Marin, Gladys (1941–2005)

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Marin, Gladys (1941–2005)

Chilean revolutionary and politician. Name variations: Gladys Marin Millie. Born July 16, 1941, in Curepto, Chile; died of a brain tumor, Mar 6, 2005, in Santiago, Chile; dau. of Adriana (schoolteacher) and Heraclio (farmer); attended Escuela Normal in Santiago; m. Jorge Muñoz (Santiago Communist party secretary), 1959 ("disappeared" under police custody, 1976); lived with Julio Ugas (journalist); children: sons.

Communist leader who spearheaded the fight against the military dictatorship of Pinochet(1973–90), began career working on unsuccessful presidential campaign for socialist Salvador Allende (1958); elected to Congress, becoming Chile's youngest parliamentarian (1965); after the Pinochet coup(1973), broadcast a message of defiance, then went into exile (1974); slipped back into Chile to develop the resistance (1978); was instrumental in creating the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR) to foment popular rebellion (1980); resurfaced from clandestinity (1990); elected general secretary of Communist Party (1994); continued to vocally oppose Pinochet, resulting in brief imprisonments and beatings; stood as the 1st Communist Party presidential candidate since 1932 (1999); elected party president (2002), the 1st woman to lead a political party in Chile; was a national figure, respected by all parties, at the time of her death.

See also autobiography, La Vida Es Hoy (Life is Today, 203).

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