35 years old, married, agricultural worker, forcibly disappeared on November 27, 1973, in Palahuenco, Cautín province. Luis Armando Horn Roa, a member of the Partido Socialista, was arrested that day at his in-laws' home in Palahuenco by an Air Force patrol, and he has remained disappeared since then.

According to his spouse's account, Luis Horn was detained after September 11, 1973, by military personnel and remained imprisoned for nearly two months in the Lautaro Jail, the Valdivia Jail, and the Victoria Jail.

Once he regained his freedom, and fearing a new arrest, he took refuge with his spouse and children at his in-laws' house in the town of Palahuenco. According to eyewitnesses, at this last location, on November 27, 1973, at 10:00 PM, he was detained by FACH personnel who took him to an unknown facility.

Despite the intense search carried out by his family members, they were never able to locate him. On September 17, 1973, a case was initiated at the Juzgado de Letras de Lautaro against Luis Armando Horn Roa for an alleged violation of the Arms Control Law.

On October 8 of that year, the case was referred to the Fiscalía Militar de Valdivia, with the final outcome of the proceedings remaining unknown. Considering the evidence gathered, the Superior Council reached the conviction that Luis Armando Horn Roa was detained by State agents and disappeared while being held in that capacity, which constitutes a violation of human rights.

Source: (Corporation Report)

Visiting judge Álvaro Mesa Latorre sentenced a former Air Force reserve lieutenant and appointed mayor of Galvarino for his responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Luis Armando Horn Roa.

The illicit act was perpetrated starting in November 1973 in the commune. The Judiciary reported through a statement that the individual is Fernando Alfonso Ruiz Arrivé, who must serve a sentence of 5 years of effective imprisonment and the legal accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from political rights and absolute disqualification from public offices and positions during the term of the sentence, in his capacity as an accomplice to the crime.

In the civil aspect, the visiting judge ordered the State to pay a total compensation of $900,000,000 (US$ 1,250,000) for moral damages to the victim's family members. Proven facts -“That starting on September 11, 1973, in the city of Galvarino, the military regime restructured the local government, appointing the Reserve Lieutenant of the Fuerza Aérea de Chile, Fernando Alfonso Ruiz Arrivé, as the new Mayor of the commune, who was also a civilian pilot and resided in that city.

