Camilo Escalona


Camilo Escalona Medina is a Chilean politician. He was the President of the Senate. He served as chairman of the Socialist Party of Chile from May 2006 until January 2010.
He has been one of the most prominent figures of the Socialist Party of Chile, serving multiple terms as party president and playing a key role in its leadership before and after Chile’s return to democracy.

Early life and education

Escalona was born in Santiago on 15 June 1955. He is the son of Camilo Enrique Escalona Jorquera and Berta del Carmen Medina Meneses. He is married to journalist Jimena Tricallota López and is the father of one daughter.
He completed his secondary education at Liceo No. 6 de Hombres —current «Andrés Bello Lyceum»– in the commune of San Miguel, Santiago.

Political career

Escalona joined the Youth Wing of the Socialist Party of Chile in 1969, at the age of 13. He became politically active at an early age as a student leader within the Federation of Secondary Students of Santiago during the government of President Salvador Allende.
In 1972, he was elected president of the Federation of Secondary Students of Santiago. The following year, in 1973, he was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Youth. After the military coup of September 1973, Escalona was sought by the military junta. With the assistance of priest Rafael Maroto, he took refuge in the Embassy of Austria, where he was granted political asylum and subsequently traveled to that country.
In 1974, he lived in Vienna. Between 1975 and 1978, he resided in Cuba, and later, until 1983, in Berlin, then part of the German Democratic Republic. From there, he returned clandestinely to Chile, as the military dictatorship prevented his legal return. In 1984, he joined the Political Commission of the Socialist Party while operating underground.
Following Chile’s return to democracy, Escalona was elected vice president of the Socialist Party in 1992. He first assumed the presidency of the party for the 1994–1996 and 1996–1998 terms. In 1997, he ran as a candidate for the Senate representing the Santiago West constituency but was not elected.
Between 2001 and 2003, he again served as president of the Socialist Party. He was re-elected to the party’s highest office in 2006, serving consecutive terms from 2006 to 2008 and from 2008 to 2010.

Publications

  • A transition from two sides. Chronic criticism and self LOM, Santiago, 1990,
  • Chile, democracy, consensus, interviews, La Nación, Santiago, 2003
  • In check. Stories story, novel, Catalonia, Santiago, 2006,
  • The attack, novel, Diagram, 2008,
  • Chile, 20 years 1988 2008, diagram, 2008,
  • Tales of Hell, Catalonia, Santiago, 2009,.
  • Unknown File Stories Margin Editorial, Santiago, 2011