Sebastián Piñera Echenique was born in Santiago, Chile, on December 1, 1949. His parents are José Piñera Carvallo (1917-1991) and Magdalena Echenique Rozas (1919-2000). In 1973, he married Cecilia Morel Montes. Together they have four children and four grandchildren.
He graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile as a Commercial Engineer with a minor in Economics and also received a Masters and Doctorate degree from the University of Harvard in the United States.
He is the third of six children born to José Piñera and Magdalena Echeñique. He received a Christian, well-rounded, liberal education from his parents, emphasizing a deep sense of duty and a strong calling to public service.
In 1950, he set off along with his family to the United States, where his father had recently been appointed as a representative in the first overseas office of the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO in Spanish).
Upon his return to Chile, he enrolled in the Verbo Divino school, run by German priests. There, he coursed his elementary studies and part of high school (1955-1964). He stood out as one of the top students of his class and had an active participation in the Boy Scouts.
After President Eduardo Frei Montalva won the 1964 election, his father was appointed Ambassador to Belgium, so he moved to Europe and continued his high school curriculum at the Saint Boniface School, in Brussels. It was there that he became drenched in the spirit of the great university movements that were sweeping across Europe at the time. In 1967, when his father took over the position of Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), he returned to Verbo Divino to complete his senior year.
In 1968, he enrolled in the Economics Faculty of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Early on, he understood that this social science was a formidable tool to help improve the quality of life of the less fortunate. In 1971, he received his degree as a Commercial Engineer and was honored with the Raúl Iver award for graduating at the top of his class.
In 1973 he travelled to the United States to obtain a Doctorate in Economics at HarvardUniversity. His thesis, which earned him his doctor’s degree, was entitled: “The Economics of Education in Developing Countries: A Collection of Essays”.
During his time as a Harvard student, he met noted economists -several of whom are Nobel Prize winners-, he was an assistant professor and he began to appreciate the value of freedom and democracy, as well as the opportunities a country like the United States had to offer.
In 1973, before going to the United States, he married Cecilia Morel Montes. She graduated as a family and youth counselor at the Carlos Casanueva Institute and also holds a degree in Family and Human Relations from Universidad Mayor. They are the proud parents of Magdalena (1975), a History and Geography Teacher; Cecilia (1978), a Pediatrician; Sebastián (1982), a Commercial Engineer and Cristóbal (1984), a Psychologist.
During his spare time, he likes to be with his family and friends, enjoying all kinds of outdoor activities, sports and cuisine. He is a fervent reader with a special passion for world history.
He returned to Chile in 1976 and focused mainly on teaching. He was a professor at the Economics Faculties of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, the University of Chile, AdolfoIbañezUniversity and at the ValparaísoBusinessSchool.
During the same period, he was a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) (1974-1976), consultant for the World Bank (1975-1978) and he worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). At this last institution, he contributed actively to a macro project called “Latin American poverty map and policies for overcoming poverty”, 1976.
In 1976, he obtained representation rights in Chile for Visa and MasterCard and created Bancard S.A., granting Chileans access to this new payment and credit system. Continuing along these same lines, he participated in the creation of CMB S.A., Las Américas Real Estate Company S.A., Aconcagua Constructing Company and Los Andes Publishing House S.A. At the same time, he was the official representative in Chile of transnational giant Apple, and a few years later he became a major shareholder in companies such as Lan Chile, Chilevisión and Blanco y Negro (sports club), among others.
For the Plebiscite of October 5, 1988, he was actively involved in bringing back democracy, voting NO to continue with the Military Regime.
En 1989, along with his wife Cecilia Morel, he created, and still supports, the Mujer Emprende Foundation. The idea behind this institution is to encourage training and development for economically challenged women. (www.mujeremprende.cl)
In addition, in 1993, he created the Futuro Foundation. The driving force behind Futuro is making a contribution towards bringing culture to all Chileans. In order to achieve this goal, educational programs were created, such as “El arte se acerca a la gente” (Art approaches the people), “Yo descubro mi ciudad” (Discovering my city), “Museo a la mano” (Museum within arms reach) and “Pasantías culturales para profesores” (Cultural internships for teachers). Likewise, the foundation set in motion citywide projects like “El Mapocho navegable” (Navigable Mapocho river), “Transformación del Estero Margamar” (Transformation of the Margamar marsh) and “Estadios para Chile” (Stadiums for Chile). (www.fundacionfuturo.cl)
The Futuro Foundation has also developed environmental initiatives. In 2005, TantaucoPark was inaugurated on the southern shores of ChiloéIsland. The park spans 346,000 acres, featuring 136 miles of trails and camp sites where visitors can go hiking, fishing, bird-watching and even enjoy the migration habits of blue whales. Endangered species and ecosystems are preserved and protected within the park. Tantauco encourages sustainable ecotourism programs and carries out research to help achieve this goal. (www.parquetantauco.cl)
On top of all of the above, for many years he was an advisor to Hogar de Cristo (Christ’s Home, a local not-for profit organization) and participated in a number of pro-bono commissions. Just to name a few, he was a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Advisory Council and of the Comisión Bicentenario (Bicentennial Commission), which was created by former President Ricardo Lagos.
