Sebastián Piñera
Encyclopedia
Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (miˈɣel ˈxwan seβasˈtjan piˈɲeɾa etʃeˈnike; born December 1, 1949) is a Chilean businessman and politician. He was elected President of Chile
in January 2010, taking office in March 2010.
where his father was the Chilean ambassador to the United Nations. Piñera returned to Chile in 1955 and was enrolled in the Colegio del Verbo Divino
("Divine Word College"), from which he graduated in 1967.'
Piñera then matriculated at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
to undertake his undergraduate degree in Business and Administration, from which he graduated in 1971. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Raúl Iver Oxley Prize which is given to the best overall student of each class.
Piñera continued on to study at Harvard University
on a partial Fulbright Program
for his postgraduate studies in economics. During his time at Harvard, Piñera and a classmate co-authored an article titled, "The Old South's Stake in the Inter-Regional Movement of Slaves" for the Journal of Economic History. After three years at Harvard, Piñera graduated with both a M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics.
and Adolfo Ibáñez University. In 1971, he was professor of Economic Political Theory in the School of Economics at the University of Chile and in 1972, was a professor at the Valparaiso Business School.
In 1993, Piñera created the foundation Fundación Futuro, of which he is 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. The foundation’s mission is to help in Chile’s development of justice, freedom and democracy.' The foundation was renamed to Fundación Cultura y Sociedad following Piñera's presidential election win.'
Under the Fundación Cultura y Sociedad (formerly Fundación Futuro) the Grupo Tantauco is created with the mission of environmentalism
, and is administered by Juan Carlos Urquidi. It was created to support the proposals brought forth by Piñera, which he plans to make effective during his presidency.' In 2005, Piñera created Tantauco Park
(Spanish: Parque Tantauco) a 1,180 km2 (456 sq mi) private natural reserve which he bought and owns 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.
An additional project titled Grupo Tantauco: Derechos Humanos was proposed with the hope of beginning a reconciliation between the Chilean people who suffered human rights violations during Augusto Pinochet
's dictatorship.'
, a terrestrial television
channel broadcasting nationwide. He also owned 27% of LAN Airlines
(LAN) and held 13% of Colo-Colo
, a football (soccer) club; among other minor stock positions in companies such as Quiñenco, Enersis
, and Soquimich. To avoid a conflict of interests, during 2010, he sold Chilevisión, which was acquired by Time Warner
. He also sold his shares of LAN in several rounds between February and March 2010, as well as his participation in Colo-Colo.
Piñera has built an estimated fortune of $US
2.4 billion , according to Forbes
magazine. His wealth is greatly due to his involvement in introducing credit card
s to Chile in the late 1970s and his subsequent investments, mainly in LAN Airlines
stock. Piñera acquired shares of the formerly state-owned company from Scandinavian Airlines in 1994, as part of a joint venture with the Cueto family.
In 1982, an arrest warrant was issued against Piñera. He was accused of violating the Banking Law during his time as general manager of the Bank of Talca. Piñera spent 24 days in hiding, while his lawyers appealed the order. A writ of habeas corpus was first rejected by the Appeals Court, but then approved by the Supreme Court, acquitting Piñera.
In July 2007, Piñera was fined approximately 680,000 USD by Chile's securities regulator (SVS) for not withdrawing a purchase order after receiving privileged information (an infraction similar to insider trading
) of LAN Airlines stock in mid-2006.' Piñera denied any wrongdoing and asserted that the whole process was part of a political attack to damage his image. He did not appeal, stating that the court process could take years and interfere with his intention to run again for president in late 2009. Later that month, he resigned from the boards of LAN and Quintec.'
Sebastian Piñera's personal wealth has increased over US$200.000.000 during his first year as President of Chile.
on whether Augusto Pinochet
should stay on power until 1997. In 1988 as Pinochet had lost the referendum and Chile was returning to democracy
Piñera offered his support for the Christian Democrat
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
in his pre-candidacy for president. Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle was the son of former president Eduardo Frei Montalva
whom had together with Piñera's father founded the Christian Democrat Party of Chile and had been appointed ambassador by Frei Montalva. However, in 1989 Sebastián Piñera headed the presidential campaign of Hernán Büchi
, a former finance minister of the Pinochet government. During the same election process, Piñera was elected as Senator for East Santiago (1990–1998) and soon after, joined the center-right National Renewal
Party. During his term as Senator he was a member of the Senate Finance Committee.
In 1992 Piñera's attempt to become his party's candidate for the following year's Presidential election
dramatically ended after he was involved in a scandal known as Piñeragate, wherein a wiretapped conversation between himself and a friend was revealed during a political television show he attended. In the conversation—made public by the television station's owner, Ricardo Claro—he conspired to have his rival for the party's nomination, Evelyn Matthei
, cornered during the show by a journalist close to Piñera. The tape was then revealed to have been illegally recorded by a member of the military and given to Matthei, who then gave it to Claro. Matthei stepped down from the presidential race as well.
