Marcelo Ruiz Solar

Marcelo Ruiz Solar (12 September 1909 – 2 October 1986) was a Chilean lawyer, diplomat and Radical Party politician.

He held significant government positions during the administrations of Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Juan Antonio Ríos and Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez, and later served as a parliamentary representative for Talca, Lontué and Curepto.

Biography Ruiz Solar was born in Talca on 12 September 1909, the son of Feliciano Segundo Ruiz Salgado and María Victoria del Solar Vargas. He studied law at the Universidad de Chile, graduating with a thesis titled Almacenes generales de depósito: Warrants. He practiced law in Talca, where he also worked as a substitute notary ad honorem. On 20 January 1935 he married Violeta Concha Guerrero.

Professional and Political Career He joined the Radical Party early in his life and served as secretary and later president of the Radical Assembly of Talca. He also presided over the Provincial Radical Board of Talca between 1937 and 1939, acted as vice-president of the 1937 Radical Convention, and organized the Frente Popular Radical. In 1948 he was elected president of the Radical Party.

In 1939 President Pedro Aguirre Cerda appointed him Undersecretary of Labour, a position in which he participated in international conferences such as the 1939 Meeting of Foreign Ministers in Havana, and later, in 1942, the Inter-American Conference in Rio de Janeiro. In 1941 he conducted special diplomatic missions to Peru and Bolivia.

In 1942 President Juan Antonio Ríos appointed him Secretary General of Government and Minister without Portfolio. In 1943 he was designated Minister Plenipotentiary to Colombia, and in 1944 he simultaneously served as Acting Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs. During this diplomatic period he received decorations from the governments of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, Hungary and the Holy See.

He was elected Deputy for the 12th Departamental Group (Talca, Lontué and Curepto) for the 1945–1949 legislative term, serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and acting as alternate member of the Committee on Economy and Commerce. Beginning in 1948 he also taught Public Law and International Law at the University of Chile, while simultaneously serving as professor of Social Legislation at the Higher Commercial Institute of Talca.

Between 1949 and 1953 he was legal counsel for the Caja de Crédito Hipotecario, and he held directorship positions in the insurance company La Previsión and the textile factory of the commune of Tomé. In 1953 he became legal consultant to Andes Copper Mining Co. and Chile Exploration Co., both subsidiaries of Anaconda. In 1955 he joined the executive committee of the Cobre Department as representative of these companies.

Diplomatic career In 1962 he was appointed Ambassador of Chile to Brazil by President Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez, a position he held until 1964. This was his final major diplomatic assignment.

Later Life and Death In his final years he was a member of the Club de La Unión and the sports clubs Universidad de Chile, Colo-Colo and Magallanes. He also worked as secretary and adviser to the Sindicato de Restaurantes Populares de Chile. He died in Santiago on 2 October 1986.