Pedro Opaso Letelier (July 20, 1876 – April 9, 1957) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an politician and provisional vice president of

in 1931. He was born in

Talca Talca () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, Chile, Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the ...

, the son of Ursicino Opaso and Margarita Letelier. He completed his studies in his native city, and then attended the

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, where he became a physician. He started his political career as the first mayor of the city of Río Claro. In 1920 Opaso was named minister in several occasions as a representative of the Democratic Liberal Party. He was elected a deputy for Curicó (1921–1924) and a Senator for Talca (1924–1930) and Talca, Linares and Curico (1930–1932). At the time of the collapse of the first administration of

Carlos Ibáñez del Campo General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (; 3 November 1877 – 28 April 1960) was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as President twice, first between 1927 and 1931, and then from 1952 to 1958, serving for 10 years in office. T ...

in 1931, he was the

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

. As such he took over as provisional vice president. He assumed on July 26, and that same night he formed his cabinet, headed by

Juan Esteban Montero Juan Esteban Montero Rodríguez (February 12, 1879 – February 25, 1948) was a Chilean political figure. He served twice as president of Chile between 1931 and 1932. Early life He was born in Santiago, the son of Benjamín Montero and of Eug ...

as interior minister and Pedro Blanquier, the other key player, as Finance minister. When the ministers arrived on the next morning, Opaso resigned by decree on Montero. His entire administration had lasted less than 24 hours. The speed he demonstrated to get rid of the power earned him the nickname of ''The Relayer'' (), that accompanied him till his death. After his very brief administration, he was elected Senator for Curicó, Talca, Maule y Linares (1933–1949) and again President of the Senate in 1944. He died in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

in 1957.

References

1876 births 1957 deaths People from Talca Chilean people of French descent Liberal Democratic Party (Chile, 1893) politicians United Liberal Party (Chile) politicians Liberal Party (Chile, 1849) politicians Chilean Ministers of Defense Presidents of the Senate of Chile Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile {{Chile-politician-stub