As a security measure, the Mayor received protection from Fuerza Aérea de Chile personnel and was assigned a bodyguard. The FACH Reserve Lieutenant, Fernando Alfonso Ruiz Arrivé, also participated weekly in coordination meetings at the Maquehue Air Base in Temuco.” -“That immediately after the military coup occurred, many people inclined toward the Unidad Popular government in the city of Galvarino were detained by Carabineros patrols and military personnel from the ‘La Concepción’ Regiment of Lautaro, who were taken to the police station of that city or to the city of Lautaro, remaining deprived of liberty in military facilities or in the public jail.” -“That Luis Armando Horn Roa, 35 years old, married, agricultural worker, and member of the Partido Socialista, was detained shortly after September 11, 1973, by Carabineros personnel from the Galvarino police station, who, without apparently carrying a judicial order authorizing such an act, proceeded to remove him from his home to take him to the aforementioned police unit. There, he was placed in a cell and after several hours was taken to the Lautaro Public Jail, accused of the crime of violating the Arms Control Law. He remained there for approximately two months, at the disposal of the Juzgado de Letras de Lautaro in the first instance (case file 25,923) to subsequently remain under the custody of military justice.” -“That on October 29, Luis Armando Horn Roa was transferred to the Victoria public jail, with his case depending on the Military Prosecutor's Office of that city. His family members arrived at that location to ask about him, and they interviewed the Military Prosecutor, who was the Army Captain of the 4th Transport Battalion of that commune, Jorge René Castro Lobos (deceased as stated on page 1,286, Volume IV). After that meeting, Horn Roa was released and returned to the city of Galvarino. According to the account of witnesses, Jorge Horn, brother of the victim's father, spoke with Captain Castro Lobos, who suggested that Luis Horn Roa should not return to Galvarino because his enemies were going to pursue him. However, Horn Roa returned to that city anyway, but for fear, he decided not to stay at his parents' house, which was located in the city, but instead went to his in-laws' home, located in the rural sector of Pilahuenco in that commune.” -“That on November 27, 1973, a patrol from the ‘Maquehue’ Base of the Fuerza Aérea de Chile arrived in the city of Galvarino in two institutional vehicles, parking, according to the account of witness Hernán Emeterio Horn Roa, in front of the Municipality of that commune, a place that the members of said patrol entered, remaining there for a considerable time. Subsequently, the FACH personnel headed toward the home of Luis Horn Roa's parents, located on Maipú Street, and were attended to by Germán Horn Roa (deceased as stated on page 1,284, Volume IV), the victim's brother, who recognized Francisco Salazar (deceased as stated on page 25, Volume I), a FACH non-commissioned officer who was a native of Galvarino, as a member of the patrol. Germán Horn Roa was forced to accompany the FACH members to show them the place where the victim lived, which at that time was the Pelahuenco sector, 2 km from Galvarino. When they arrived at the place, they knocked on the door and asked for the wanted man, who came out of the property and was taken into custody by the patrol without apparently carrying a judicial order authorizing such an act. They immediately returned to the house of Horn Roa's parents, where they dropped off his brother Germán; this was the last time Luis Horn Roa was seen alive.” -“That in the following days, Luis Horn Roa's wife, Mrs. Haydee del Carmen Álvarez Huilcamán, went to the Maquehue Air Base in Temuco, where she inquired about her husband, and was denied the fact that he was being held at that location, after which she was ordered to leave the military unit.” -“That years later, Hernán Emeterio Horn Roa spoke with Miguel Manríquez Saber (deceased as stated on page 1,283, Volume IV), who was also a FACH Reserve Officer and resided in Galvarino at the date of the events, and who at the time of the aforementioned interview was the appointed Mayor and Local Police Judge of that commune. In a moment of confidence, he asked him directly if he knew what had happened to Luis Horn Roa, to which the aforementioned Manríquez Saber reportedly replied, very seriously, that he should ask the FACH Reserve Lieutenant, Fernando Alfonso Ruiz Arrivé, who in 1973 was the appointed Mayor of Galvarino, because he knew what had happened to the victim.”

Source: enestrado.com, March 1, 2021

Date: 03-01-2021

Former Mayor of Galvarino sentenced as an accomplice to the aggravated kidnapping of an agricultural worker

In the civil aspect, the visiting judge ordered the State to pay a total compensation of $900,000,000 (nine hundred million pesos) for moral damages to the family members of Luis Armando Horn Roa. The visiting judge for extraordinary cases of human rights violations for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced the former Air Force reserve lieutenant and appointed mayor of Galvarino for his responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Luis Armando Horn Roa.

The illicit act was perpetrated starting in November 1973 in the commune. In the sentence (case file 45,365), Judge Mesa Latorre sentenced Fernando Alfonso Ruiz Arrivé to 5 years of effective imprisonment and the legal accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from political rights and absolute disqualification from public offices and positions during the term of the sentence, in his capacity as an accomplice to the crime.

