Manuel Bustos Herrera

Manuel Antonio Bustos Huerta (3 December 1943 – 27 September 1999) was a Chilean politician who served as deputy. He is one of the main trade unionist in his country.^[1][2]

In 1976, he was one of the founders of the so-called “Group of 10”, which included leaders such as Tucapel Jiménez. In 1981, he helped form the Coordinadora Nacional Sindical (CNS), composed of union leaders from various opposition currents to the military regime, which later became the basis for the creation of the Comando Nacional de Trabajadores.^[3]

For his involvement in these organizations, he was accused by the Ministry of the Interior of “false representation” of groups without legal status and was sentenced to six months’ detention. On 2 December 1982, he called for a protest in Plaza Artesanos, which led to his expulsion from the country.^[3]

Among other activities, he was the owner of the publishing house “Alborada”.^[3]

He was born in San Enrique, commune of Santo Domingo, on 2 December 1943. He was the adoptive son of Armando Bustos and Filomena Huerta.^[3]

He first married Elsa Huina, with whom he had two daughters. In his second marriage, he married journalist Myriam Verdugo, with whom he had two children. They met in 1981 when she interviewed him in his capacity as a trade union leader.^[3]

During his childhood, he lived with his parents on the San Enrique estate near the Rocas de Santo Domingo. He walked long distances to attend school, which prevented regular attendance. In the sixth year of primary school, he left school to work in agricultural labor and help support his family. At a young age, he began demonstrating leadership skills by presenting the sports and cultural concerns of farm workers to estate owners, successfully obtaining stands and lighting for a football field.^[3]

At the age of 18, he was called to perform military service at the Regimiento de Ingenieros de Tejas Verdes, where he continued his studies up to the second year of secondary education.^[3]

He later moved to Santiago, initially working as a waiter at a restaurant in Paradero 13 of Gran Avenida. He then briefly worked at Textil Andina before joining the textile factory Sumar as a machinist apprentice. He later became a maintenance mechanic, working for more than 30 years at the company. It was there that his trade union leadership emerged, and in 1969 he became a leader of the company’s workers’ union.^[3]

In 1963, he took his first courses as a pre-member of the Christian Democratic Party (DC) and later formally joined the party. In 1967, he attended a lecture by a deputy from the V Region on workers’ rights, which further motivated his commitment to the DC.^[3]

In 1972, his party nominated him as a candidate to the Central Única de Trabajadores (CUT), where he was elected as a national leader. At the time of the 1973 coup d’état, he was a leader of the Textile Federation and of the CUT. After the coup, he was arrested on 12 September and taken to the National Stadium, and was later released thanks to the efforts of Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez.^[3]

He settled in Rome, where he continued his political work with the support of international trade unionism. He returned to Chile after ten months and resumed his leadership. In 1985, together with Rodolfo Seguel, he organized another protest, resulting again in six months’ imprisonment. In 1987, he served temporarily as president of the CUT but was subsequently relegated for a year and a half to Parral, due to his participation in a national strike aimed at reforming the Labor Plan on 7 October of that year. While in Parral, he provided legal advice to local workers seeking to unionize and was appointed vice president of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). He also collaborated in the campaign supporting the presidential candidacy of Patricio Aylwin during the democratic transition.^[3]

Upon returning to Santiago, he was officially elected president of the CUT in 1990, achieving significant agreements with business leaders and the government. That same year, he was appointed National Councillor of the Christian Democratic Party. In 1995, he became second vice president of the 82nd International Labour Conference and a member of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO). In 1996, he stepped down from the CUT and was succeeded by the socialist leader Roberto Alarcón.^[3]

In 1997, after completing his secondary education, he ran for deputy for District No. 17, Santiago Metropolitan Region, as part of the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia coalition, and was elected with 33,025 votes, corresponding to 22.45% of the validly cast ballots.^[3]

He was unable to complete his full parliamentary term, as he died on 27 September 1999.^[3]

He was replaced in office by the teacher and union leader María Rozas Velásquez until 11 March 2002.^[3]

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