Jaime Suárez Bastidas
Jaime Suárez Bastidas | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Senate | |
| In office 15 May 1973 – 11 September 1973 | |
| Constituency | 8th Provincial Constituency |
| Minister Secretary General of Government | |
| In office 4 November 1970 – 8 August 1972 | |
| President | Salvador Allende |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 8 August 1972 – 2 November 1972 | |
| President | Salvador Allende |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 August 1931 |
| Died | 28 October 1993 (aged 62) |
| Party | Socialist Party of Chile |
| Spouse | Lilia Indart Vargas |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Concepción; University of Chile (Sociology) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Lawyer, sociologist |
Jaime León Suárez Bastidas (23 August 1931 – 28 October 1993) was a Chilean lawyer, sociologist and socialist politician.
He served as Minister Secretary General of Government and Minister of the Interior during the presidency of Salvador Allende (1970–1973). In 1973 he was elected senator for the 8th Provincial Constituency, a mandate interrupted by the coup d'état of 11 September 1973.[1]
Biography
Family and studies
He was born in San Bernardo on 23 August 1931, the son of Héctor Suárez Suárez and Rosario Bastidas Aguirre. He studied at the Liceo de Hombres of Osorno, later at the University of Concepción, where he pursued law, and finally graduated in sociology from the University of Chile in 1956.[1] He married Lilia Indart Vargas, with whom he had two children: Cecilia, a socialist leader, and Bernardo, a journalist and correspondent of EFE in Moscow.[1]
Professional life
He began working as a teacher in 1955 at the Liceo of Talcahuano. Between 1956 and 1961 he taught at the Liceo de Hombres y Niñas of Osorno, at the French School and the German Institute of that city. In 1962 he moved to Santiago, becoming professor of sociology at the Universidad Técnica del Estado and researcher at the University of Chile, positions he held until 1970.[1]
Political career
His political activity began during high school as founding president of the Student Center of the Osorno Liceo in 1948. That same year he was vice-president of the National Congress of Secondary Students. In 1950 he joined the Socialist Party of Chile (PS), becoming youth leader of the Socialist Youth (JS).[1]
He also served as provincial councillor of the Central Única de Trabajadores de Chile (CUT) in Osorno. Between 1956 and 1961 he was regional leader of the PS, and from 1962 to 1967 national leader. In 1967 he joined the party’s Central Committee, serving until 1973.[1]
In 1970 he was appointed acting deputy secretary general and acted as PS representative in the Unidad Popular coalition, which nominated Salvador Allende for the presidency. Once elected, Allende appointed him Minister Secretary General of Government (1970–1972), and later Minister of the Interior (1972).[1]
In the 1973 parliamentary elections he was elected senator for Biobío, Malleco and Cautín (1973–1981). He was a member of the commissions on Constitution, Justice, Public Education, Mining, Agriculture and Sports, and of the Socialist parliamentary committee.[1]
After the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, Congress was dissolved and Suárez went into exile for sixteen years, residing in Peru, Mexico, the Soviet Union, Norway and the German Democratic Republic. In Radio Moscow he hosted the program Cartas desde Chile, for which the dictatorship deprived him of Chilean nationality.[1] He returned to Chile in 1990, recovered his nationality and PS membership, and devoted himself to writing. He published Allende. Visión de un Militante.[2]
Death
Jaime Suárez Bastidas died in Santiago on 28 October 1993.[1]