Soledad Alvear
Soledad Alvear (2005)
Member of the Senate of Chile
In office
11 March 2006 – 11 March 2014
Preceded byAlejandro Foxley
Succeeded byCarlos Montes Cisternas
ConstituencySantiago Oriente
(8th Circumscription)
President of the Christian Democratic Party
In office
2006–2008
Preceded byAndrés Zaldívar
Succeeded byJorge Burgos
Foreign Affairs Minister of Chile
In office
11 March 2000 – 1 October 2004
PresidentRicardo Lagos
Preceded byJuan Gabriel Valdés
Succeeded byIgnacio Walker
Minister of Justice
In office
11 March 1994 – 16 December 1999
PresidentEduardo Frei Ruíz-Tagle
Preceded byFrancisco Cumplido
Succeeded byJosé Antonio Gómez
Head Ministry of the National Women's Service
In office
3 January 1991 – 11 March 1994
PresidentPatricio Aylwin
Preceded byCreation of the Office
Succeeded byJosefina Bilbao
Personal details
Born (1950-09-17) 17 September 1950 (age 73)
Santiago, Chile
Political partyChristian Democratic Party
Amarillos por Chile
SpouseGutenberg Martínez
Residence(s)Santiago, Chile
Alma materUniversity of Chile (LL.B)
ProfessionLawyer

María Soledad Alvear Valenzuela (born September 17, 1950), is a Chilean lawyer and former Christian Democrat politician, who was a cabinet member of the Aylwin, Frei and Lagos administrations.[1] She was president of the Christian Democrat Party (PDC) from 2006–2008.[2]

Political career

Under President Patricio Aylwin, Alvear worked as Minister of Women's Affairs, a new Ministry created to deal with discrimination against women in Chilean society. Under the Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle administration she assumed as Justice Minister and helped in completely overhauling the Criminal Justice Code, which dated from Spanish Colonial times. With Ricardo Lagos she worked as campaign manager during the 2000 runoff election, and then under his government she worked as Foreign Minister, signing Free Trade Agreement with the United States, the European Community and South Korea.

On late 2004 Alvear won her party's nomination for the upcoming presidential election, and then was to face the Socialist Party candidate, Michelle Bachelet, in an open primary election, to define a sole Concertación candidate. However, low support in opinion polls and on her party leadership led her to resign two months before the defining primary. Her decision to run for a seat in the Senate in the concurrent parliamentary election proved successful, winning a seat for the PDC in the Santiago/East constituency. In May 2006, she became the first woman elected president of the PDC, with nearly 70% of the votes.

On 22 September 2022, she officially joined Amarillos por Chile, centrist political party.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ "Ex ministra Soledad Alvear votará A Favor de la nueva Constitución: "Va a permitir terminar un proceso"". Emol. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Soledad Alvear, expresidenta de la DC, anuncia que votará A Favor: 'Va a permitir cerrar un proceso'". Radio Bío Bío. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Alvear, Burgos y Micco: los nombres que firman por Amarillos por Chile para convertirse en partido". Radio Bío-Bío. 23 September 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Alvear aseguró que en Amarillos por Chile se sienten 'continuadores' de la ex Concertación y 'defensores de los 30 años'". CNN Chile. 23 September 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.

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