Ismael Huerta

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ismael Huerta Díaz (born October 13, 1916 in Talcahuano ; † June 9, 1997 ) was a Chilean vice admiral and politician who, among other things, was Minister for Public Works and during the military dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1974 and foreign minister from 1974 to 1974 1977 Ambassador and Head of the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City . He was one of the main initiators of the September 11, 1973 military coup .

As a young communications engineer, he took part in the third Chilean Antarctic expedition to the Arturo Prat station on Greenwich Island from 1948 to 1949 .

Life

Military training and intelligence officer

As a participant in the third Chilean Antarctic expedition, Huerta installed the radio systems on the Arturo Prat station from late 1948 to early 1949

Huerta, son of Rear Admiral Ismael Huerta Lira , joined the Navy (Armada de Chile) as a midshipman in 1936 after attending school . In the same year he completed a nautical training on the tanker Maipo on a trip to the USA and on the corvette General Baquedano . Among his fellow students was José Toribio Merino , who later was Commander in Chief of the Navy and a member of the military junta. He continued his training as a midshipman on the battleship Almirante Latorre and was promoted to midshipman first class on February 14, 1937.

After completing his training as a sea cadet on the French training ship Jeanne d'Arc , Huerta completed a course in communications engineering at the École supérieure d'électricité in Paris , which he completed in July 1938. He then began an internship at the electrical engineering company Telefunken in Berlin on November 2, 1938 , where he focused on communications technology for the navy and the air force. On January 17, 1939, he went home to Valparaíso .

On board the protected cruiser Blanco Encalada , he expanded his nautical skills before, on his return, began a course in artillery at the School for Torpedoes and Electrical Engineering (Escuela de Torpedos y Electricidad) in his native town of Talcahuano. He then deepened his knowledge of navigation on the cargo ship Abtao and from February 1941 in communications technology at the School of Naval Communications Technology (Escuela de Comunicaciones Navales) , today's School of Naval Operations (Escuela de Operaciones) .

Huerta, who was promoted to lieutenant in the sea on February 14, 1941 , was employed as a naval officer on the escort ship BMS Araucano from August 8, 1941 , where he dealt with the installation and testing of short-wave transmitters . He then became a technical officer in the communications engineering subdivision at the Valparaíso naval base in the spring of 1942 , before he was transferred to this subdivision in Talcahuano in October 1942. He then took on a position as a trainer at the submarine school (Escuela de Submarinos) in 1943 and was promoted to lieutenant at sea on July 29, 1944 .

In 1946 Huerta returned to the subdivision for communications engineering in Valparaíso and was initially its acting head and in early 1947 its head. During this time he published the textbook Elementos de Física Moderna on August 16, 1948 , which received wide recognition and awards. He was then on board the frigate Covadonga from late 1948 to early 1949 as a participant in the Third Antarctic Expedition and was responsible for the installation of the radio systems on the Arturo Prat station , the Chilean Antarctic base on Greenwich Island .

Staff officer and promotion to rear admiral

Upon his return, Huerta was appointed head of the communications subdivision of the Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena in April 1949, and in this role he was responsible for setting up the Río Los Ciervos radio station . Shortly thereafter, on June 10, 1949, he was promoted to Korvettenkapitän . After four years of activity, he was posted to the military mission in Great Britain in May 1953 as inspector of the radar systems on the battleship Almirante Latorre and subsequently also took courses in radar technology at Marconi College and at the electronics school of the Royal Navy and on board the HMS Collingwood , a British battleship St Vincent-class battleship .

In November 1954 Huerta returned to Chile and worked at the electronics and telecommunications subdivision in Talcahuano with the modernization and repair of numerous ships in the Chilean Navy. There he was promoted to frigate captain in 1955 . As such, he became head of the Naval Arsenal of Valparaíso in March 1957 . While he was there, he was awarded the title of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer on July 20, 1960.

Huerta, who was promoted to sea captain on October 17, 1962 , was appointed director of the naval armament department on July 11, 1966, before being appointed director of the naval training department on October 28, 1967. As such, he was also director of the Polytechnic Academy (Academia Politécnica) . On December 23, 1968, he was also awarded the title of marine engineer specializing in electronics.

He was then promoted to Rear Admiral on January 15, 1969 and as such took over the post of Director of the Department of Shipyards and Arsenals of the Navy ASMAR (Astilleros y Maestranzas de la Armada) .

Minister under Allende and the September 11, 1973 military coup

On December 12, 1972, he was appointed by President Salvador Allende as Minister for Public Works (Ministro de Obras Públicas) in his cabinet and thus succeeded Pascual Barraza Barraza . However, he only held this office for six weeks and was replaced by Daniel Arellano MacLeod on January 31, 1973 .

He then took over on April 24, 1973 with effect from February 5, 1973 the office of Director General for Naval Services. He was one of the participants in the conspiratorial meetings of the Navy, which served to prepare the military coup against President Allende. During the military coup of September 11, 1973, he was with the commander of the First Marine Zone (Primera Zona Naval) , Vice Admiral José Toribio Merino, at the Valparaíso naval base , from there to command the use of the naval units in the coup.

Foreign Minister, UN Ambassador and University Rector

One day after the successful military coup, on September 12, 1973, Huerta succeeded Clodomiro Almeyda Medina as Foreign Minister (Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores) of the ruling military junta (Junta Militar de Gobierno) . On September 17, 1973 he was also promoted to Vice Admiral. During his tenure as Foreign Minister he took part in the General Assembly of the United Nations and declared the end of Plan Zeta , President Allende's Marxist government program. In February 1974, he met in Mexico City with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger together. Because of the poor reputation of the military junta abroad, he was replaced on July 11, 1974 by Patricio Carvajal Prado as Foreign Minister.

Almost three weeks later, on July 30, 1974, he was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations in New York City, where he succeeded James Holger Blair. He stayed on this diplomatic post for almost three years and was then replaced by Sergio Diez Urzúa on May 16, 1977 . Two years later, on June 2, 1977, he also retired from active military service.

Then Huerta was first assistant rector in August 1977 and then on September 14, 1977 rector of the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María . He held this position until his resignation for health reasons on May 17, 1984. He also served temporarily as director of the steel production company CAP (Compañía de Acero del Pacífico)

Huerta was married to Guillermina Wallace Dunsmore Aird. The couple had children Ismael Guillermo, María Bernardita, Jorge Andrés and Mina Eugenia.

Publications

  • Elementos de Física Moderna , 1948
  • Volveria a Ser Marino , 1988

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bernardita Huerta Dunsmore: Almirante Ismael Huerta Lira y Batalla de Cornonel. On: el11deungranmes.blogspot.de, June 21, 2011. The author is a daughter of Ismael Huerta.
  2. ↑ List of Chilean Foreign Ministers (rulers.org)
personal data
SURNAME Huerta, Ishmael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Huerta Díaz, Ishmael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chilean vice admiral and politician
DATE OF BIRTH October 13, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Talcahuano
DATE OF DEATH June 9, 1997