In 1998, Piñera opposed the arrest and detention of Augusto Pinochet
, in London, initiated by Baltasar Garzón
, arguing that it was an attack on the sovereignty and dignity of Chile
.
Piñera was president of his party from 2001 to 2004. He tried to run for Senator in 2001, but resigned his campaign after the presidential candidate of his alliance -and member of the allied party, the Independent Democrat Union
(UDI)-, Joaquín Lavín
made it clear he would not support candidates from Piñera's party, insisting on supporting retired Admiral
Jorge Arancibia instead.
On May 14, 2005, in a surprise move Piñera announced his candidacy for the 2005 presidential election (RN was supposed to support UDI's Lavín.) He has described his political philosophy as Christian humanism
. In the first round of the election, on December 11, he obtained 25.4% of the vote, which placed him in second place. Since no candidate achieved an absolute majority, a runoff election
was held on January 15, 2006, between himself and Michelle Bachelet
of the governing coalition. Bachelet won the presidency with over 53% of the vote.
, Marco Enríquez-Ominami
and Jorge Arrate
; all of whom are left-of-center candidates. In the election of December 13, 2009, Piñera placed first in the results by obtaining 44.05% of the votes, while Frei placed second by obtaining 29.6% of the votes. Neither candidate received more than half of the total votes; therefore, according to the Constitution, Chileans returned to the polls for a final run-off election on Sunday, January 17, 2010.
On the evening that day, the third and final preliminary results were announced by the Deputy Interior Ministry
. These showing accounted for 99.77% of the total ballot boxes. Of the votes, Piñera received 51.61% and Frei received 48.39%.' Eduardo Frei conceded after the first preliminary results, making Sebastián Piñera the new President-elect of Chile. Further results were released by the Chilean Electoral Service on January 25, 2010. Official and final results sanctioned by the Election Qualifying Court were published on the Official Gazette on February 1, 2010.
Piñera's invested an estimated 13.6 millions USD on his Presidential campaign, which included items such as a campaign anthem and "Thank You" banners. Piñera's banners and billboards have carried statements throughout the country such as "Delinquents, your party is over," and "Small businesses, Big opportunities". Also, Piñera's campaign made a cutting-edge move for a right-wing candidate, releasing a national TV spot featuring a male gay
couple, something never seen before in a presidential campaign run in Chile. Amongst his promises are increasing education rates and improving international relations with the neighboring country of Perú.
Piñera's victory meant a shift towards the right, breaking two-decades of center-left political leadership and becoming the first elected right-wing leader in 52 years.'
On January 28, Piñera renounced his political affiliation to National Renewal, becoming unofficially an independent
. Within the party bylaws, it is stipulated that members who are elected to the presidency must renounce their association in order to govern the country fairly, foremost with the interest of the people, not with the interest of a political party or particular political philosophy.'
. Piñera has placed 400 million USD in blind trust
s. '
The Monday following Piñera's election, expectations of sale from his largest holdings created a surge in trade of Axxion and LAN shares, causing three brief suspensions (January 19–20, 22, 2010) in the Santiago Stock Exchange
in order to ease trade. Axxion shares more than tripled before falling 39% on Friday, January 22.' Bachelet's Finance Minister Andrés Velasco urged Piñera to get the sale "sorted out quickly."' The value of Piñera's interest in Axxion was estimated at 700 million dollars USD, of his 1.2 billion dollar USD fortune at the beginning of that week'.
On February 5, Piñera confirmed plans to sell his 26.3% stake in LAN airlines at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting
for his main holding company, Axxion. Under the pact, Axxion shareholders have agreed to fix the price of the sale, estimated at 1.5 billion USD. The Cueto family, who at that point held 25.5% of LAN through their holding company Costa Verde Aeronáutica, had the first option to purchase the stake.' On February 18, Axxion posted a statement on their website confirming the sale of a 21.18% stake in LAN Airlines to the Cueto family for 1.23 billion USD. Announcement regarding the sale of the remaining shares was pending until March 2010, when the whole package left Piñera's hands.'
Piñera sold his 9.7% stake in the upscale private hospital Clinica Las Condes at a price of 25,113 CLP
per share (48.00 USD) through his holding company Bancard on Tuesday, February 16. The total sale of the 792,000 shares grossed
37.85 million USD and was purchased by the brokerage firm Celfin.' The proceeds from the sale will go to paying off Bancard debt.'
