--- alias: - Héctor Orozco Sepúlveda - Hector Orozco category: Law Enforcement & Legal created: 2026-09-21 location: Santiago, Chile summary: Chilean brigade general named ad hoc military prosecutor in March 1978 for the Letelier passport case, who took the DINA officers' statements and had the FBI interview Vernon Walters. tags: - Person - HectorOrozco - Chile - OrlandoLetelier - DINA - MilitaryJustice updated: 2026-09-21 --- Héctor Orozco Sepúlveda was appointed ad hoc military prosecutor of causa 192-78 by decree of March 21, 1978, with Major Jaime Vergara Lönnberg as his secretary, after the letter rogatory from the federal court in [Washington](/places/washington-dc/) on the two Chilean officers who had entered the [United States](/places/united-states/) in August 1976 under false names. Two days later the civilian case on the passports, in which the judge Marcos Libedinsky had found that they were used by "two Army Captains, in fulfillment of a confidential mission assigned to them by their superiors," was joined to his file.[^1] ### The Statements His file holds the sworn statements of [Manuel Contreras](/people/manuel-contreras/), [Armando Fernández Larios](/people/armando-fernandez-larios/), [René Riveros](/people/rené-riveros/), and [Rolando Mosqueira](/people/rolando-mosqueira/) (March 22), [Michael Townley](/people/michael-townley/) (March 29), [Mariana Callejas](/people/mariana-callejas/) (April 4), [Pedro Espinoza](/people/pedro-espinoza/) (April 24), and [DINA](/organizations/dina/)'s passport clerk (April 12); Mosqueira had already testified before the civilian judge on March 20. On March 23 he widened the investigation with requests to Enrique Montero, General Odlanier Mena of the CNI, General Washington Carrasco, General Nilo Floody, and the military mission in Washington. On April 10 he ordered Espinoza, [Raúl Iturriaga Neumann](/people/raúl-iturriaga-neumann/), Townley, and others re-examined on the code names Quetropillán and Avispa, a confrontation between Townley and Espinoza "as to who assigned Townley each of the operations he carried out abroad," and a handwriting sample from Callejas against a document in the file. Before May 1 he asked the American authorities for a sworn statement from General [Vernon Walters](/people/vernon-walters/), or failing that his answers to whether "in exercising his duties as former Deputy Director of the CIA, he asked General Contreras to send him some contacts to receive the names of certain lobbyists." The [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) interviewed Walters on June 14, 1978, and the Chilean embassy reported by secret telex that this had been done "acceding to Fiscal Orozco's request." His oficio of June 23 explained that routine requests went through the CNI to the FBI, while letters rogatory were reserved for the sworn interrogatories. On March 14, 1979, the military judge Enrique Morel replaced him with General Santiago Sinclair, a month after Contreras and Espinoza, through Sergio Miranda Carrington, had asked the Supreme Court for access to the file in the extradition proceedings.[^2] His oficio of June 23, 1978, listed his requests to the FBI through the CNI: on April 27 for everything "relating to the planning of the death of [Orlando Letelier](/people/orlando-letelier/), the trip of Captains Riveros and Mosqueira to the United States, their possible contacts with General Vernon Walters, and the contacts of Michael Townley with various American, Croatian, or Cuban organizations and individuals"; on May 4 for the interrogation of Fernández Larios's sister, her husband, and the FBI agents who had questioned her; and on May 8 for "everything relating to various Cuban citizens allegedly implicated in the Letelier case," whom his order of that day named as [Dionisio Suárez](/people/jose-dionisio-suarez/), [Rolando Otero](/people/rolando-otero/), [Orlando Bosch](/people/orlando-bosch/), [Guillermo Novo](/people/guillermo-novo/), [Felipe Rivero](/people/felipe-rivero/), [Frank Castro](/people/frank-castro/), "El Gorilita," and "Mono Navarrete." He also obtained sworn written answers from the diplomats in Washington, General [Nilo Floody](/people/nilo-floody/) and Admiral [Ronald McIntyre](/people/ronald-mcintyre/).[^3] [^1]: Fiscalía Militar Ad-Hoc, Santiago, causa 192-78 (fiscal Héctor Orozco), as reproduced in *Proceso contra Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda y Pedro Espinoza Bravo,* ministro instructor Adolfo Bañados, tomo 1, scan at https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/MNC/Causa-Contreras-Espinoza-1991.pdf. Quotations translated from the Spanish, decree of March 21, 1978, and order of March 23, 1978. [^2]: Fiscalía Militar Ad-Hoc, Santiago, causa 192-78 (fiscal Héctor Orozco), as reproduced in *Proceso contra Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda y Pedro Espinoza Bravo,* ministro instructor Adolfo Bañados, tomo 1, scan at https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/MNC/Causa-Contreras-Espinoza-1991.pdf. Quotations translated from the Spanish, resolutions of April 10 and before May 1, 1978, and the declaraciones cited; Fiscalía Militar Ad-Hoc, Santiago, causa 192-78, as reproduced in *Proceso contra Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda y Pedro Espinoza Bravo,* tomo 2, scan at https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/MNC/Causa-Contreras-Espinoza-1991-2.pdf. Quotations translated from the Spanish, oficio of June 23, 1978; telex of the Chilean embassy in Washington; decree of Enrique Morel Donoso, March 14, 1979; pleading of February 19, 1979. [^3]: Fiscalía Militar Ad-Hoc, Santiago, causa 192-78, as reproduced in *Proceso contra Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda y Pedro Espinoza Bravo,* tomo 2, scan at https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/MNC/Causa-Contreras-Espinoza-1991-2.pdf. Quotations translated from the Spanish, oficio of June 23, 1978; Fiscalía Militar Ad-Hoc, Santiago, causa 192-78, as reproduced in *Proceso contra Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda y Pedro Espinoza Bravo,* ministro instructor Adolfo Bañados, tomo 1, scan at https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/MNC/Causa-Contreras-Espinoza-1991.pdf. Quotations translated from the Spanish, resolution of May 8, 1978.