Alejandra María Bravo Hidalgo (born November 1964) is a Chilean politician, who was active in the

Independent Regionalist Party The Independent Regionalist Party ( es, Partido Regionalista Independiente, PRI) was a centrist political party in Chile. The party was regionalist ideologically but had a nationwide presence. It was intended to be an alternative to the dominant ...

(PRI) until its dissolution in 2018. She served as president of the party between 2015 and 2018. From March 2018 to November 2019, she was Undersecretary of National Assets during the second government of

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique OMCh (; born 1 December 1949) is a Chilean billionaire 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 polit ...

. Previously, she was a councillor for Colina for two terms from 2000 to 2008.

Early life and education

Bravo was born in Santiago, Chile, in November 1964. She is the second of three siblings, with an older brother, José Manuel, and a younger sister, Marcela. Her mother Zunilda del Carmen Hidalgo Casanova was a seamstress and her father Carlos Ernesto Bravo Fernández worked for the Social Security Service. The family grew up in

Chacabuco Chacabuco is one of the many abandoned nitrate or "saltpeter" towns ("oficinas salitreras" in Spanish) in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Other nitrate towns of the Atacama Desert include Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works. Unlike ...

, and later moved to Esmeralda, in the district of Colina. Bravo went to primary school in Esmeralda, and completed her secondary education in Santiago. After high school, she studied for a professional diploma at INACAP (Instituto Instituto Nacional de Capacitación Profesional), the national institute for professional training. Later, she studied social communication at UNIACC.

Political career

In 1983, Bravo entered politics after seeing the rector of INACAP replaced by a retired military officer. Bravo was first drawn to the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), and decided to join after meeting the PDC politician,

Adolfo Zaldívar Miguel Adolfo Gerardo Zaldívar Larraín (September 13, 1943 – February 27, 2013) was a Chilean politician and lawyer. He was senator for Aisén and from March 2008 until his death in February 2013 he had been President of the Chilean Senate ...

. Bravo became president of the Christian Democratic Youth (JDC) in Colina and campaigned for 'No to Pinochet' in the 1988 plebiscite. With

Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the first president of Chile after dictator Augusto Pinochet, a ...

as president, Bravo moved away from politics and dedicated herself to business, opening an agricultural company with her father and brother. Bravo returned to politics as a councillor for Colina from 2000 and 2008. In 2008, she ran for mayor but lost to the

Independent Democratic Union The Independent Democratic Union (''Unión Demócrata Independiente'', UDI) is a conservative and right-wing political party in Chile, founded in 1983. Its founder was the lawyer, politician and law professor Jaime Guzmán, a civilian allied with A ...

candidate (UDI), Mario Olavarria. In 2007, Adolfo Zaldívar was expelled from the Christian Democrats after criticizing the implementation of the new urban public transport system, Transantiago, and formed the

(PRI). Bravo followed, and joined the PRI. There she met her partner, Eduardo Salas, who was then the secretary general of the PRI. Under Zaldívar, Bravo gained influence and in 2015 she became the president of PRI, an office she held until 2018 when she was succeeded by Salas. In the parliamentary elections of 2017, Bravo stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for deputy for District No. 8 in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. On March 11, 2018, Bravo was appointed by President Piñera as Undersecretary of National Assets. She held this post until November 2019 when she resigned after being accused of bribery over a plan to gain signatures for a new break-away party, Nueva Clase Media.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hidalgo, Alejandra Bravo Chilean politicians Living people 1964 births Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians Independent Regionalist Party politicians