Jorge Esteban Sharp Fajardo (born 25 March 1985) is a Chilean lawyer and politician. He is the current Mayor of

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

Early life

Born in

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Aren ...

Magallanes Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region ( es, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second lea ...

, he is the son of Leonor Fajardo Filipic and Jorge Sharp Galetovic. His father in 2013 was decorated as a "illustrious citizen" of the Region. He began as a student leader in Magallanes, being part of FESES' regional re-founding (1999–2000), and his school (Liceo Salesiano San José) student center's president.

Political career

University politics

In 2003, he moved to Valparaíso to study law at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso The Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso ( es, link=no, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso) (PUCV), also known as ''Universidad Católica de Valparaíso'' (UCV), is one of six Catholic universities in Chile and one of th ...

(PUCV). He was a member of the Center for Academic Legal Studies between 2005 and 2006. In 2015 he graduated as a lawyer. During his university period, Sharp was an active participant in the

2006 student protests in Chile The 2006 student protests in Chile (also known as the Penguins' Revolution or The March of the Penguins, because of the students' uniform) were a series of ongoing student voice protests carried out by high school students across Chile (from late ...

and became a founding member of

Autonomous Left The Autonomous Left was a Chilean political movement which was a founding member of the Broad Front on 21 January 2017. One year later, the movement merged into the party Commons. Notable members * Gabriel Boric (until 2016) * Jorge Sharp ...

(IA), a left-wing organization led by then fellow law student

Gabriel Boric Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean left-wing politician who is the 37th and current president of Chile, serving since 11 March 2022. Boric studied in the Faculty of Law at the University of Chile, and was the president of ...

. He ran for president of Student Center of the PUCV Law School in 2006, and the following year for president of the PUCV Student Federation (FEPUCV). Sharp did not win either election. In 2008, he was part of the PUCV Student Cordon. Also in 2008, Sharp came to FEPUCV board as vice president; he took over as president of federation in 2009.

Mayoralty of Valparaíso

In 2016, he presented himself as an Izquierda Autónoma pre-candidate for the "citizen primary" to run for Mayor of Valparaíso in that year's municipal elections of that year, which he won with 1703 votes. The same year, he was one of the leaders who, along with Boric, left Izquierda Autónoma to form

Autonomist Movement The Autonomist Movement was a Chilean political movement which was a founding member of the Broad Front on 21 January 2017. One year later, the movement merged into the party Social Convergence alongside Libertarian Left, Socialism and Libert ...

. In the 23 October election, he was elected Mayor of Valparaíso with 53% of the votes over Jorge Castro, rightist candidate and militant of the

Unión Demócrata Independiente 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 ...

(UDI). In

2021 Chilean municipal elections Municipal elections were held in Chile on 15 and 16 May 2021, in conjunction with elections of members for the Constitutional Convention and regional governors. The process included the direct election of mayors and the members of the council of ...

, he was re-elected after defeating to

Carlos Bannen Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

(UDI).

References

External links

Jorge Sharp Biography by CIDOB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Jorge 1985 births Living people 21st-century Chilean lawyers Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso alumni Izquierda Autónoma politicians Mayors of Valparaíso Members of the Autonomist Movement Social Convergence politicians Chilean people of British descent Presidents of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso Student Federation