Mario Palestro

Mario del Carmelo Palestro Rojas was a Chilean socialist politician who served as deputy.
In 1995, he was expelled from his party due to his criticism towards its management.

Biography

Palestro began his political activities in 1935 when he joined the Socialist Party's Youth Federation. During his school days, he was one of the founders of the Federation of Secondary and Technical Students.
After holding various positions in his party, he was elected to the Central Committee of the PS.
He served as an official of the State Railways Pension Fund from 1943 to 1949. Then, in 1954, he served as a board member of the National State Collective Transport Company.

Political career

In 1949, he was elected councilor of the Municipality of San Miguel and reelected for two consecutive terms.
After the 1973 Chilean coup d'etat, Palestro was one of the country's ten most wanted men, so he went into exile in Norway, which awarded him a scholarship to write a history of Chilean and Latin American politics of the last 40 years.
He later moved to Venezuela, where he collaborated as a columnist for the Punto magazine, a publication of the MAS socialist movement. During this period, he also served as president of United Left. Similarly, Palestro was leader of the Committee of Solidarity with Chile.
After 15 years of exile, he returned to Chile in September 1988.