Carlos Ominami

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Carlos Ominami
Carlos Ominami.jpg
Carlos Ominami in 2010
Member of the Senate
In office
11 March 1994 –11 March 2010
Website ominami2009.blogspot.com
Academic background
Education University of Chile
University of Paris-X

Carlos Octavio Ominami Pascual (born 18 June 1950) is a Chilean economist, commercial engineer, politician and former member of the Socialist Party of Chile. [1]

Contents

Early career and education

Carlos Octavio Ominami Pascual was born on 18 June 1950 in Santiago, Chile to Edith Pascual Pascual (1928–2022) and Carlos Segundo Ominami Daza (1932–1996). [1] Ominami's mother was of French descent whilst his father was of Japanese descent. Ominami's grandfather, Carlos Ominami Maza, was a Japanese navy officer and hairdresser who immigrated to Iquique in 1914. [2]

Ominami was educated at Instituto Nacional. [1] [3] In 1969, Ominami enrolled at Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at the University of Chile and studied economics and commercial engineering. [1] [3] Ominami later graduated with a BS in economics. [3]

In 1968, Ominami joined the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), remaining a member until 1975. [3] [1] Ominami was a member of the University Students Front (Spanish : Frente de Estudiantes Revolucionarios) until 1973. [1]

Exile

Following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état Ominami sought asylum at the Embassy of Belgium. [1] [4] In June 1974, Ominami went into exile in Brussels before resettling in Paris three months later. [1] [4] In Paris Ominami obtained a Ph.D. in economics from University of Paris-X (present-day, Paris Nanterre University). [3] [4]

Between 1975–1978, Ominami worked as a researcher at the Centre d'Études Prospectives d'Économie Mathématique Appliquées à la Planification  [ fr ], and as a research officer at the French National Centre for Scientific Research during 1978–1984. [1] [3] From 1981–1983, Ominami also worked as an adviser at the Research Institute for Development. [1] [3]

From 1978 to 1983 Ominami was active in Socialist Convergence (Spanish : Convergencia Socialista). [a] [3] Then he joined the Chilean Socialist Party (PSC), participating actively in its reconstruction. [5]

Return to Chile

He returned to Chile in 1984, working as adviser to the Latin American International Relations programme (RIAL), a branch of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) and between 1987 and 1989 he helped to set up the Latin American Centre for Economy and International Politics (CLEPI).

Role in the "Concertación"

After 1985, he began to emerge as one of the best-regarded left-wing economists, and in 1989 became assistant coordinator of the economic programme of the Concertación.

From March 1990 to September 1992 he served as Minister for the Economy under President Patricio Aylwin. [5] In 1993 he supported the nomination for President by the Concertación of Ricardo Lagos, who was defeated by the Christian Democrat (DC) candidate Eduardo Frei. [5]

The same year he was elected as Senator for Constituency No. 5, in the Valparaíso region, coming top of the poll with 33.31% of the votes. [6] [7] At the end of 2001 he was re-elected, ahead of his DC rival Ignacio Walker. [8] [9] As Senator he focussed on economic affairs and was chair of the standing committee on Business, and a member of the Public Works, Health, and other committees.

In June 2009 he announced that he was leaving the PSC in order to support his son's presidential ambitions. [10] [11] [12] Standing as an Independent candidate, he was defeated in the parliamentary elections in December of that year. [13] [14]

In June 2011, Ominami was awarded the Japanese honour "The Order of the Rising Sun" by the Emperor Akihito in recognition of his contribution towards improving relations between Japan and Chile. [15] [2]

Personal life

He was married to the journalist and sociologist Manuela Gumucio Rivas, daughter of the former parliamentarian Rafael Agustín Gumucio and ex-wife of the general secretary of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), Miguel Enríquez (1944–1974). He is now in relationship with Maïté Albagly Giroux. His only (adoptive) child is Marco Enríquez-Ominami, the offspring of his ex wife from a previous relationship, whom he adopted as his own son from an early age. [16]

Published works

Notes

  1. ↑ Not to be confused with the Mexican Trotskyist group Socialist Convergence

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Reseña Biográfica Carlos Ominami Pascual". Reseñas biográficas parlamentarias (in Spanish). Valparaíso: Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 "El regreso del Samurái" [The return of the Samurai]. La Tercera (in Spanish). 2011-06-24. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Currículum Senador Carlos Ominami Pascual". Senate of Chile (in Spanish). Valparaíso. Archived from the original on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 El Mercurio (Santiago) "La Tercera". 13 April 2008.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. 1 2 3 El Mercurio (Santiago). 27 October 2001.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Elecciones.gov.cl at the Wayback Machine (archive index) Election results 1993
  7. ↑ El Mercurio (Santiago). 9 March 1994.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ Elecciones.gov.cl at the Wayback Machine (archive index) Election results 2001
  9. ↑ El Mercurio (Santiago). 17 December 2001.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ "Ominami says goodbye: "I feel more socialist than ever" ". emol (El Mercurio online). 2009-06-27. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
  11. ↑ "Ominami confirms resignation from the PS after 25 years of activism". La Tercera. 2009-06-27. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
  12. ↑ "Ominami resigns from PS: calls for others not to follow". La Nación. 2009-06-27. Archived from the original on 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
  13. ↑ Elecciones.gov.cl at the Wayback Machine (archive index) Election results 2009
  14. ↑ "Defeats for Lavín, Naranjo and Gazmuri in the senatorial election". La Nación. 2009-12-13. Archived from the original on 2009-12-17. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
  15. ↑ El Mercurio (Santiago). 24 June 2011.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ El Mercurio (Santiago) "La Segunda". 7 April 2006.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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