Óscar Viel Cavero

Oscar Viel Cavero
Member of the Senate
In office
15 May 1926 – 6 June 1932
Succeeded byArturo Alessandri
Constituency1st Provincial Grouping
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
15 May 1915 – 15 May 1918
ConstituencyParral and Loncomilla
In office
15 May 1906 – 15 May 1915
ConstituencyTarapacá and Pisagua
Personal details
Born1876 (1876)
Died2 March 1932(1932-03-02) (aged 55–56)
PartyLiberal Democratic Party
SpouseIsabel Balmaceda

Oscar Viel Cavero (1876 – 2 March 1932) was a Chilean lawyer, industrialist and politician. He served as senator representing the First Provincial Grouping of Tarapacá and Antofagasta during the 1926–1934 legislative period.[1]

Biography

Viel was born in Valparaíso, Chile, in 1876, the son of Óscar Viel Toro and Manuela Cavero Núñez. He married Isabel Balmaceda Pérez.[1]

He studied at the Liceo of Valparaíso and at the University of Chile, Faculty of Law, qualifying as a lawyer on 23 July 1897. His thesis was titled Observaciones sobre las leyes de libertad de imprenta.[1]

He developed a career in industrial and mining enterprises, serving as director of several companies. In 1901 he published La guerra marítima ante el derecho internacional and was appointed secretary of the Chilean legation in Colombia and Venezuela (1901–1903), later serving in Buenos Aires until 1906. While in Argentina, he studied census systems, later applying this experience in Chile in 1907.[1]

In public administration, he served as Minister of Justice and Public Instruction (1906–1907) under President Pedro Montt, Minister of Industry, Public Works and Railways (1912–1913) under President Ramón Barros Luco, and Minister of War and Navy (1917–1918) under President Juan Luis Sanfuentes.[1]

He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.[1]

He was elected deputy for Tarapacá and Pisagua (1906–1915) and later for Parral and Loncomilla (1915–1918), serving as president of the Chamber of Deputies' Foreign Relations Commission in 1915.[1]

In 1927, he was president of the Compañía Disputada de Las Condes.[1]

Political career

Viel was elected senator for the First Provincial Grouping of Tarapacá and Antofagasta for the 1926–1934 legislative period, entering the Senate on 26 April 1926. He was a member of the Permanent Commission on Foreign Relations.[2][1]

He remained in office until his death in Paris on 2 March 1932, after which Arturo Alessandri Palma was proclaimed senator in his place on 10 May 1932.[1]

The 1932 Chilean coup d'état led to the dissolution of the National Congress on 6 June 1932.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Oscar Viel Cavero – Parliamentary Biography". Library of the National Congress of Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  2. ^ Valencia Avaria, Luis (1951). Anales de la República, Tomo II. p. 491.

Bibliography

  • Luis Valencia Avaria (1951). Anales de la República: textos constitucionales de Chile y registro de los ciudadanos que han integrado los Poderes Ejecutivo y Legislativo desde 1810. Tomo II. Imprenta Universitaria, Santiago.