Bernardo Leighton Guzmán (August 16, 1909, Negrete, Bío Bío Province – January 26, 1995,

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) was a

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politician and lawyer. He served as

minister of state Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

under three presidents over a 36-year career. Exiled as a critic of

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean Captain general#Chile, general who ruled Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990), Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Gover ...

's dictatorship, he was targeted for assassination by

Operation Condor Operation Condor ( es, link=no, Operación Cóndor, also known as ''Plan Cóndor''; pt, Operação Condor) was a United States–backed campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of ...

Biography

Early life

Bernardo Leighton was the son of Judge Bernardino Leighton Gajardo and Sinforosa Guzmán Gallegos. He grew up with admiration for his father, a reputed "

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man". Leighton spent his childhood in

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, Chile, in the Province of Bío Bío. In 1921, Leighton moved to Concepción for studies and an apprenticeship in the lay section of a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. In 1922, he moved to

to work in the local

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school, St. Ignacio.

Political life

As the student leader at the

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, he participated in the 1927 riots against Carlos Ibáñez del Campo's

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

, which was deposed in 1931. During the same year, Leighton was sent by the Minister Marcial Mora to

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to placate the local military riots supported by the population. In 1933, he graduated as a lawyer with a thesis on rural works. In 1937, Leighton was appointed Minister of Labor by

Arturo Alessandri Palma Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to ...

. During this time he founded – along with his friends and associates, Eduardo Frei Montalva, Radomiro Tomic, and José Ignacio Palma – the National Falange which merged with the

in 1957. At various times, he served as the party's vice-president. In 1945, he was elected a deputy in the

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, for an

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constituency. Leighton also served as Minister of Education in the Videla Government (1946–1952), and as Minister of the Interior in the Montalva Government (1964–1970). He was re-elected in 1969, and served as legislator until the Chilean coup d'état of 1973.

Exile and assassination attempt

Leighton's criticism of the military dictatorship resulted in his exile from Chile. In February 1974, he and his wife fled to

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, where he started a campaign against

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. According to

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documents released by the

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, Italian terrorist and

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sen ...

sympathizer Stefano Delle Chiaie met with DINA agent Michael Townley and Cuban Virgilio Paz Romero in

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in 1975 to prepare for the murder of Bernardo Leighton with the help of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from ...

's secret police. On October 6, 1975, at 8:20 p.m., Leighton and his wife were shot and severely injured. In 1993, A Rome court sentenced Michael Vernon Townley to 18 years imprisonment for attempted murder. Townley had admitted commissioning the murder attempt on behalf of DINA by members of National Vanguard, an Italian right-wing terrorist group. Three members of the group including its leader Stefano Delle Chiaie have been tried for the attack in 1987 and acquitted. The day after the attack, Leighton's brain was operated on in an attempt to prevent loss of speech; however, his brain was severely damaged. This event brought about the end of his pacification intentions to reunite the various groups opposing Pinochet, including the

leftists Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

. In 1978, the Chilean government allowed Leighton to return to Chile from Italy, and he retired to private life. He died on January 26, 1995, in Santiago, Chile.

Personal life

On August 15, 1940, Leighton married Ana María Fresno Ovalle, a relative of Juan Francisco Fresno. Ana Maria became a paraplegic due to the murder attempt on the couple in October 1975 and died in 2011. The couple had no children.

References

Sources

Carta de Eduardo Frei Montalva a Bernardo Leighton May 22, 1975Carta de Bernardo Leighton Eduardo Frei Montalva June 26, 1975
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton, Bernardo 1909 births Shooting survivors 1995 deaths People from Bío Bío Province Chilean people of English descent National Falange politicians Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians Chilean Ministers of Education Chilean Ministers of the Interior Government ministers of Chile Deputies of the XL Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the XLVI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the XLVII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Operation Condor Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Chilean exiles