Elías Lafertte Gaviño (December 19, 1886 – February 17, 1961)[1] was a Chilean worker in saltpeter mining and a communist politician.

He started working in a nitrate mine at the age of eleven.

A member of the board since 1923, Lafertte Gaviño was treasurer of the Federación Obrera de Chile (FOCh) trade union from 1924 to 1926, and from 1926 its general secretary (confirmed in 1931 and 1933).

During the dictatorship of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, Lafertte was arrested and banished several times (1927 to the Isla Más Afuera , 1930 to Easter Island and to the south of the country to Calbuco ,Chiloé).

From 1939 to 1961 he was chairman of the Central Committee of the Chilean Communist Party.