Salvador Ocampo

Salvador Ocampo
Member of the Senate
In office
15 May 1945 – 15 May 1953
Constituency7th Provincial Grouping
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
15 May 1941 – 15 May 1945
Personal details
Born(1902-01-01)1 January 1902
Died27 August 1977(1977-08-27) (aged 75)
PartyCommunist Party of Chile
SpouseBerta Arenal
OccupationTrade union leader, construction worker, politician

Salvador Ocampo Pastene (1 January 1902 – 27 August 1977) was a Chilean trade union leader, construction worker and communist politician. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies and later as a senator of the Republic during the 1940s and early 1950s.[1]

Biography

He was born in Iquique on 1 January 1902. During the 1960s he emigrated to Mexico, where he settled permanently and married Berta Arenal, sister-in-law of Mexican painter and muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. They had one son, Emilio Ocampo Arenal.[1]

Professional career

He emerged as a prominent labor leader within the Chilean construction workers’ movement and became a founding subsecretary of the Confederation of Workers of Chile (CTCH). Together with Bernardo Ibáñez Águila, he visited France, the United States, Spain and Mexico. In Mexico he participated in the Workers’ Congress representing the CTCH and also took part in the Congress of Democracies held in Montevideo.[1]

In 1943 he traveled to Cuba, where he attended the Latin American Workers’ Conference.[1]

Political career

A member of the Communist Party of Chile, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the 9th Departmental Grouping, corresponding to the districts of Rancagua, Cachapoal, Caupolicán (Rengo) and San Vicente, for the 1941–1945 legislative term. During this period he served on the standing Committees on Foreign Relations, National Defense, and Labor and Social Legislation.[1]

During the period of illegality of the Communist Party, he was a member of the parliamentary committee of the National Progressive Party, the name under which the Communist Party operated while banned.[1]

In the 1945 parliamentary elections he was elected senator for the 7th Provincial Grouping, comprising the provinces of Ñuble, Concepción and Arauco, serving for the 1945–1953 term. As a senator he served on the standing Committees on Foreign Relations and Trade, and on Constitution, Legislation and Justice.[1]

Other activities

Following the military coup of 11 September 1973, while residing in Mexico, he led solidarity efforts with the Chilean people, particularly in the political sphere, opposing the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.[1]

In Mexico he worked at the Workers’ University «Vicente Lombardo Toledano», in the Department of the International Labor Movement. He died in Mexico City on 27 August 1977.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Salvador Ocampo Pastene". Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile – Historia Política (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2025.