Mario Astorga Cartes

Mario Astorga Cartes (La Calera, 27 October 1919 – 2011) was a Chilean agronomist and politician who was a member of the Radical Party (PR). He served as a minister of state during the second administration of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.

Early life

Astorga was born in La Calera, Chile, on 27 October 1919, the son of Custodio Astorga and Leonor Cartes. He attended the Liceo Miguel Luis Amunátegui in Santiago before studying at the School of Agronomy of the University of Chile, graduating as an agronomist in 1944 with a thesis entitled Industrialización nacional del arroz. He later undertook further study in Canada and the United States.

Astorga married Brunilda Muñoz Toledo, with whom he had two children, Mario and Leonor del Carmen. He later married Rosa Eglantina Ibáñez Catalán in Santiago on 27 October 1992.

Political career

Astorga began his professional career in the public sector, joining the agricultural research department of the Ministry of Agriculture. Between 1944 and 1946, he worked on industrial crops and later participated in agricultural research and cooperation programmes involving Chile, Canada, and Argentina.

In 1953, Astorga became general coordinator of the services of the National Directorate of Agriculture and helped organise the Council for Agricultural Development and Research (Confin), of which he served as manager. He subsequently served as acting national director of agriculture before being appointed to the post on a permanent basis in 1954.

A member of the Radical Party, Astorga was appointed Minister of Agriculture by President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo on 23 April 1957, serving until 19 March 1958. From 9 to 18 July 1957, he concurrently served as acting Minister of Lands and Colonisation, following the resignation of Óscar Jiménez Pinochet.

Astorga also served on several agricultural and professional bodies, including the National Agricultural Society, the Sociedad Agronómica de Chile, and agricultural advisory bodies associated with the University of Concepción and Banco del Estado de Chile. He later worked in the private sector and, in 1987, acquired shares in the pharmaceutical company Farmoquímica del Pacífico.

Astorga died in 2011.