Arturo Riveros Alcaide

Arturo Riveros Alcaide (Santiago, 10 May 1889 – 21 April 1974) was a Chilean businessman and politician. A member of the Radical Party of Chile, he served in several cabinet posts during the Socialist Republic of Chile in 1932 and later under Presidents Pedro Aguirre Cerda and Juan Antonio Ríos.

Biography

Riveros was born in Santiago on 10 May 1889, the son of Álvaro Riveros and Benigna Alcaide. He completed his primary education at the Liceo Neandro Schilling in San Fernando and later attended the Arturo Prat Naval Academy.

He married Julia Ramírez Jaramillo, and they had two daughters.

Professionally, Riveros worked in banking and agricultural finance. He served as manager of the Santa Cruz Fair, head of the agricultural section of the Agricultural Credit Fund, and later as its general manager between 1930 and 1932. He subsequently became chairman of the International Exchange Commission (1941), agricultural manager of the Public Employees and Journalists Pension Fund, executive vice president of the Agricultural Credit Fund, president of the insurance company La Agraria, and board member of La Provincia Insurance Company.

He also served as chairman of the newspaper La Hora and owned the La Ariana estate in Rengo.

Political career

A longtime member of the Radical Party of Chile, Riveros served as president of the party's Rengo branch.

On 16 June 1932, during the Socialist Republic of Chile, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture by Carlos Dávila Espinoza. He remained in office under the provisional government of Bartolomé Blanche Espejo until resigning on 2 October 1932.

From 1 August to 14 September 1932, he simultaneously served as Acting Minister of Lands and Colonization.

On 6 October 1941, President Pedro Aguirre Cerda appointed him the first Minister of Economy and Supply following the establishment of the ministry by Supreme Decree No. 1,549. He remained in office after Aguirre Cerda's death under Acting President Jerónimo Méndez Arancibia until 2 April 1942.

Under President Juan Antonio Ríos, Riveros was reappointed to the same portfolio, renamed the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, serving from 7 May to 7 July 1943. That same year, he was elected national president of the Radical Party of Chile.

He died in Santiago on 21 April 1974 at the age of 84.