| James Allen da Luz | |
| Birth Date: | 21 December 1938 |
| Birth Place: | Buriti Alegre, Goiás, Brazil |
| Disappeared Place: | Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
| Disappeared Status: | Declared presumed dead |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Known For: | Cruzeiro do Sul Flight 114 hijacking |
| Movement: | VAR-Palmares |
James Allen da Luz (21 December 1938 – disappeared 24 March 1973) was a Brazilian guerrilla and member of the far-left organization Palmares Armed Revolutionary Vanguard (VAR-Palmares), who participated in armed resistance against the military dictatorship in Brazil between 1964 and 1985.
He was the son of Cassiano Diniz Filho da Luz and Rolandina Martins da Luz.
His death is unknown and his remains were never delivered to his family.[1]
One of the main militants of VAR-Palmares and member of the Red Wing (the most radical of the organization), Allen participated in many armed actions led by the guerrillas in that period. He went into exile in Uruguay and Cuba, but always returned to Brazil to take part in new acts against the government. He is most known for being the leader of the Cruzeiro do Sul Flight 114 hijacking to Cuba in January 1970.[2] He was also known for being the sole survivor of the Quintino Massacre, which occurred in Rio de Janeiro in March 1972, where his pregnant partner Lígia Maria Salgado Nóbrega was killed by government agents along with other members of the guerrilla.[3]
James Allen used codenames such as Ciro, Roberto and Goiano during his guerrilla activities.
Considered an enforced disappearance, Allen's final fate is not officially known, with much reliable information contradictory or hidden. The only consensus is about the death place, which happened in the city of Porto Alegre.
The Eremias Delizoicov Documentation Center states his disappearance occurred on 16 November 1977.[4] However, another version holds that Allen died in a car crash on 24 March 1973, four years before his official disappearance,[1] according to a National Information Service classified report discovered after redemocratization.[5] The Volume III of the National Truth Commission report determined that there is responsibility of the State in hiding Allen's body, while adding he suffered many violations by the State agents of the military dictatorship. Until today, his body has never been found and the Armed Forces have no registry for the case.
According to facts published by the State's repression agencies, Allen died in a car crash in Porto Alegre on 24 March, 1973. An autopsy along with his death date were presented by the authorities on the following day. The document was signed by coroners Edson M. Dutra and Marco Aurélio Barros da Silva and registered under the name of James Allen. The forensics expert also stated that the accident occurred on 24 March and that Allen was taken in serious condition to Clínica Stefani, in the same city.[1]
In an article published 11 days later, on 5 April, 1973, the newspaper Folha da Tarde reported that the police were stumped by the rollover of a Volkswagen Variant in Estrada do Lami, which caused the death of a man. Additionally, it was reported that the Department of Political and Social Order (DOPS) was assisting the police in the case, informing the possible involvement of a political militant in the accident.[1]
According to statements given to the Special Commission about Political Deaths and Disappearances (CEMDP) by people who were with Allen during the accident, he did not die during the event and was instead taken to a hospital, where he was under police supervision. There is no further information about Allen's body after he was admitted to the hospital. Some doctor testimonies state that he would have arrived dead at the medical station and his body was taken to the morgue.[1]
On 6 April 1972, an article published by O Globo reported that Allen's death was caused by a shootout with the security forces. However, at the end of the same year, on 22 November, 1972, an unknown military officer reported that Allen was still alive and at-large. The inquiry that investigates the Front's actions includes Allen's name in it.[4]