Claudia Pascual Grau (born December 14, 1972 in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

) is a social anthropologist and politician from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, a member of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. She started on March 11, 2014 as Minister Director of the National Service for Women, being the first communist in 41 years to be in the ministerial cabinet of her country. On June 3, 2016, she was officially appointed as Minister of Women and Gender Equality, portfolio created in March 2015, and which became operational in June 2016.

Biography

Pascual studied social anthropology at the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. She has been a teacher in various educational institutions in her country, including universities, trade union schools and women's schools. She was coordinator of the Program for the Prevention of Drug and Alcohol Consumption of the Student Welfare Office of the University of Chile. Pascual is a member of the Communist Party of Chile (CPC), where she has been a regional secretary, a member of the Central Committee, and a national commissioner of Women. In 2001 and 2005 she was a candidate for deputy for Santiago in representation of the CCP, not being elected on both occasions. Between 2002 and 2005 she was executive secretary of the Alejandro Lipschutz Science Institute (ICAL). In the municipal elections of 2008 she was elected councilor for the commune of Santiago. In the 2012 elections she was re-elected with the first communal majority. She resigned from office on March 5, 2014. On January 24, 2014, she was announced as the Minister Director of the National Service for Women by President-elect

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

. She took office on March 11, 2014, with the start of the new government, and thus became the first communist member to join a cabinet since 1973, during the presidency of

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

. On June 3, 2016, Pascual was appointed by President Michelle Bachelet as the first Minister of Women and Gender Equality, ministerial portfolio created by law 20820, of March 20, 2015, and which became operational on June 1, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pascual, Claudia 1972 births Living people Chilean anthropologists Chilean women anthropologists Communist Party of Chile politicians University of Chile alumni Ministers of Women and Gender Equality of Chile People from Santiago Women government ministers of Chile Senators of the LVI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile