Born in to a middle-class family, he studied law at the University of Chile and settled in Santiago after completing his studies as a lawyer. In 1931 he was exiled to Easter Island by dictator Carlos Ibáñez del Campo for his leftist political activity. After Ibáñez's fall later that year, he was able to return to the Santiago and co-founded the socialist Nueva Acción Pública (New Public Action), with Colonel Marmaduke Grove, among others.[2]
In June 1932, he was involved in the coup that ended the reign of President Juan Esteban Montero. After the coup, he became a member of the Government Junta which proclaimed the Socialist Republic of Chile (República Socialista de Chile) on June 4, 1932. Within the junta, disagreements soon arose between moderate and radical forces, with Matte and Grove clearly belonging to the latter group. The moderate socialist Carlos Dávila, on June 16 with the cooperation of several officers, organized a new coup d'état and had radical junta members, including Matte and Grove, interned on Easter Island. After the fall of the government of President Dávila in September 1932, the transitional regime called elections. Matte, who has since returned from his place of exile, was the only member of the Nueva Acción Pública to be elected to the Senate in those elections.[3]
On April 19, he was one of the founders of the Partido Socialista (Socialist Party). This new socialist party was an association of four socialist groups, including the NAP.[2]
Matte died in 1934 at the age of 38 from a lung disease. His seat in the Senate was filled by Marmaduke Grove.
