Blanca Retamal Contreras

Blanca Adelina Retamal Contreras (21 October 1921 – 8 August 2020) was a Chilean teacher and politician, member of the Christian Democratic Party. She served as Deputy in the National Congress during the 1965–1969 and 1969–1973 periods.

In December 1983, she was among the founders of the Social Christian Movement, a group formed by Christian Democrats expelled from the party for supporting the military dictatorship.

Biography Family and early years She was born in Quirihue on 21 October 1921, the daughter of Baldomero Retamal and Eusebia Contreras. She was married to Sergio Retamal Cisternas.

Education and professional life She completed her secondary education in Traiguén. Later, she entered the José Abelardo Núñez Superior Normal School, where she graduated as a primary school teacher in 1945. She also studied at the School of Public Health Nurses at the University of Chile.

She worked as a teacher at School No. 35 in Casas Viejas, Longotoma, from 1945 to 1946, when she was appointed its director until 1952. That same year she became director of School No. 4 in Valle Hermoso, La Ligua, a position she held until 1958. She then directed School No. 129 in Maipú until 1965.

Between 1956 and 1957, she wrote for the newspaper La Razón of La Ligua. She was also active in community work in the Barrancas commune, serving as secretary of the neighborhood council of the Lautaro community.

Political and public career She began her political activities in 1958 by joining the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). Within the party, she served as treasurer in Barrancas between 1961 and 1962, and between 1963 and 1964 she was a leader of the Women's Front of the 2nd District of Santiago.

In the 1965 Chilean parliamentary election, she was elected Deputy for the 7th Departmental Group of Santiago (2nd District) for the 1965–1969 term. She was a member of the Committees on Public Education; Internal Government; Finance; Economy and Trade; Mining; Constitution, Legislation and Justice; Housing and Urban Development; and the Special Committee on Housing (1965–1967). She also served as an alternate member of the Christian Democratic Parliamentary Committee between 1965 and 1969.

In the 1969 Chilean parliamentary election, she was reelected Deputy for the same district for the 1969–1973 term. She joined the Committee on Public Education and the Special Investigative Committee in charge of reviewing allegations of illegal arms trafficking through L.A.N. (1972–1973).

In the 1973 elections, she was again reelected Deputy for the same constituency, for the 1973–1977 term, serving on the Committee on Public Education. However, her mandate was interrupted by the coup d’état and the subsequent dissolution of Congress by Decree-Law No. 27 of 21 September 1973.

Among the motions she introduced that became law were: Law No. 16,772 (15 May 1968), repealing the payment of weekly rest to workers as determined in Article 323 of the Chilean Labour Code; Law No. 17,591 (5 January 1972), allocating resources for the construction of the Pan-American Highway section between Llanquihue Province and Tierra del Fuego Province; and Law No. 16,996 (22 October 1968), expropriating land for the construction of School No. 310 in the commune of Quinta Normal.