U.S. Envoy Heads for Chile; Youth’s Death to Be Topic

A ranking State Department official left for Chile on Saturday amid continuing U.S. pressure on the regime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet to conduct a “credible” investigation into the death there, allegedly at the hands of Pinochet’s troops, of a young Chilean who was a legal resident of the United States.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Robert S. Gelbard will discuss “the current situation” in Chile during the first stop of a trip to South America, department spokeswoman Sondra McCarthy said. While Gelbard’s trip will not specifically focus on the death of Rodrigo Rojas de Negri, an official said, U.S. concerns in the case are certain to be raised by Gelbard.

Rojas, 19, was born in Chile but left that country in 1977 to eventually take up residence in Washington, D.C. During a visit to Chile, he and a companion, Carmen Quintana Arancibia, 18, a Chilean student, were burned to death last Sunday.

Account of Witnesses

Witnesses said that an army patrol soaked the two in gasoline and set them afire on a deserted road near Santiago’s international airport. The army denied the charge, however, and a special investigative tribunal has been created to examine the case and determine whether legal action is warranted.

Pinochet, who took power in the military coup that toppled elected Marxist President Salvador Allende in 1973, suggested that the two were carrying flammable liquid for Molotov cocktails and set themselves on fire accidentally. This explanation angered Rojas’ mother as well as U.S. officials who have been following the events.

“The government is trying to portray this kid as a terrorist,” Veronica de Negri said of her son at an emotional airport news conference here upon her return from his funeral in Chile. “This is a lie. . . . The only bomb my son had was cameras,” she said, explaining that he was a free-lance photographer.

‘Very Proud of Him’

“I’m very proud of him. He always believed in human rights. He always was concerned about the suffering of people,” said De Negri, a social worker and an exiled supporter of the Allende government.

Bernard Kalb, the chief State Department spokesman, emphasized Friday that the United States wants a “thorough and completely impartial inquiry” into the Rojas death.

“To be credible, this inquiry obviously must take into account the statements of eyewitnesses, as well as other relevant factual information,” Kalb said. “It is important to Chile and to that country’s standing in the world that this investigation be carried out swiftly and that justice be done.”

Gelbard’s visit to Chile was described by McCarthy as “a routine trip to the area, which has been planned for a while.” Other countries will also be visited, she said, but she could not identify them.