Piñera announced on February he had the intention to transfer 100% of his stake in Chilevisión
to a non-for-profit organization called Fundación Cultura y Sociedad (formerly Fundación Futuro), of which he is owner.' The foundation's board will include some of the station's current executives. Under that proposal, Piñera maintains the right to remove and replace the foundation's president at any given time.' Cristián Larroulet, current Minister of the Secretariat of the Presidency of Chile, stated that Piñera was honouring his promise of removing himself from private corporations, as Chilevision will become the property of a non-profit organization
. MP
Cristián Monckeberg (RN
), stated there is no law obligating Piñera to do otherwise and thus this decision is legally legitimate.'. The option above finally did not take place, Piñera decided to sell the TV station, and after a failed attempt in May 2010 with the Linzor Capital investment fund, the President announced it sold Chilevisión to Time Warner
, in late August 2010.
Piñera said he won't sell his 12.5% stake in Blanco y Negro, company that owns the nation's popular soccer team Colo-Colo
. He has stated, "We want big things and not only achieve local victories. The idea is to return the Copa Libertadores to Chile. That is our great goal."' Although he will remain part owner, he will take no administrative duties or role while President.'
.'
During his first official meeting with his Council of Ministers on Wednesday, February 10, Piñera issued a formal memorandum
calling upon all members to renounce
their positions in all private companies
by the 28th of February in order to avoid conflicts of interest. The memorandum also said that in regards to national heritage
, secretaries of state whose affiliation
with companies having direct receipt of fiscal
monies must either remove themselves from those associations or honor the restrictions of their competitors.' Ten of his 22 ministers have involvement in companies with significant financial means.
in Valparaíso
. In the same ceremony, Piñera's Cabinet ministers were sworn in. The ceremony was also marked by a 6.9 Mw earthquake and subsequent aftershocks
that upset the invitees. Shortly after, the National Congress building was evacuated due to a tsunami alert that proved to be false a couple of hours later. On October 12, 2010, Piñera rallied his countrymen in the rescue of 33 trapped miners, all of whom were rescued after 70 days following a mining accident
. "Chile will never be the same," he said to the miner's foreman, Luis Urzúa, as he (the last of the miners to emerge from the cavern) greeted Piñera, in a broadcast carried live across the globe. Despite much goodwill in Chile following this many Chileans are still waiting on Piñera to rectify anti-terrorism laws in Chile which effectively mean the indigenous Mapuche people can be dealt with as "terrorists." This matter has led to hunger strikes which started before the mining disaster, and are set to continue afterwards.
In January 2011 he faced the protest in Magallanes Region
in response to proposed increase in the price of the natural gas by 16.8% in that region. The protests left more than two thousand cars isolated while trying to cross from the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego
to the province of Santa Cruz through Chilean territory. Another 1,500 tourists were left without movement in Torres del Paine National Park
after routes to Puerto Natales and El Calafate were cut. As concequence, on January 14, the Minister Secretary General of Government Ena von Baer
announced changes in Sebastián Piñera's Government cabinet, including the resignment of Ricardo Raineri
as Energy Minister. Laurence Golborne
became Mining
and Energy Minister, on January 16.
Amidst the severe 2011 Chilean student protests Piñera shuffled his cabinet and removed Joaquín Lavín
from the post of minister of education. With respect to the protest, Piñera has defended for-profit activity in education and proposed to legalize it, rejecting the students demands for the public ownership of educational establishments. As of August 2011, Piñera's public approval has declined precipitously amidst continuous protests, to the extent that polls indicate that he is the least popular Chilean leader since Augusto Pinochet. As such, Piñera's chances of passing sought reforms are seen as increasingly remote.
Sebastian Pinera is currently the worst evaluated president in the history of Chile, including the dictatorship (1973-1990), in terms of credibility and population trust. His approval is as low as 22% by the Chilean population according to CERC survey.
President of Chile
The President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...
in January 2010, taking office in March 2010.
Education
One year after his birth, Piñera's family moved abroad to Belgium and later to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where his father was the Chilean ambassador to the United Nations. Piñera returned to Chile in 1955 and was enrolled in the Colegio del Verbo Divino
Colegio del Verbo Divino
Colegio del Verbo Divino is an institution of learning in Chile catering to grades from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade . It was founded in 1950 by the Congregación del Verbo Divino , which continues administration of the school to present-day...
("Divine Word College"), from which he graduated in 1967.'
Piñera then matriculated at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two Pontifical Universities in the country, along with the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. It is also one of Chile's oldest universities and...
to undertake his undergraduate degree in Business and Administration, from which he graduated in 1971. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Raúl Iver Oxley Prize which is given to the best overall student of each class.
Piñera continued on to study at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
on a partial Fulbright Program
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
for his postgraduate studies in economics. During his time at Harvard, Piñera and a classmate co-authored an article titled, "The Old South's Stake in the Inter-Regional Movement of Slaves" for the Journal of Economic History. After three years at Harvard, Piñera graduated with both a M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics.