In 1989, he ran for senator as an independent backed by the Pacto Democracia y Progreso (Democracy and Progress Pact). He won in the 8ª Circunscripción de la Región Metropolitana (8th Voting District of the Eastern Metropolitan Region) and served during the legislative period running between 1990 and 1998. It was then that he entered the ranks of the Renovación Nacional (National Renewal) party.
During his term as senator, he was part of permanent commissions that dealt with Treasury issues, Human Rights, Healthcare, the Environment and National Assets. His concern for the environment was illustrated by the introduction of the Environment and Nature Protection Bill.
His democratic spirit was proven thanks to another Bill introduced to modify the Organic Constitutional Laws governing political parties, popular votes and tallying and municipalities. This allowed independent candidates to run head to head with party member candidates in presidential, congressional and municipal elections. He also presented a Bill that simplified the process needed to create a political party.
Another area he participated in involved a Bill regulating the judicial and ethical principles behind human reproduction, including assisted reproduction, establishing penalties for whoever violates these regulations.
He was chosen best Senator of his term by his peers along with Andrés Zaldívar, a former Senator who served during the same period.
He was President of the Renovación Nacional (National Renewal) party between 2001 and 2004. During the Renovación Nacional National Council of May 2005, he was proclaimed the party’s presidential candidate. During the presidential elections of December 2005, Sebastián Piñera obtained 25.4% of the votes, while Michelle Bachelet received 45.9%. Both candidates faced-off in a second round of elections in January, 2006, where Michelle Bachelet won with 53.5% of the total ballots. Sebastián Piñera obtained 46.5%.
Ever since then, he centered his daily agenda around three core activities: travelling across Chile listening to the needs and demands of the people; campaigning alongside the Alianza por Chile (Alliance for Chile, a group of political parties) candidates during the 2008 Municipal Elections; and, creating the “Tantauco Groups”, made up of over 1,200 professionals split into 37 working commissions devoted to research and proposing public policies for future administrations.
In May 2009, the Coalición por el Cambio (Coalition for Change) was founded. This new political alliance brought together Renovación Nacional (National Renewal) and the Unión Demócrata Independiente (Independent Democratic Union), which were part of the Alianza por Chile (Alliance for Chile), as well as newer parties, such as Chile Primero (Chile First), Humanismo Cristiano (Christian Humanism), Norte Grande (Greater North) and the Independents. This new coalition appointed Sebastián Piñera as their official candidate for the Presidency of the Republic.
The calling card of that presidential campaign was direct contact with the men and women of Chile, who were united under two slogans: “Cambio, Futuro y Esperanza” (Change, Future and Hope) and “Súmate al Cambio” (Be Part of the Change). Even though there was no law in place forcing him to do so, when he was still a presidential candidate, Sebastián Piñera handed over the administration of his participation in public corporations to four investment fund administrators, creating a Voluntary Blind Trust.
Sebastián Piñera obtained 44% of the votes in the presidential elections held on December 13, 2009, moving on to a second round along with the candidate representing the Concertación (Concert of Parties for Democracy), Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. When the ballots were tallied on January 17, 2010, Sebastián Piñera obtained 51.6% of the votes, making him the new President elect.
On March 11, 2010, at the National Congress building, Sebastián Piñera was sworn in as the 47th President of the Republic of Chile.
The government of President Piñera allowed that Chile could continue at a steady pace its progress in the construction of a society of real opportunities, real assurances, and strong values; a society where every Chilean people could have the same opportunities to achieve their personal fulfillment, and to have the assurance to safely take the risks that implies entrepreneurship, and innovation. Also President Piñera contributed to construct a country where values such as respect for life, liberty, personal and family responsibility, diversity and environmental care are guaranteed.
During his government, the country recovered its capacity to grow (5.3% average), creating more that 1 million of new jobs in 4 years, with a special emphasis on developing policies to promote women’s employment, such as 6 months post natal and female employment subsidies. This environment allowed the creation of more than 576 thousand new female jobs during his period.
In health matters, he inaugurated 27 hospitals; increased the coverage of AUGE (Universal Health Access with Explicit Guarantees) diseases from 56 to 80; eliminated the 7% health contribution for retired people; developed the program ELIGE VIVIR SANO (Choose a Healthy Living) and approved a Medicine Bill that will widely benefit all Chilean population.
In educational matters, he took some decisive steps in the construction of a society of real opportunities: the school grant was increased, the role of the teacher was enhanced, including incentives for top school students to decide to become teachers, 60 public schools of excellency were created, the funding system for higher education was improved and scholarships for superior education were tripled.
In order to strengthen the fight against poverty, the government of President Piñera created the Social Development Ministry. Also, in order to create a new social collaborative policy towards promoting people, the government developed the Family Ethic Income that benefits more than 218 thousand of families. Finally the government managed to reduce in 148 thousand the people that were living in extreme poverty.
Last but not least important, in matters of citizens safety, the Home Office Ministry was reorganized and renamed as Ministry of Interior and Public Security, increasing the police force in more than 8 thousand policemen. Thanks to a great effort, which included different public policies, the government was able to reduce the victims rate from 33.6% to 24.8% (% of household that had been victimized), which implied that 1.4 million people stopped being victims of crime offenses.
