Hardline general among the coup plotters, who led the "Caravan of Death" in October 1973
On 16 October 1973 his helicopter left for the north. Over the next days 15 people at La Serena, 13 at Copiapó, 14 at Antofagasta and 26 at Calama were announced to have been killed "while trying to escape".
A Santiago-born army officer trained at the US Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Arellano served as an aide to President Frei in the 1960s. As commander of the Maipo Regiment in Valparaíso from 1971 he plotted with naval officers such as Merino, and in the summer of 1973 he was one of the hardline generals who wanted a coup without any intermediate Allende–armed forces government. On 11 September he commanded the troops that attacked La Moneda. In October, as Pinochet's "delegate", he toured garrisons in the south and north by helicopter, and summary executions followed in the cities he visited. The Rettig Commission found that members of his delegation took part directly in the executions at La Serena, Antofagasta and Calama. Sentenced by the Supreme Court in 2008 to six years in prison, he never served it after being found to have dementia.
Also known as: Sergio Víctor Arellano Stark
Activities and affiliations
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1971–1976
Chile state institutionsArmy general, delegate of the juntaMain
Military command
Career Timeline
- 1971–1972.12Commander of the Maipo Regiment, Valparaíso; coup plotting
- 1973.01Promoted to brigadier general
- 1973.09.11Commanded the attack on La Moneda
- 1973.09.30–10.22The "Caravan of Death"
- 2008.10.15Sentenced by the Supreme Court to six years