Teaching career
Once graduated, Piñera was an educator from 1971 until 1988. He was Professor of Economics at the University of Chile, the Pontifical Catholic University of ChilePontifical Catholic University of Chile
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two Pontifical Universities in the country, along with the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. It is also one of Chile's oldest universities and...
and Adolfo Ibáñez University. In 1971, he was professor of Economic Political Theory in the School of Economics at the University of Chile and in 1972, was a professor at the Valparaiso Business School.
Foundations
In 1989, accompanied by 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.'In 1993, Piñera created the foundation Fundación Futuro, of which he is 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. The foundation’s mission is to help in Chile’s development of justice, freedom and democracy.' The foundation was renamed to Fundación Cultura y Sociedad following Piñera's presidential election win.'
Under the Fundación Cultura y Sociedad (formerly Fundación Futuro) the Grupo Tantauco is created with the mission of environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
, and is administered by Juan Carlos Urquidi. It was created to support the proposals brought forth by Piñera, which he plans to make effective during his presidency.' In 2005, Piñera created Tantauco Park
Tantauco Park
Tantauco Park is a private natural reserve on the south end of Chiloé Island in Chile. The park was created by Chilean business magnate and President of Chile Sebastián Piñera in 2005 in order to protect 118,000 hectares of the region's unique ecosystem...
(Spanish: Parque Tantauco) a 1,180 km2 (456 sq mi) private natural reserve which he bought and owns 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.
An additional project titled Grupo Tantauco: Derechos Humanos was proposed with the hope of beginning a reconciliation between the Chilean people who suffered human rights violations during Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
's dictatorship.'
Businesses
Prior to becoming President, Piñera owned 100% of ChilevisiónChilevisión
CHV, also known as Chilevisión, is the third oldest television station in Chile. Formerly called Teleonce and RTU , this TV station was owned by University of Chile, a Chilean state university...
, a terrestrial television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
channel broadcasting nationwide. He also owned 27% of LAN Airlines
LAN Airlines
LAN Airlines S.A. is an airline based in Santiago, Chile. LAN is currently positioned amongst the largest airlines in Latin America, serving Latin America, United States, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Europe. It is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance...
(LAN) and held 13% of Colo-Colo
Colo-Colo
Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo is a Chilean football club based in the commune of Macul, Santiago. It competes in the Primera División, the top-flight football league in the country, from which they have never been relegated. Their home ground is the Estadio Monumental David Arellano.Colo-Colo...
, a football (soccer) club; among other minor stock positions in companies such as Quiñenco, Enersis
Enersis
Enersis is one of the main privately-owned multinational electric power corporations in Latin America. It currently holds direct and indirect participation in electric power generation, transmission, and distribution businesses...
, and Soquimich. To avoid a conflict of interests, during 2010, he sold Chilevisión, which was acquired by Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
. He also sold his shares of LAN in several rounds between February and March 2010, as well as his participation in Colo-Colo.
Piñera has built an estimated fortune of $US
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2.4 billion , according to Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
magazine. His wealth is greatly due to his involvement in introducing credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
s to Chile in the late 1970s and his subsequent investments, mainly in LAN Airlines
LAN Airlines
LAN Airlines S.A. is an airline based in Santiago, Chile. LAN is currently positioned amongst the largest airlines in Latin America, serving Latin America, United States, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Europe. It is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance...
stock. Piñera acquired shares of the formerly state-owned company from Scandinavian Airlines in 1994, as part of a joint venture with the Cueto family.
In 1982, an arrest warrant was issued against Piñera. He was accused of violating the Banking Law during his time as general manager of the Bank of Talca. Piñera spent 24 days in hiding, while his lawyers appealed the order. A writ of habeas corpus was first rejected by the Appeals Court, but then approved by the Supreme Court, acquitting Piñera.
In July 2007, Piñera was fined approximately 680,000 USD by Chile's securities regulator (SVS) for not withdrawing a purchase order after receiving privileged information (an infraction similar to insider trading
Insider trading
Insider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company...
) of LAN Airlines stock in mid-2006.' Piñera denied any wrongdoing and asserted that the whole process was part of a political attack to damage his image. He did not appeal, stating that the court process could take years and interfere with his intention to run again for president in late 2009. Later that month, he resigned from the boards of LAN and Quintec.'
Sebastian Piñera's personal wealth has increased over US$200.000.000 during his first year as President of Chile.
