Exequiel González Madariaga

Exequiel González Madariaga (9 September 1893 – 9 December 1987) was a Chilean essayist, writer, and politician. He served as Deputy between 1941 and 1953, and as Senator between 1953 and 1969, representing southern Chile.

Life He was the son of José González and Antonia Madariaga. He married Laura Espinoza, with whom he had three children. He studied at the Liceo Eduardo de la Barra de Valparaíso and later at the Instituto Superior de Comercio.

Public service In 1910 he began working for the Chilean Postal and Telegraph Service, where he became head of the districts of Copiapó, Antofagasta, and Valparaíso, and later inspector general and director of the service.

Publishing career In 1915 he founded the magazine Morse to disseminate national communications activities, which also stimulated literary output.

Business career He was president of the timber producers and exporters S.A. and the Industrial Company Vera S.A., director of Perlina S.A., and co-founder of the firm González, García y Cía.

Political career He joined the Radical Party, serving as a member of the Santiago Assembly. In 1941, he was elected Deputy for the 25th Departmental District (Ancud, Castro, and Quinchao), and was reelected in 1945 and 1949. In 1953, he was elected Senator for the 9th Provincial District (Valdivia, Osorno, Llanquihue, Chiloé, Aysén, and Magallanes), and was reelected in 1961.

In June 1964, he was expelled from the Radical Party for supporting Salvador Allende’s presidential candidacy, against the official Radical candidate Julio Durán. He was reinstated in December 1966. He later led the faction of Radicalism aligned with Allende and the Frente de Acción Popular, and subsequently founded the National Left Party.

As senator, he was present during the 1966 arbitral award on the Alto Palena border dispute.

He was a member of the Corporación de Defensa de la Soberanía, opposing the 1984 Treaty of Peace and Friendship (Chile–Argentina).

Published works Nuestras relaciones con Argentina: Una historia deprimente (1970), Editorial Andrés Bello Síntesis histórica de las relaciones chilenas argentinas (1960)