A 15-year-old teenager, missing since 1986, officially recognized as a victim of the Pinochet dictatorship

"Luis had been missing for four decades, ever since he disappeared at age 15 during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990). The notice came from a court in Arica, in the far north of Chile, summoning him for failing to vote in the May elections for constitutional councilors, according to records from the Electoral Service (Servel). Under Chile's compulsory voting law, anyone who does not vote must provide a justification; otherwise, they face sanctions."

"His name had not been included in the records of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, known as the Rettig Report, initiated by Patricio Aylwin, the first president of Chile's democratic transition, which identified victims of human rights violations. Luis was the second of four siblings. He disappeared at 1:45 p.m. on July 1, 1986, when he left his home in the Santa Rosa neighborhood to fetch a notebook from the house of a classmate."

"That day, the atmosphere was tense, on the eve of a massive protest against Pinochet, called as part of a national strike on July 2 and 3 organized by the Assembly of Civil Society, which demanded the opening of electoral registers and free elections. The protest ended with brutal repression. As the hours passed and Luis did not return, his parents, Victor Pino and Maria Soto, began searching for him."

Luis Alberto Pino Soto disappeared on July 1, 1986, at age 15 during Chile's dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet. He vanished while running an errand in the Santa Rosa neighborhood on the eve of a massive anti-Pinochet protest. His parents, Victor Pino and Maria Soto, immediately began searching but faced obstacles when authorities refused to file a missing person report, citing a 48-hour waiting period. For decades, Luis remained unaccounted for, and his name was inexplicably absent from the Rettig Report, the official record of disappeared persons compiled by Chile's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In September 2023, an electoral notification sent to his parents' home regarding his failure to vote triggered a review that uncovered the administrative error. This discovery led to his official recognition as one of 1,469 disappeared persons in a ceremony in Arica in 2024.

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