Political career
Piñera declared he voted No in the 1988 plebisciteChilean national plebiscite, 1988
The 1988 Chilean national plebiscite was a national referendum held to determine whether or not dictator Augusto Pinochet would extend his rule for another eight-year term in office. It was held on October 5, 1988...
on whether Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
should stay on power until 1997. In 1988 as Pinochet had lost the referendum and Chile was returning to democracy
Chilean transition to democracy
The Chilean transition to democracy began when a Constitution establishing a transition itinerary was approved in a plebiscite. From March 11, 1981 to March 11, 1990, several organic constitutional laws were approved leading to the final restoration of democracy...
Piñera offered his support for the Christian Democrat
Christian Democrat Party of Chile
The Christian Democratic Party is a political party in Chile and governs as part of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. In the 2009 election it won 19 congress seats and 9 senate seats....
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Eduardo Alfredo Juan Bernardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle is a Chilean politician and civil engineer who was President of Chile from 1994 to 2000. He is currently Senator for Los Ríos and was President of the Senate from 2006 to 2008. He attempted a comeback as the candidate of the ruling Concertación...
in his pre-candidacy for president. Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle was the son of former president Eduardo Frei Montalva
Eduardo Frei Montalva
Eduardo Frei Montalva was a Chilean political leader of world stature. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party, senator, President of the Senate, and president of Chile from 1964 to 1970...
whom had together with Piñera's father founded the Christian Democrat Party of Chile and had been appointed ambassador by Frei Montalva. However, in 1989 Sebastián Piñera headed the presidential campaign of Hernán Büchi
Hernán Büchi
Hernán Büchi Buc is a Chilean economist and politician. He served as Minister of the Treasury under the government of Augusto Pinochet between 1985 and 1989.After the recession of the early 1980s, Büchi's appointment as Finance Minister in 1985:...
, a former finance minister of the Pinochet government. During the same election process, Piñera was elected as Senator for East Santiago (1990–1998) and soon after, joined the center-right National Renewal
National Renewal (Chile)
National Renewal , is a liberal conservative political party belonging to the Chilean right-wing political coalition Coalition for Change in conjunction with the Independent Democratic Union and the Chile First movement...
Party. During his term as Senator he was a member of the Senate Finance Committee.
In 1992 Piñera's attempt to become his party's candidate for the following year's Presidential election
Chilean presidential election, 1993
A presidential election was held in Chile on December 11, 1993. Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, son of former president Eduardo Frei Montalva, won the election by absolute majority.-Results:Source: ....
dramatically ended after he was involved in a scandal known as Piñeragate, wherein a wiretapped conversation between himself and a friend was revealed during a political television show he attended. In the conversation—made public by the television station's owner, Ricardo Claro—he conspired to have his rival for the party's nomination, Evelyn Matthei
Evelyn Matthei
Evelyn Rose Matthei Fornet is a Chilean economist and politician.Matthei entered Chilean politics in the late '80s and early '90s, as part of the National Renewal party's youth group called Patrulla Juvenil, along the future President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, and future fellow senator and...
, cornered during the show by a journalist close to Piñera. The tape was then revealed to have been illegally recorded by a member of the military and given to Matthei, who then gave it to Claro. Matthei stepped down from the presidential race as well.
In 1998, Piñera opposed the arrest and detention of Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
, in London, initiated by Baltasar Garzón
Baltasar Garzón
Baltasar Garzón Real is a Spanish jurist who served on Spain's central criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional. He was the examining magistrate of the Juzgado Central de Instrucción No...
, arguing that it was an attack on the sovereignty and dignity of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
Piñera was president of his party from 2001 to 2004. He tried to run for Senator in 2001, but resigned his campaign after the presidential candidate of his alliance -and member of the allied party, the Independent Democrat Union
Independent Democrat Union
The Independent Democrat Union is a Chilean right-wing, conservative political party, founded in 1983. Its main inspirer was the lawyer, politician and law professor Jaime Guzmán, a former senator of the Republic of Chile from 1990 until his assassination on April 1, 1991.Its ideological origins...
(UDI)-, Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín José Lavín Infante is a Chilean politician and economist. He is a member of the Independent Democrat Union party and former mayor of Santiago and Las Condes municipalities of capital Santiago...
made it clear he would not support candidates from Piñera's party, insisting on supporting retired Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Jorge Arancibia instead.
On May 14, 2005, in a surprise move Piñera announced his candidacy for the 2005 presidential election (RN was supposed to support UDI's Lavín.) He has described his political philosophy as Christian humanism
Christian humanism
Christian humanism is the position that universal human dignity and individual freedom are essential and principal components of, or are at least compatible with, Christian doctrine and practice. It is a philosophical union of Christian and humanist principles.- Origins :Christian humanism may have...
. In the first round of the election, on December 11, he obtained 25.4% of the vote, which placed him in second place. Since no candidate achieved an absolute majority, a runoff election
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
was held on January 15, 2006, between himself and Michelle Bachelet
Michelle Bachelet
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Social Democrat politician who was President of Chile from 11 March 2006 to 11 March 2010. She was the first woman president of her country...
of the governing coalition. Bachelet won the presidency with over 53% of the vote.
