Carlos Soto Arriví

Carlos Enrique Soto Arriví (December 8, 1959 - July 25, 1978) was an activist for the independence of Puerto Rico. In July 25, 1978 he was killed by police officers (along with friend Arnaldo Darío Rosado) after being lured into bombing the communication towers on Cerro Maravilla by undercover agent, Alejandro González Malavé.

The killing of both men spawned a decades-long case (see Maravilla Hill case) that to this date hasn't been fully solved.

Biography

Soto Arriví was born in December 8, 1959 in San Juan. His parents were Pedro Juan Soto (one of the most admired Puerto Rican novelists in the 20th century) and Rosa Arriví. He had an older brother (Roberto Alfonso) and a younger brother (Juan Manuel).

He was a good student that enjoyed literature. He also wrote stories and went on to win second place in a competition held by the local Department of Education. When his parents went to Europe to finish their doctoral studies, he learned to speak French in a year. Upon returning from Europe, he was enrolled in a high school (Escuela Superior República de Colombia) in Río Piedras although in a lower grade, because the school officials did not want to credit his years of overseas study.

Although he was interested in social issues from a very young age, his activism started when he joined a pro-independence group in high school.

In 1978 he was enticed into bombing the communication towers on top of Cerro Maravilla, along with his friend Arnaldo Darío Rosado, by undercover agent Alejandro González Malavé. It was there where both Soto Arrivi and Rosado were ambushed, tortured, and killed after being disarmed and having surrendered to the agent provocateur and the other policemen that surrounded the youths. Said information was confirmed by various members of the Puerto Rico police who confessed to having participated in the murder of these members of the Puerto Rican independence movement. The FBI reportedly did not cooperate adequately in assertaining the extent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. government's role in this politically-motivated murder and its subsequent coverup. The United States Department of Justice's Civil Rights office and the Puerto Rico Legislature actively investigated the crimes leading up and subsequent to the Cerro Maravilla assassinations.

The 1988 motion picture "A Show of Force" was loosely based on events related to his death and the cover-up of the scandal.

ee also

* Maravilla Hill case
* Arnaldo Darío Rosado
* Alejandro González Malavé
* A Show of Force

External links

* [http://www.verdadyjusticia.org/casos/soto_arrivi/datos_soto_arrivi.html Article and biography]