Carlos Ominami

Carlos Octavio Ominami Pascual (born 18 June 1950) is a Chilean economist, commercial engineer, politician and former member of the Socialist Party of Chile. Ominami's mother was of French descent whilst his father was of Japanese descent. Ominami's grandfather, Carlos Ominami Maza, was a Japanese navy officer and hairdresser who immigrated to Iquique in 1914.

Ominami was educated at Instituto Nacional. In 1969, Ominami enrolled at Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at the University of Chile and studied economics and commercial engineering. In June 1974, Ominami went into exile in Brussels before resettling in Paris three months later.

Return to Chile He returned to Chile in 1984, working as adviser to the Latin American International Relations programme (RIAL), a branch of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) and between 1987 and 1989 he helped to set up the Latin American Centre for Economy and International Politics (CLEPI).

Role in the "Concertación" After 1985, he began to emerge as one of the best-regarded left-wing economists, and in 1989 became assistant coordinator of the economic programme of the Concertación.

From March 1990 to September 1992 he served as Minister for the Economy under President Patricio Aylwin. At the end of 2001 he was re-elected, ahead of his DC rival Ignacio Walker. As Senator he focussed on economic affairs and was chair of the standing committee on Business, and a member of the Public Works, Health, and other committees.

In June 2009 he announced that he was leaving the PSC in order to support his son's presidential ambitions. Standing as an Independent candidate, he was defeated in the parliamentary elections in December of that year.

In June 2011, Ominami was awarded the Japanese honour "The Order of the Rising Sun" by the Emperor Akihito in recognition of his contribution towards improving relations between Japan and Chile.

Published works

Nationalisations et Internationalisation, with Ch. A. Michalet. La Découverte/Maspero, Paris, 1983. 163 p. Le Tiers Monde dans la Crise. La Découverte, París, 1984. 246 p. The third industrial revolution (La tercera revolución industrial). G.E.L., Buenos Aires, 1986. 482 p. To Change Life (Cambiar la Vida) (co-author). Editorial Melquíades, Santiago de Chile, 1988. 131 p. Ripostes a la Crise en Amerique Latine (co-author). L'Harmatan, París, 1988. 189 p. The Entry of Chile into international markets (La inserción de Chile en los mercados internacionales), with R. Madrid. Prospel-Cesoc, Santiago de Chile, 1989. 93 p. The Challenge of Uncertainty (El desafío de la incertidumbre) (co-author). Editorial Nueva Sociedad, Santiago de Chile, 1988. 206 p. Large Strategic Manoeuvres (Grandes maniobras estratégicas). Editorial Nueva Sociedad, Santiago de Chile, 1990. 210 p. Political Animals: father-son dialogues (Animales políticos: diálogos filiales), with Marco Enríquez-Ominami. Planeta, Santiago de Chile, 2004. The Silenced Debate (2009) (El debate silenciado: un testimonio). LOM, Santiago de Chile, 2009. Secrets of the Concertación (Secretos de la Concertación: recuerdos para el futuro). Planeta, Santiago de Chile, 2011. 355 p. Chilean National Congress Library catalogue