Eliana Araníbar Figueroa

Eliana Araníbar Figueroa (October 19, 1936 – March 15, 2013) was a Chilean social leader, dressmaker, and politician.

She served as Deputy for the Seventh Departmental Group of Santiago, representing the Communist Party during 1973.

Biography She grew up in the El Salto sector, located in the Santiago commune of Conchalí. She completed up to the 3rd year of elementary school before going on to study fashion. In 1991, she was able to complete her secondary education.

In 1959, she joined the Catholic Workers’ Youth (Juventud Obrera Católica) and Catholic Action, later becoming part of the Communist Youth of Chile (Juventudes Comunistas) (JJCC) in 1962. She served as secretary of the Regional Committee of the JJCC and held various positions in the Communist Party.

For the 1973 parliamentary elections, she presented her candidacy for Deputy for the Seventh Departmental Group of Santiago, Second District of Talagante, taking the seat left vacant by Gladys Marín, who had moved to the First District of Central Santiago. She was elected and took office on May 15, becoming a member of the Housing and Urban Development Committee.

She held the position until September 11, when a coup d’état brought an end to the government of Salvador Allende and indefinitely closed the National Congress. From that date, she took refuge in the Embassy of Finland and soon after went into exile in the German Democratic Republic and Hungary.

In 1978, she returned to the country clandestinely, reorganizing the Communist Youth amid the persecution of Pinochet regime. In 1989, she was granted authorization to re-enter Chile.

She founded and presided over the Movement for Women’s Rights (Movimiento por los Derechos de la Mujer, MODEMU) and was a member of her party’s Central Committee. She died on March 15, 2013, at the age of 76.