Pedro Enrique Alfonso

Pedro Enrique Alfonso Barrios (Ovalle, 25 March 1903 – Santiago, 10 September 1977) was a Chilean lawyer, professor, and politician. A member of the Radical Party (PR), he served as its president between 1934 and 1936 and again in 1959.

He served as a Deputy representing the 4th Departmental Grouping for two consecutive terms between 1933 and 1938. He later served as a Minister of State under the administrations of four Presidents: Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Juan Antonio Ríos, Gabriel González Videla, and Jorge Alessandri.

He completed his primary education at the Liceo of Ovalle and his secondary education at the Internado Nacional Barros Arana in Santiago. During his student years, he served as president of the University Students’ Center of Coquimbo and of the Law Students’ Center at his university in Santiago. Among his grandchildren is lawyer Gerardo Varela, who served as Minister of Education during the Sebastián Piñera's second government.

Professional career Alfonso began his professional career in Temuco, where he served as a court attorney and later as a teacher of civic education at the city's boys’ high school between 1927 and 1929.

Minister of State and presidential candidate Alfonso was appointed Minister of the Interior on 24 December 1938 under President Pedro Aguirre Cerda, serving until 26 December 1939.

Subsequently, during the administration of President Jorge Alessandri, Alfonso was appointed Minister of Agriculture on 1 August 1963, leaving office on 14 September of the same year.

Expulsion from the Radical Party In 1969, Alfonso was expelled from the Radical Party for opposing alliances with communists and socialists who supported the candidacy of Salvador Allende in the lead-up to the 1970 Chilean presidential election. He subsequently founded the “Radical Recovery Movement” and later served as president of the Radical Democracy party, from which position he opposed the Popular Unity government led by Allende between 1970 and 1973.

Death and legacy Alfonso died at the Clínica Santa María in Santiago on 10 September 1977, aged 74, as a result of heart disease. He was buried the following day in the family mausoleum in the city of Ovalle. A bust in his memory stands in that commune on the Alameda of Ovalle, in the central median between Vicuña Mackenna and Independencia streets. In April 2018, the monument was reinaugurated in a ceremony attended by the mayor of Ovalle, Claudio Rentería, members of the municipal council, and then Minister of Education Gerardo Varela Alfonso, one of his grandsons.