Mario Adolfo del Carmen Fernández Baeza (born 22 November 1947 in Rancagua) is a Chilean

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, professor and politician, member of the Christian Democratic Party. He served as the Minister of the Interior and Public Security in Michelle Bachelet's second term. Previously he served as

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ricardo Lagos, minister of the Chilean Constitutional Court (2006-2011), and ambassador of Chile to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Studies and academic career

He studied in the Public School Nª 3 and the Liceo de Hombres, both in his native town. He was secretary and vice-president of the Students Centre of his school, and its delegate in two National Congresses of Secondary Students. He also was member of the Youth of Catholic Students. Later he studied in the Universidad de Chile Law School in Valparaíso, between 1967 and 1969, when he moved to the Law School in Santiago. He got a grade in Juridical and Social Sciences in 1975. Afterwards he earned doctorates in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, international right public and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. Las Últimas Noticias (Santiago), 23 de marzo de 1993, p.15 El Mercurio (Santiago), 28 de enero de 1994, p. He has been Law professor in the

Diego Portales University Diego Portales University ( es, Universidad Diego Portales, UDP) is one of the first private universities founded in Chile and is named after the Chilean statesman Diego Portales. UDP has campuses in the Barrio Universitario de SantiagoA litera ...

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...

and University of Chile, among others.

Political and public career

He joined the Christian Democrat Party in 1966. He served as undersecretary of Aviation and War during the governments of the presidents Patricio Aylwin and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (1990-1993, 1994-1995 and 1996-1999). In 2000 he was appointed by president Ricardo Lagos as minister of National Defence, until 2002, when a cabinet reshuffle assigned the Ministry to Michelle Bachelet, and Fernández was named Minister General Secretariat of the Presidency (2002-2003). Later he was designated

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

. On 13 December 2005, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

appointed him minister of the Constitutional Court of Chile, starting on 1 January 2006. He resigned on 31 March 2011, to join the

consulting firm A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad range ...

Latinus and restart his teaching classes in different universities. In 2014 he assumed, in the second term of Michelle Bachelet, as

, being reassigned in mid-2015 to

. On 8 June 2016, president Bachelet appointed him as minister of the Interior and Public Security, in replacement of the renounced

Jorge Burgos Jorge Burgos (born 24 June 1956) is a Chilean lawyer and politician. He was Defense Minister until May 11, 2015 and Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabi ...

.http://www.emol.com/noticias/Nacional/2016/06/08/806773/Presidenta-Bachelet-designa-a-Mario-Fernandez-como-nuevo-ministro-del-Interior.html

Beliefs

Fernández is an

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...

member.

Works

* ''Más allá de la transición'',

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, whose ...

, 1986 * ''Las políticas sociales en el Cono Sur, 1975-1985'',

, 1986 * (ed., with

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

and O. Bareiro) ''Kooperation und Konflikt im La Plata-Becken'',

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, 1986 * (with Dieter Nohlen and A. van Klaveren) ''Demokratie und Aussenpolitik in Lateinamerika'', Opladen, 1991 * (with Dieter Nohlen) ''Presidencialismo versus parlamentarismo en América Latina'',

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, 1991 * (with Dieter Nohlen) ''El Presidencialismo renovado'',

, 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez Baeza, Mario 20th-century Chilean lawyers University of Chile alumni Heidelberg University alumni Ambassadors of Chile to Germany Ambassadors of Chile to Austria Ambassadors of Chile to Uruguay Philosophers of law Chilean Ministers of Defense Chilean Ministers of the Interior Chilean Ministers Secretary General of the Presidency 1947 births Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians People from Rancagua Liceo Bicentenario Óscar Castro Zúñiga alumni Living people