Juan Bustos Valenzuela

Juan Bautista Bustos Valenzuela (born 19 August 1874) was a Chilean journalist, printer, and politician. A pioneer of working-class journalism in Chile, he served as a deputy during the XXXVII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile, representing the 17th Departamental Grouping between 1933 and 1937.

Biography Bustos Valenzuela was born in Chillán on 19 August 1874, the son of Anastasio Bustos Aguayo and Candelaria Valenzuela Reyes. He completed his studies in Yumbel.

He worked as a journalist and typographer and is regarded as one of the precursors of working-class journalism in Chile. In 1890, he founded the newspaper El Pueblo in Valparaíso, followed by numerous other publications throughout the country, including La Vanguardia (Quillota), El Calerano (La Calera), La Reforma (La Cruz and Curanilahue), La Verdad (Tomé), La Razón (Talcahuano), El Pueblo (Coronel), and La Época (Concepción), among others.

In 1892, he founded the Sociedad de Tipógrafos in Valparaíso, the first resistance-based workers’ organization in Chile, serving as its president in several periods. He was also the owner of several printing presses, some of them clandestine, including the La Época printing house in Concepción. In 1894, he was awarded a literary prize in Valparaíso.

Political career Bustos Valenzuela was an active member of the Democratic Party. He served as its secretary general in Valparaíso in 1888, later becoming a director and president at various party conventions. During the Chilean Civil War of 1891, his home was raided, his printing workshop destroyed, and he was imprisoned and held incommunicado due to his political activities.

He was elected an elector for president in 1896, voting in favor of Vicente Reyes, and served as the first mayor of Valparaíso in 1893.

In the parliamentary elections, he was elected deputy for the 17th Departamental Grouping for the 1933–1937 legislative period. In the Chamber of Deputies, he served on the Standing Committee on Government Interior and as a substitute member of the Standing Committee on Public Education. During his tenure, he advocated for women’s suffrage, divorce legislation, colonization policies, and the subdivision of land ownership.