Presidential elections of 2009–2010
Piñera ran for President of Chile in the 2009-2010 election. Since August 2009, he led in opinion polls, competing with Eduardo Frei Ruiz-TagleEduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Eduardo Alfredo Juan Bernardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle is a Chilean politician and civil engineer who was President of Chile from 1994 to 2000. He is currently Senator for Los Ríos and was President of the Senate from 2006 to 2008. He attempted a comeback as the candidate of the ruling Concertación...
, Marco Enríquez-Ominami
Marco Enríquez-Ominami
Marco Antonio Enríquez-Ominami Gumucio is a Chilean-French filmmaker and politician. He was elected deputy for District 10 in December 2005 as a member of the Socialist Party, but changed his political affiliation to independent before running for President of the Republic in the 2009 election...
and Jorge Arrate
Jorge Arrate
Jorge Félix Arrate Mac-Niven is a Chilean lawyer, economist, academic, writer and politician. He served as minister under President Patricio Aylwin and President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle...
; all of whom are left-of-center candidates. In the election of December 13, 2009, Piñera placed first in the results by obtaining 44.05% of the votes, while Frei placed second by obtaining 29.6% of the votes. Neither candidate received more than half of the total votes; therefore, according to the Constitution, Chileans returned to the polls for a final run-off election on Sunday, January 17, 2010.
On the evening that day, the third and final preliminary results were announced by the Deputy Interior Ministry
Ministry of the Interior (Chile)
The Ministry of the Interior and Public Security is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of "maintaining public order, security and social peace" within Chile. It is also charged with planning, directing, coordinating, executing, controlling, and informing the domestic policies...
. These showing accounted for 99.77% of the total ballot boxes. Of the votes, Piñera received 51.61% and Frei received 48.39%.' Eduardo Frei conceded after the first preliminary results, making Sebastián Piñera the new President-elect of Chile. Further results were released by the Chilean Electoral Service on January 25, 2010. Official and final results sanctioned by the Election Qualifying Court were published on the Official Gazette on February 1, 2010.
Piñera's invested an estimated 13.6 millions USD on his Presidential campaign, which included items such as a campaign anthem and "Thank You" banners. Piñera's banners and billboards have carried statements throughout the country such as "Delinquents, your party is over," and "Small businesses, Big opportunities". Also, Piñera's campaign made a cutting-edge move for a right-wing candidate, releasing a national TV spot featuring a male gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
couple, something never seen before in a presidential campaign run in Chile. Amongst his promises are increasing education rates and improving international relations with the neighboring country of Perú.
Piñera's victory meant a shift towards the right, breaking two-decades of center-left political leadership and becoming the first elected right-wing leader in 52 years.'
On January 28, Piñera renounced his political affiliation to National Renewal, becoming unofficially an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
. Within the party bylaws, it is stipulated that members who are elected to the presidency must renounce their association in order to govern the country fairly, foremost with the interest of the people, not with the interest of a political party or particular political philosophy.'
President-elect
Private to public transition
Piñera became the first billionaire to be sworn into the Chilean Presidency. He offered to sell his shares in major corporations before being sworn in on March 11, 2010, in order to avoid conflicts of interestConflicts of Interest
"Conflicts of Interest" is an episode from the fourth season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5.-Arc significance:* Garibaldi begins to work for William Edgars. In the process Garibaldi is reintroduced to his ex-girlfriend, Lise, who is currently married to Edgars.* The "Voice of...
. Piñera has placed 400 million USD in blind trust
Blind trust
A blind trust is a trust in which the fiduciaries, namely the trustees or those who have been given power of attorney, have full discretion over the assets, and the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust and no right to intervene in their handling...
s. '
The Monday following Piñera's election, expectations of sale from his largest holdings created a surge in trade of Axxion and LAN shares, causing three brief suspensions (January 19–20, 22, 2010) in the Santiago Stock Exchange
Santiago Stock Exchange
The Santiago Stock Exchange , founded on November 27, 1893, is Chile's dominant stock exchange.-Operations and Indices:The exchange trades in stocks, bonds, investment funds, stock options, futures, gold and silver coins minted by the Banco Central de Chile, and US dollars on Telepregon, its...
in order to ease trade. Axxion shares more than tripled before falling 39% on Friday, January 22.' Bachelet's Finance Minister Andrés Velasco urged Piñera to get the sale "sorted out quickly."' The value of Piñera's interest in Axxion was estimated at 700 million dollars USD, of his 1.2 billion dollar USD fortune at the beginning of that week'.
