Carlos Altamirano

Who is Carlos Altamirano?

Carlos Altamirano Orrego is a lawyer and one of the most influential politicians of Chilean socialism. He was the general secretary of the Chilean Socialist Party between 1971 and 1979. Before that, he was deputy from 1961 to 1965 and senator from 1965 to 1973. He escaped after Pinochet's coup d'état on September 11, 1973 and lived as a refugee in Cuba. As a young man he was an accomplished athlete, winning medals in the high jump event at the 1946 and 1947 South American Championships in Athletics.