Máximo Venegas Sepúlveda

Máximo Venegas Sepúlveda (17 January 1897 – 10 October 1963) was a Chilean journalist, political activist and parliamentarian.

Biography He was born in Tocopilla to Máximo Venegas and Amelia Sepúlveda. He married Elisa del Rosario Espinoza Jara in 1928, and later married María Salazar Peña in 1944.

He studied at the Tocopilla Municipal School and became a self-taught journalist. He directed the newspaper El Proletario and the magazines La voz de la juventud and Metralla between 1920 and 1929.

Public service During the 1920s he served as Regidor and Mayor of Tocopilla. In 1938 he was appointed General Commissioner of Subsistence and Prices.

He was a prominent member of the Democratic Party, serving as its president and vice-president, and founded the Democratic Youth in Santiago. He was an elector in the 1920 presidential election.

He served as Substitute Senator for the 4th Provincial Group (Santiago) from 1940 to 1941, replacing Juan Pradenas Muñoz when the latter joined the cabinet.

In 1941 he was elected Deputy for Antofagasta, Taltal and Tocopilla for the 1941–1945 term, serving on the Committee on Labor and Social Legislation.

After disagreements within progressive factions, he founded the National Democratic Party (PDN) alongside dissidents from the National Progressive Party and the Liberal Progressive Party.

Later political career In 1947 he ran in a complementary election to replace Radical deputy Fernando Cisternas Ortiz. He placed third, behind José Avilés Avilés and Humberto Rojas. He was then appointed Intendant of Arauco (1947–1948).

He returned to Congress after being elected Deputy for Antofagasta, Taltal and Tocopilla for the 1949–1953 term, serving on the Committee on Constitution, Legislation and Justice.

He was the first secretary of the Maritime Union of the Federación Obrera de Chile and founded several organizations in Tocopilla, including the local Red Cross, the Carlos Condell Shooting Club, the Boy Scout Brigade “Alcibíades Vicencio”, and the Centro Democrático “Manuel J. O’Ryan”. He was decorated by the Government of Cuba.