. A few months later, Laura flees to Spain to escape the harassment the family has suffered since news of Carmelo's death. They are marked as opponents of the regime. 20 years pass. Then, in April 1996, Laura and other Chilean refugees who've been working with a lawyer, Juan Garces, are introduced to a Spanish prosecutor called Carlos Castrosana in Madrid. They want to explore the possibility of bringing a case against Pinochet before the Spanish courts. The case would be based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, the idea that some crimes are so heinous that the courts of any country in the world have the authority to act, regardless of where the crimes were committed or the nationalities of the victims or perpetrators. There are thousands of victims. But in 1996, for a case to take off, it needs focus. And ideally, the prosecutor Castro Sana says it would be better to have a Spanish victim, as that would be more likely to get the Spanish courts to act. And there's one name in particular that the prosecutor thinks could get a case against Pinochet up and running. I had the case of Carmelo Osoria.

[D]

In my focus from the very beginning.

[B]

Laura had insisted that she be able to observe her husband Carmela's autopsy. And with a connection high up in the government, she got her way. As the Chilean courts would confirm decades later, he had been tortured and murdered by Pinochet's secret police. Before his body was dumped in the canal, his ribs and neck were broken, his head covered in the most terrible injuries. They'd tried to make it look like an accident. And so, in July 1996, the prosecutor Castrosana uses the murder of Carmelo Soria to start a case against Pinochet in the Spanish courts. Two years later, in October 1998, the case has made it all the way to the Audiencia Nacional, the national court of Spain. It has been assigned to a judge, but that judge hasn't yet decided what to do. And this is how things are on Tuesday 13th October 1998, when the lawyer Garces goes to meet that judge to request urgent action in the case. A few days earlier, the lawyer had learned that Pinochet was in London, away from the immunity offered by Chile. The lawyer has already lost valuable time to the weekend and also yesterday, when the courts were closed for a national holiday. Et finalement le mardit traiss.

[E]

And finally, on Tuesday the 13th, the court was opened and I went to see the investigating judge of the case and I asked him about the possibility of composing a request to take testimony as an accused person from Pinochet. His reaction was positive and he indicated that I could formulate the request. But at the same time, I felt that Given his personality, I wasn't sure.

[B]

The lawyer worries the judge isn't the most decisive, that he doesn't seem to realize the urgency of the situation. And there are those in Spain who would be perfectly happy with his inaction. The lawyer knows there are some in the Spanish judiciary powerful people who want to block his case. Listen to the whole series right now, first on BBC Sounds.

[F]

I'm David Runciman and from BBC Radio 4. This is Post War from the Cradle to the grave, they said 80 years on, we're telling the story of the 1945 election and the creation of post war Britain.

[A]

There must be a revolution in our way of living.

[F]

This is the Britain that many of us grew up in and which still shapes an idea of who we think we are.

[D]

Even Winston Churchill thrown out. All right, he may have won the war, but you're going to win the peace.

[F]

Post War with me. David Runciman. Listen on BBC Sounds.

[B]

Can we have the Britain we desire?

[A]

At the BBC, we go further so you see clearer. Through frontline reporting, global stories and local insights, we bring you closer to the world's news as it happens. And the and it starts with a subscription to BBC.com, giving you unlimited articles and videos ad free podcasts, the BBC News channel, streaming live 24. 7 plus hundreds of acclaimed documentaries. Subscribe to trusted independent journalism and storytelling from the BBC. Find out [e-mail] join.