Cecilia Pérez Jara (born 23 September 1974) is a Chilean

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

which has served as minister in the two governments 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 ...

. From 2011 to 2012, she was

intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

of the

Santiago Metropolitan Region Santiago Metropolitan Region ( es, link=no, Región Metropolitana de Santiago) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Mos ...

Biography

Early life

Pérez. was born in the capital

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 ...

on 23 September 1974. She was one of the three children from the marriage formed by Luis Agustín Pérez and Ana Delia Jara. She completed her basic studies at the English High School in her hometown. Her secondary studies were carried out at the Corazón de María School of San Miguel. In 1994, Pérez entered the

Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

(UNAB) Law School, graduating as a lawyer on 21 November 2010.

Political career

In 1995, she joined the political party Renovación Nacional (RN). Also, Pérez served as president of the board of the 26th District of La Florida commune. In 2006, Pérez was the Regional President of RN in the

as well as its General Counselor since 1998. From 1998 to 2006, she was Chief of Staff of then-Deputy

Lily Pérez Lily Jovanka Pérez San Martín (born 10 May 1963) is a Chilean publicist and politician. She served a councilor for La Florida from 1992 to 1996, a national deputy for District 26 from 1998 to 2006, a deputy for District 36 from 2008 to 2010, ...

. In 2000, Cecilia was elected councilor for La Florida, where she was re-elected for three consecutive terms: 1) 2000−2004, 2) 2004−2008, and 3) 2008−2012. However, she didn't conclude her last period due to her appointment as deputy director of

National Women's Service The National Women's Service ( es, Servicio Nacional de la Mujer, links=no; SERNAM) is a public service in Chile, a functionally decentralized organization, with its own funding, which is part of the cabinet-level Ministry of Planning and Cooperati ...

(Sernam). She has also served as Director of Communications in the Municipality of

Puente Alto Puente, a word meaning ''bridge'' in Spanish language, may refer to: People * Puente (surname) Places *La Puente, California, USA * Puente Alto, city and commune of Chile *Puente de Ixtla, city in Mexico *Puente Genil, village in the Spanish provi ...

, where she coordinated relations between the municipality and the inhabitants of the commune. From 2008 to 2009, she actively participated in the leadership programs and seminars of the Women's Community on the topics of social co-responsibility, political communication, and the role of women. In 2010, Pérez was elected Vice President of RN for the 2010−2012 period, resigning the position upon assuming as Intendant of

. Similarly, she also served as caretaker Secretary-General of RN from July 2010 to December 2010. On 3 February 2011, she was appointed by

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 ...

as deputy director of the Sernam, holding the position from 7 February to 21 July, the last date when she was appointed metropolitan mayor by President Piñera. In that way, she was the third woman to hold that position in Chile after Adriana Delpiano and

Ximena Rincón Ximena Cecilia Rincón González (born 5 July 1968) is a Chilean lawyer and politician. She is formerly Chile's Labor Minister and former Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency (Chile), Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency under ...

. On 5 November 2012, Pérez was appointed Minister Secretary-General of the Government by Piñera, who changed

Andrés Chadwick Andrés Pío Bernardino Chadwick Piñera (born 2 January 1956) is a Chilean right-wing politician and lawyer, member of the Independent Democrat Union (UDI) party. He began his political career as a supporter of the Pinochet dictatorship, and was ...

. She hold that position until the end of Piñera's first presidential term on 11 March 2014. Once her functions as government spokesperson concluded, since March 2014 she has served as vice-president of the Fundación Avanza Chile board, a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

opposed to the second government of

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 ...

(2014−2018). Since March 2014, she hosted the

Radio Agricultura Radio Agricultura (originally ''Radio Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura'') is a Chilean radio broadcasting network belonging to the association of landowners, Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura (SNA). It is run by ''Publicaciones y Difusión SA'' ( ...

program ''Las Cosas por su Nombre'' («The things by their name») alongside the writer

Fernando Villegas Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

. During Piñera's second administration (2018−2022), Pérez returned to the cabinet in March 2018, being appointed again as Minister Secretary-General of the Government. She remained in office until 28 October 2019 amid the Estallido Social.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Cecilia 1974 births Chilean Ministers Secretary General of Government Living people Andrés Bello National University alumni Intendants of Santiago Metropolitan Region Place of birth missing (living people) Women government ministers of Chile National Renewal (Chile) politicians Government ministers of Chile Chilean Ministers of Sport