During the investigation stage of the case, the visiting judge was able to establish the following facts: "That starting on September 11, 1973, the Reserve Lieutenant of the Fuerza Aérea de Chile, Fernando Alfonso Ruiz Arrivé, was appointed as the new mayor of Galvarino." The investigation also points out that after the military coup, many people inclined toward the Unidad Popular government in the city were detained by Carabineros patrols and military personnel from the La Concepción Regiment of Lautaro, who were taken to the police station of that city or to the city of Lautaro, remaining deprived of liberty in military facilities or in the public jail. One of these people was Luis Armando Horn Roa, 35 years old, who worked as an agricultural worker and was a member of the Partido Socialista. After being removed from his home, without a judicial order, he was taken to a police unit, specifically to a cell, and subsequently sent to the Lautaro Public Jail, accused of the crime of violating the Arms Control Law. He remained there for approximately two months. "… on October 29, Luis Armando Horn Roa was transferred to the Victoria public jail, with his case depending on the Military Prosecutor's Office of that city. His family members arrived at that location to ask about him, and they interviewed the Military Prosecutor (…) After that meeting, Horn Roa was released and returned to the city of Galvarino (…) he went to his in-laws' home, located in the rural sector of Pilahuenco in that commune," it adds. The ruling establishes that on November 27, 1973, a patrol from the Maquehue Base of the Fuerza Aérea de Chile arrived at the home of Luis Horn Roa's parents, and were attended to by Germán Horn Roa, the victim's brother, whom they forced to show them the place where the victim lived. "When they arrived at the place, they knocked on the door and asked for the wanted man, who came out of the property and was taken into custody by the patrol without apparently carrying a judicial order authorizing such an act. They immediately returned to the house of Horn Roa's parents, where they dropped off his brother Germán; this was the last time Luis Horn Roa was seen alive," it adds. Years later, Hernán Emeterio Horn Roa (a witness) spoke with Miguel Manríquez Saber, who was also a FACH Reserve Officer and resided in Galvarino at the date of the events. At the time of the aforementioned interview, he was the appointed Mayor and Local Police Judge of that commune. "In a moment of confidence, he asked him directly if he knew what had happened to Luis Horn Roa, to which the aforementioned Manríquez Saber reportedly replied, very seriously, that he should ask the FACH Reserve Lieutenant, Fernando Alfonso Ruiz Arrivé, who in 1973 was the appointed mayor of Galvarino, because he knew what had happened to the victim," said Manríquez. In the civil aspect, the visiting judge ordered the State to pay a total compensation of $900,000,000 (nine hundred million pesos) for moral damages to the victim's family members. by Yuliana Montiel

Source: araucaniadiario.cl, February 28, 2021

Date: 02-28-2021

Former appointed mayor in Galvarino accused for the disappearance of a worker in 1973

A Reserve Lieutenant of the Fuerza Aérea de Chile and former appointed mayor in Galvarino during the dictatorship remains accused as an accomplice for the crime of aggravated kidnapping of an agricultural worker in the commune, which occurred in November 1973.

The visiting judge for extraordinary cases of human rights violations with jurisdiction in the Courts of Appeals of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa, accused the Air Force reserve lieutenant and appointed mayor during the dictatorship, Fernando Alfonso Ruiz Arrivé, as an accomplice to the crime of aggravated kidnapping of the farmer Luis Horn Roa, perpetrated starting on November 27, 1973, in Galvarino.

The 35-year-old victim, married, agricultural worker, and member of the Partido Socialista, was detained shortly after September 11, 1973, by Carabineros from the Galvarino police station, being taken to the Lautaro Public Jail accused of the crime of violating the Arms Control Law.

In that facility, Horn remained for approximately two months at the disposal of the Juzgado de Letras, to subsequently remain under the custody of military justice, being released in Victoria, where he had been transferred, but with the warning not to return to his house because they were looking for him.

Horn Roa returned to Galvarino, but decided not to stay at his parents' house in the city, but instead went to his in-laws' home in the rural sector of Pelahuenco. To that place, and after meeting at the municipality with the now-accused, on November 27, 1973, a patrol from the Maquehue Base of the Air Force arrived, being attended to by a brother of the victim, who was forced to accompany them to show them the place where he resided, the moment at which they detained him, and his whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

Judge Mesa had indicted the former FACH officer in September 2016.

Source: biobiochile.cl, March 26, 2018

Date: 03-26-2018