Luis Corvalán
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luis Alberto Corvalán Castillo (born September 14, 1916 in Puerto Montt, Chile) is a former Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Chile and Chilean politician.
Trained as a teacher, in 1932 Corvalán joined the Communist Party, after 1952 he was a member of its Politburo, and after 1958 served as the Secretary-General. The party was outlawed from 1948 until 1958.
On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet lead a violent military Coup and Corvalán was among the many arrested. After the murder of Victor Jara he was the most prominent political prisoner in Chile. While in prison, Luis Corvalán was awarded Lenin Peace Prize (for 1973-74).
The Soviet Union launched an international campaign for his release and in 1976 Corvalán was exchanged for a notable Soviet political prisoner dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, and received asylum in the USSR. After the end of the Pinochet's dictatorship Corvalán returned to Chile.
[edit] External links
- Behind the lines of Pinochet's Cold War Documents show the Soviet Union armed and trained Chilean communists
- Secret Soviet documents concerning the exchange of Bukovsky for Corvalán: [1], [2], [3], [4] (PDFs in Russian) from the "Soviet Archives" collected by Bukovsky.