On February 5, Piñera confirmed plans to sell his 26.3% stake in LAN airlines at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting
Extraordinary General Meeting
An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body, which occurs at an irregular time. The term is usually used where the group would ordinarily hold an annual general meeting , but...
for his main holding company, Axxion. Under the pact, Axxion shareholders have agreed to fix the price of the sale, estimated at 1.5 billion USD. The Cueto family, who at that point held 25.5% of LAN through their holding company Costa Verde Aeronáutica, had the first option to purchase the stake.' On February 18, Axxion posted a statement on their website confirming the sale of a 21.18% stake in LAN Airlines to the Cueto family for 1.23 billion USD. Announcement regarding the sale of the remaining shares was pending until March 2010, when the whole package left Piñera's hands.'
Piñera sold his 9.7% stake in the upscale private hospital Clinica Las Condes at a price of 25,113 CLP
Chilean peso
The peso is the currency of Chile. The current peso has circulated since 1975, with a previous version circulating between 1817 and 1960. The symbol used locally for it is $. The ISO 4217 code for the present peso is CLP. It is subdivided into 100 centavos, although no centavo denominated coins...
per share (48.00 USD) through his holding company Bancard on Tuesday, February 16. The total sale of the 792,000 shares grossed
Gross (economics)
In economics, gross means before deductions. The antonym is net, meaning after deductions.-Usage:In this sense, it may appear an adjective, following the noun it modifies, e.g., "earned two million dollars, gross"...
37.85 million USD and was purchased by the brokerage firm Celfin.' The proceeds from the sale will go to paying off Bancard debt.'
Piñera announced on February he had the intention to transfer 100% of his stake in Chilevisión
Chilevisión
CHV, also known as Chilevisión, is the third oldest television station in Chile. Formerly called Teleonce and RTU , this TV station was owned by University of Chile, a Chilean state university...
to a non-for-profit organization called Fundación Cultura y Sociedad (formerly Fundación Futuro), of which he is owner.' The foundation's board will include some of the station's current executives. Under that proposal, Piñera maintains the right to remove and replace the foundation's president at any given time.' Cristián Larroulet, current Minister of the Secretariat of the Presidency of Chile, stated that Piñera was honouring his promise of removing himself from private corporations, as Chilevision will become the property of a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
. MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Cristián Monckeberg (RN
National Renewal (Chile)
National Renewal , is a liberal conservative political party belonging to the Chilean right-wing political coalition Coalition for Change in conjunction with the Independent Democratic Union and the Chile First movement...
), stated there is no law obligating Piñera to do otherwise and thus this decision is legally legitimate.'. The option above finally did not take place, Piñera decided to sell the TV station, and after a failed attempt in May 2010 with the Linzor Capital investment fund, the President announced it sold Chilevisión to Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, in late August 2010.
Piñera said he won't sell his 12.5% stake in Blanco y Negro, company that owns the nation's popular soccer team Colo-Colo
Colo-Colo
Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo is a Chilean football club based in the commune of Macul, Santiago. It competes in the Primera División, the top-flight football league in the country, from which they have never been relegated. Their home ground is the Estadio Monumental David Arellano.Colo-Colo...
. He has stated, "We want big things and not only achieve local victories. The idea is to return the Copa Libertadores to Chile. That is our great goal."' Although he will remain part owner, he will take no administrative duties or role while President.'
Council of Ministers
Piñera announced what he calls his "cabinet of unity" on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, at 18:00 hours (local time), in Chile's National Historical Museum. The list of names was presented the previous day to the leader of the National Renewal Party, Carlos Larraín, and the leader of the Independent Democratic Union, Juan Antonio Coloma. The cabinet is made up of 16 men and 6 women, with an average age of 49. Amongst Piñera's nominees is Jaime Ravinet, who is defense minister of the current president's cabinet and a former member of the Christian Democratic Party, from which he resigned upon accepting Piñera's cabinet offer. Also a nominee is Cristián Larroulet, who was an economic planning adviser under PinochetAugusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
.'
During his first official meeting with his Council of Ministers on Wednesday, February 10, Piñera issued a formal memorandum
Memorandum
A memorandum is from the Latin verbal phrase memorandum est, the gerundive form of the verb memoro, "to mention, call to mind, recount, relate", which means "It must be remembered ..."...
calling upon all members to renounce
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
their positions in all private companies
Privately held company
A privately held company or close corporation is a business company owned either by non-governmental organizations or by a relatively small number of shareholders or company members which does not offer or trade its company stock to the general public on the stock market exchanges, but rather the...
by the 28th of February in order to avoid conflicts of interest. The memorandum also said that in regards to national heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
, secretaries of state whose affiliation
Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
with companies having direct receipt of fiscal
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
monies must either remove themselves from those associations or honor the restrictions of their competitors.' Ten of his 22 ministers have involvement in companies with significant financial means.
