Osvaldo Romo

Osvaldo Romo became known in working-class neighborhoods before Pinochet's coup in 1973 as a leftist activist, member of the Popular Socialist Union (USOPO) and MIR sympathizer. Following the coup, he reappeared in these neighborhoods in a military uniform, arresting his friends and contacts. There are still debates in left-wing circles over whether Romo suddenly changed his political orientation or if he had always been a mole for the Chilean security services. Known as Guatón Romo ("Fatso Romo") or Comandante Raúl, he was one of DINA's key torturers, operating in centers such as Villa Grimaldi. On April 11, 1995, in an interview televised by Univisión, he commented in great detail, and evidently without remorse, on the techniques that had been used in the centers. These included the application of electricity to women's nipples and genitals, the use of dogs, and insertion of rats into women's vaginas. ==Life in Brazil and arrest==

In 1977, Romo was sent to Brazil by his superiors, and may have participated in death squads there, according to human rights NGOs. Romo, suffering from diabetes and heart failure, was moved to the hospital of Santiago Penitentiary on 3 July 2007, and died the following day. His funeral was held on 5 July at the Cementerio General de Santiago, with no one in attendance. ==References==