Of Aconcaguan roots,[1] he was born in Santiago. As a teenager, he became interested in educational issues.
He graduated from the Normal School José Abelardo Núñez in 1953. He began his professional life in the Consolidated School of Puente Alto in 1954. Later, he became a teacher at the same Normal School,[2] and eventually became national president of secondary students,[3] and later vice president of the Radical Party.
Astorga began his career as a union leader by presiding over the most important teachers' organization, the Unión de Profesores de Chile, from 1961 until his appointment as Minister of Education by President Allende on Wednesday, 4 November 1970, until the end of January 1971. He served for three consecutive terms as president of the Unión de Profesores de Chile and before finishing his third term he was appointed Minister of Education by Allende, becoming the minister who held that portfolio the longest alongside the President.
Once out of the cabinet, Astorga served as international director of a UNESCO program.
During his leadership as a union leader and later as Minister of Education, teachers benefited from significant progress for the country. At the beginning of 1971, as minister, he declared that "it corresponds to the education workers and the sectors of the community directly or indirectly interested in the Chilean educational process, to define the educational policy that our country must sustain in this new and expressive way of life." That same year, he created the Coordinating Committee of the Ministry of Education services.[4] He also organized academic teams to reform the curriculum structure with a project supporting Technical Education.[5]
In March 2003, he was forced to resign as one of the directors of the Teachers' School due to financial problems within the organization.[6] Also in that decade, he was fourth vice president and president of the Political Commission of the Executive Board of the Radical Social Democratic Party.[7]
In 2007, he was a candidate to preside over the Teachers' School.