Luis Merlo de la Fuente Ruiz de Beteta was a Spanish colonial official who briefly served as the Royal Governor of Chile

Royal Governor of Chile

The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district known as the Kingdom of Chile. This district was also called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General...

, in 1610–11.

He was born in Valdepeñas

Valdepeñas

Valdepeñas is a municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is also the seat of the judicial district that covers the localities of Moral de Calatrava, Santa Cruz de Mudela, Viso del Marqués, Torrenueva, Castellar de Santiago and...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 to Luis Merlo de la Fuente and Maria Ruiz de Betena. He went to America, specifically Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, in 1588 in the capacity of an oidor or judge, later travelling to Lima

Lima

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. From there the viceroy

Viceroy

A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...

 at the time, García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete, sent him to Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

, Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 to judge the governor, Alonso de Sotomayor

Alonso de Sotomayor

Alonso de Sotomayor y Valmediano was a Spanish conquistador from Extremadura, and a Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:He was born in Trujillo, in the province of Extremadura, the son of Gutiérrez de Sotomayor e Hinojosa and Beatriz de Valmediano...

, for possible misconduct.

Later, he travelled as an emissary to various colonial cities. When Philip III

Philip III of Spain

Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

 wanted to reinstate the Real Audiencia in Chile, he was selected as one of the oidores which compose that type of body. The members of the Audiencia arrived in Santiago by April 24, 1609, and were installed by September 9 of the same year.

Upon the illness of the governor, Alonso García de Ramón

Alonso García de Ramón

Alonso García de Ramón was a Spanish soldier and twice Royal Governor of Chile: first temporarily from July of 1600 to February of 1601, and then from March of 1605 to August of 1610. He was born in Cuenca, Spain in 1552....

, Merlo de la Fuente was eventually designated the successor, and he took command on September 2, 1610. This duty lasted only until January 15, 1611, however. During this period Merlo de la Fuente faced a rising by the Mapuche

Mapuche

The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...

 Indians, who tried to take advantage of the death of the previous governor.

In 1612, he returned to Lima, and in 1620 he retired from the Crown's service.