Presidency
Piñera was sworn in as the 35th President of the Republic of Chile on March 11, 2010, in a ceremony held in a plenary session of the National CongressNational Congress of Chile
The National Congress is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Chile.The National Congress of Chile was founded on July 4, 1811...
in Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
. In the same ceremony, Piñera's Cabinet ministers were sworn in. The ceremony was also marked by a 6.9 Mw earthquake and subsequent aftershocks
2010 Pichilemu earthquake
The 2010 Pichilemu earthquake , also known as the Libertador O'Higgins earthquake, was a 6.9 MW earthquake that struck Chile's O'Higgins Region on 11 March 2010 at 11:39 local time...
that upset the invitees. Shortly after, the National Congress building was evacuated due to a tsunami alert that proved to be false a couple of hours later. On October 12, 2010, Piñera rallied his countrymen in the rescue of 33 trapped miners, all of whom were rescued after 70 days following a mining accident
2010 Copiapó mining accident
The 2010 Copiapó mining accident, also known as the "Chilean mining accident", began in the afternoon of Thursday, 5 August 2010 as a significant cave-in at the troubled 121-year-old San José copper–gold mine. The mine is located deep in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest and harshest...
. "Chile will never be the same," he said to the miner's foreman, Luis Urzúa, as he (the last of the miners to emerge from the cavern) greeted Piñera, in a broadcast carried live across the globe. Despite much goodwill in Chile following this many Chileans are still waiting on Piñera to rectify anti-terrorism laws in Chile which effectively mean the indigenous Mapuche people can be dealt with as "terrorists." This matter has led to hunger strikes which started before the mining disaster, and are set to continue afterwards.
In January 2011 he faced the protest in Magallanes Region
2011 Magallanes protests
The 2011 Magallanes protests were a series of protests provoked by the rising of natural gas prices in the Chilean region of Magallanes, in January 2011...
in response to proposed increase in the price of the natural gas by 16.8% in that region. The protests left more than two thousand cars isolated while trying to cross from the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina)
Tierra del Fuego is an Argentine province entirely separated from mainland Argentina by the Strait of Magellan. It includes:* The eastern part of the Isla Grande of Tierra del Fuego archipelago and the Staten Island.* Argentina's claims to the Falkland Islands and to...
to the province of Santa Cruz through Chilean territory. Another 1,500 tourists were left without movement in Torres del Paine National Park
Torres del Paine National Park
Torres del Paine National Park is a national park encompassing mountains, a glacier, a lake, and river-rich areas in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. It lies in a transition area between the Magellanic subpolar forests and the Patagonian Steppes...
after routes to Puerto Natales and El Calafate were cut. As concequence, on January 14, the Minister Secretary General of Government Ena von Baer
Ena von Baer
Ena Anglein von Baer Jahn is a Chilean journalist, political scientist and current senator.In December 2009, von Baer lost a very tight race for a seat in the Senate. In March 2010 she became Ministry General Secretariat of Government...
announced changes in Sebastián Piñera's Government cabinet, including the resignment of Ricardo Raineri
Ricardo Raineri
Ricardo Jorge Raineri Bernain is an economist, academic, researcher, consultant, and politician. On February 9, 2010, Chile's current President Sebastián Piñera nominated him to the Ministry of Energy.-Biography:...
as Energy Minister. Laurence Golborne
Laurence Golborne
Laurence Nelson Golborne Riveros is a Chilean engineer and entrepreneur. He is the current Mining Minister and Energy Minister in the administration of President Sebastián Piñera.- Family and education :...
became Mining
Ministry of Mining (Chile)
The Ministry of Mining is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of matters related to mining in Chile.The mining sector contributed 16.4% of Chile's gross domestic product in 2009, 14,157 billion pesos, mostly from copper mining....
and Energy Minister, on January 16.
Amidst the severe 2011 Chilean student protests Piñera shuffled his cabinet and removed Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín José Lavín Infante is a Chilean politician and economist. He is a member of the Independent Democrat Union party and former mayor of Santiago and Las Condes municipalities of capital Santiago...
from the post of minister of education. With respect to the protest, Piñera has defended for-profit activity in education and proposed to legalize it, rejecting the students demands for the public ownership of educational establishments. As of August 2011, Piñera's public approval has declined precipitously amidst continuous protests, to the extent that polls indicate that he is the least popular Chilean leader since Augusto Pinochet. As such, Piñera's chances of passing sought reforms are seen as increasingly remote.
Sebastian Pinera is currently the worst evaluated president in the history of Chile, including the dictatorship (1973-1990), in terms of credibility and population trust. His approval is as low as 22% by the Chilean population according to CERC survey.