María de la Cruz
Encyclopedia
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an political activist for Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
, journalist, writer, and political commentator. In 1953 she became the first woman ever elected to the Chilean Senate
National Congress of Chile
The National Congress is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Chile.The National Congress of Chile was founded on July 4, 1811...
.
Early life
De la Cruz was born in Chimbarongo, Chile, the daughter of Marco Aurelio de la Cruz and of Edicia Toledo. She studied at the Colegio Rosa de Santiago Concha and the Liceo Nº5 of SantiagoSantiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
. From a very young age she started writing articles and poems. In 1940 she published a book of poems (Transparencias de un Alma), and in 1942 a short novel (Alba de Oro). She was also the publisher and editor of the magazine Luz y sombra (Light and Shadows), dedicated to promote culture among and understanding of blind people. As a radio journalist, she made a name for herself in Radio "Nuevo Mundo", where her daily magazine program María de la Cruz habla (María de la Cruz speaks out) was a great success!
Political career
Through her radio program and her writings, she focused on increasing the political participation of women in politics and exposed the struggle of Chilean women to obtain the right to vote. In 1946, De la Cruz founded the Feminine Party of Chile. These actions were the culmination of a long struggle that began in 1913 and ended in 1949, when president Gabriel González VidelaGabriel González Videla
Gabriel González Videla was a Chilean politician. He was a deputy and senator in the Chilean Congress and was President of Chile from 1946 to 1952...
signed the law that granted the right to vote to women in Chile.
The Feminine Party grew up very quickly among middle-class and working women. In 1948 she ran for a senate seat, but even though she had the support of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as dictator between 1927 and 1931 and as constitutional President from 1952 to 1958.- The coups of 1924 and 1925 :...
, she lost the election. During the 1952 presidential election
Chilean presidential election, 1952
A presidential election was held in Chile on September 4, 1952. It was the first presidential election where women were allowed to vote, after gaining the right in 1949...
she became Ibáñez's campaign manager. After he won the presidency, he offered her a position in his cabinet as minister of Education, but she refused, nominating instead María Teresa del Canto from her own party.
Ibáñez then backed her as a candidate to replace him in the senate. She also obtained the support of the Partido Democrático de Chile, the Movimiento Nacional Independiente, the Organización de Mujeres Independientes, the Movimiento Nacional Ibañista and of course her own Partido Femenino, being elected senator on January 4, 1953, the first woman ever to reach the Chilean senate. She won by 107.585 votes against 68.350 of the runner-up, the highest margin ever obtained until then.
She was duly sworn in and took her place on February 13, 1953. Nonetheless, her political career ended abruptly but a few months later. Her powerful oratory gained her suspicion and enmity from all political sectors. Three women accused her to be involved in the smuggling of watches from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. These accusations grew until they became the Watches affair. On August 4, 1953, she was indicted and stripped of her position for "abusing her position for personal gain", even though the congressional investigation had voted against that measure. The affair eventually dissolved and nothing was ever proved against her. There seem to be little doubt now that the accusations were politically motivated in order to remove her from Congress.
Aftermath
The impact of her fall was immediate on her party and it started to dissolve almost immediately. By 1954, it had ceased to exist. In the 1958 presidential electionChilean presidential election, 1958
A presidential election was held in Chile on September 4, 1958. Because none of the candidates obtained an absolute majority needed to win outright, a confirmation by Congress was carried out on October 24, 1958 to declare the winner.-Election:...
she supported Jorge Alessandri
Jorge Alessandri
Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez was the 27th President of Chile from 1958 to 1964, and was the candidate of the Chilean right in the crucial presidential election of 1970...
, and in the 1964 presidential election
Chilean presidential election, 1964
A presidential election was held in Chile on September 4, 1964. Christian Democratic candidate Eduardo Frei Montalva won the election by an absolute majority....
, Jorge Prat
Jorge Prat
Jorge Prat Echaurren was a Chilean nationalist politician.Prat was born in Santiago, Chile. A veteran of the nationalist political scene, he was first associated with the National Socialist Movement of Chile or Nacis, albeit as a low level member...
, but she never managed to regain her former political influence. Eventually she joined the National Party, and was one of the leaders behind the empty-pots movement against Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
.
She continued her radio program until 1978, when she retired. She died in Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
at the age of 83 in 1995.
See also
- Carlos Ibáñez del CampoCarlos Ibáñez del CampoGeneral Carlos Ibáñez del Campo was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as dictator between 1927 and 1931 and as constitutional President from 1952 to 1958.- The coups of 1924 and 1925 :...
- Amanda Labarca
- Elena Caffarena
- Angélica Matte
- Chilean political scandalsChilean political scandalsA political scandal is a kind of political corruption that is exposed and becomes a scandal, in which politicians or government officials are accused of engaging in various illegal, corrupt, or unethical practices...