The guarantee court in Río Bueno on Wednesday ordered pre-trial detention for mayor Luis Reyes Álvarez and builder Héctor Meza, after they were charged. Radio Sago says the order runs for 100 days. It is a remand measure, not a conviction.

The Los Ríos regional prosecutor’s office asked for the detention. The court held that releasing the two men would endanger society and, in the mayor’s case, the investigation as well. Prosecutor María Consuelo Oliva said the court granted the requests and that Reyes could have blocked investigative steps.

For this stage of the case, the judge treated as made out the offences of repeated aggravated bribery and money laundering attributed to the mayor. Meza is accused of paying bribes. The facts concern municipal tenders. The court said the conduct attributed to the mayor undermines public trust and the proper use of public money.

Prosecutors say Reyes received at least 36,360,000 pesos from three suppliers in return for favours in tenders. Of that sum, 27,860,000 pesos would come from Meza. Investigators also found about 90 million pesos in cash deposits in the mayor’s personal account, with no identified source. Those figures belong to the investigation, not to a verdict.

At the same hearing the mayor’s partner, who was also charged, received lighter restrictions. On Tuesday three other defendants in the file were placed under night-time house arrest, a ban on leaving the country and periodic reporting, plus a ban on talking to one another.

Reyes won the mayoralty in October 2024 as an independent on the Chile Vamos list, with 9,241 votes, or 39.17 per cent, 241 votes ahead of Javier Rosas Bobadilla of the Christian Democrats. Pre-trial detention does not decide guilt. The case remains open.

Image: Charlie danvers, plaza and centre of Rio Bueno, 19 December 2024, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; the town in 2024, not Wednesday hearing.

Sources consulted: Alcalde Luis Reyes de Rio Bueno queda en prision preventiva tras ser formalizado por corrupcion en licitaciones - La Tercera, 21 October 2026; Juzgado decreta prision preventiva para alcalde de Rio Bueno y empresario por delitos de corrupcion - Radio Sago, 21 October 2026.