Sebastián Piñera
Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique[b] (Spanish: [miˈɣel ˈxwan seβasˈtjam piˈɲeɾa etʃeˈnike] ; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean businessman and politician who served as president of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022. The son of a Christian Democratic politician and diplomat, he studied business administration at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and economics at Harvard University. At the time of his death, he had an estimated net worth of US$2.7 billion, according to Forbes, making him the third richest person in Chile and the 1177th richest person in the world.[1][2]
Sebastián Piñera
Michelle Bachelet
Michelle Bachelet
Position established
Alberto Cardemil
Sergio Díez
Position established
Carlos Bombal
6 February 2024 (aged 74)
Lake Ranco, Los Ríos Region, Chile
National Renewal (1989–2010)[a]
Independent (2010–2024)
Coalition for Change (2009–2013)
Chile Vamos (2015–2024)
4
A member of the liberal-conservative National Renewal party, he served as a senator for the East Santiago district from 1990 to 1998, running for the presidency in the 2005 election, which he lost to Michelle Bachelet, and again, successfully, in 2010. As a result, he became Chile's first conservative president to be democratically elected since 1958,[3] and the first to hold the office since the departure of Augusto Pinochet in 1990.[4]
The legacy of Piñera's two administrations include the reconstruction following the 2010 Chile earthquake, the rescue of 33 trapped miners in 2010, a rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the legalization of same-sex marriage in Chile in 2021–2022.[5][6] After leaving office in 2022 Piñera developed amicable relations with the new left-wing president Gabriel Boric, who had previously been a harsh critic of him.[7][8] Piñera died in a helicopter crash on Lake Ranco on 6 February 2024 at age 74. Piñera's supporters form a cross-party centre-right and right-wing faction called Piñerism.[9]
Career[edit]
Teaching[edit]
Piñera was an economics lecturer from 1971 until 1988 at the University of Chile, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and Adolfo Ibáñez University. In 1971, he was in charge of Economic Political Theory in the School of Economics at the University of Chile, and in 1972, at the Valparaiso Business School.[20]
Foundations[edit]
In 1989, with Cecilia Morel, Danica Radic, and Paula Délano, Piñera created the Enterprising Women Foundation (Fundación Mujer Emprende), originally called The House of Youth (La Casa de la Juventud). The foundation aims to assist in the development of young women of lower income.[21]
In 1973, Piñera created the foundation Fundación Futuro, of which he was president and whose directors are Cristián Boza D., María Teresa Chadwick P., Hugo Montes B., Cecilia Morel M., Renato Poblete S.J., and Fabio Valdés C. The head director of the foundation is Magdalena Piñera.[22] The foundation's mission is to help in Chile's development of justice, freedom, and democracy.[23] The foundation was renamed Fundación Cultura y Sociedad after Piñera was elected president.[24]
Under the Fundación Cultura y Sociedad (formerly Fundación Futuro), the Grupo Tantauco has the mission of environmentalism, and is administered by Juan Carlos Urquidi. It was created to support the proposals Piñera instituted or planned to institute during his presidency.[25] In 2005, Piñera created Tantauco Park (Spanish: Parque Tantauco), a 1,180 km2 (456 sq mi) a private natural reserve he bought and owned on the south end of Chiloé Island, in order to protect 118,000 hectares of the region's unique ecosystem. His foundation runs the park, which is open to the public and is an ecotourist location.[26] Piñera bought the 118,000 hectares in Chiloé through an offshore company in Panama. He faced pressure to cede eight hectares to sixteen indigenous families whose presence pre-dates Piñera's purchase and who have spent years negotiating to obtain title to their familial lands.[27][28]
An additional project, Grupo Tantauco: Derechos Humanos, was proposed in hopes of beginning a reconciliation between the Chilean people who suffered human rights violations during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.[29]
