José Tomás Cueto

José Tomás Cueto Hemett (22 February 1913 – 11 September 1999) was a Chilean civil constructor, public official and politician of the Movimiento Nacional Ibañista.

He served as a Deputy for the 2nd Departmental Group ―Antofagasta, Tocopilla, El Loa and Taltal― during the 1953–1957 legislative period.

Biography He was born in Santiago, on 22 February 1913, the son of Tomás Cueto Vallin and María Hemett. He married María Inés Romero Sánchez in Santiago on 20 November 1937; she died in 1990. They had one son, Tomás Dantón Cueto, who died in Argentina in 2016.

Cueto Hemett pursued technical training and worked as a civil constructor. He served as an inspector for the Directorate of Highways (Dirección de Vialidad) from 1 June 1932 to 30 January 1942, where he contributed to Chile’s public infrastructure planning and maintenance during the modernization efforts of the early twentieth century.

Later, he became involved in the Movimiento Nacional Ibañista, a nationalist political movement that supported former president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo in his return to power in the 1950s. His career combined civil service with legislative work, emphasizing national development and regional connectivity in northern Chile.