Edmundo Jaime Pérez Yoma (born 10 January 1939

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...

) is a

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 ...

an politician from the

Christian Democrat Party of Chile The Christian Democratic Party ( es, Partido Demócrata Cristiano, PDC) is a Christian democratic political party in Chile. There have been three Christian Democrat presidents in the past, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, Patricio Aylwin, and Eduardo Fre ...

. He was twice the Minister of Defense during the administration of

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 ...

Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle Eduardo Alfredo Juan Bernardo Frei Ruiz–Tagle (; born 24 June 1942) is a Chilean politician and civil engineer who served as president of Chile from 1994 to 2000. He was also a Senator, fulfilling the role of President of the Senate from 2006 ...

, and he served as the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

for President

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 ...

's administration. Pérez Yoma is the son of

Edmundo Pérez Zujovic Edmundo Pérez Zujovic (May 11, 1912 - June 8, 1971) was a Chilean businessman and politician, militant of the Christian Democratic Party (Chile), Christian Democratic Party (PDC). He served as Minister of State during the government of president ...

, the assassinated minister under President

Eduardo Frei Montalva Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva (; 16 January 1911 – 22 January 1982) was a Chilean political leader. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party, senator, President of the ...

, father of President Frei Ruiz-Tagle. Las Últimas Noticias (Santiago), December 25, 1993, p.2 As a boy, he came to Santiago, the capital, with his family, enrolling in Saint George's College and then 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.

, where for two years he studied engineering. Later, he moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

to attend the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, from which he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1962. El Mercurio (Santiago), December 25, 1993, p.C4 Pérez Yoma then returned to Chile, marrying Paz Vergara Larraín in 1965, with whom he has had six children. In the following years, while working in business, Pérez Yoma was critical of Popular Unity, the coalition of parties that brought the socialist

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 ...

to power in 1970. In 1988, he served as national advisor for the

Christian Democrat Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(PDC) and in 1989, he managed the senatorial campaign of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. In 1991, he was named president of the Defense Commission of his party. In the 1990s, he was president on the board of Petrox and Chilectra Metropolitana, oil and electricity companies, respectively. In 1993, he was executive secretary of Frei's presidential campaign. In the 2010s Pérez Yoma was fined for theft of water in Petorca.

Political career

Frei Ruiz-Tagle administration

Due to Pérez Yoma's closeness with the army, President

—a personal friend due to the closeness of their fathers—appointed him Minister of Defense in 1994. In this role, he had the task of managing relations with General

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

and preparing the transfer of command of the army from his hands. In contrast with his predecessor, Patricio Rojas Pérex Yoma maintained good personal and professional relations with Pinochet, coming to an agreement that his successor in command would be Ricardo Izurieta. Another situation that Pérez Yoma faced was the removal from the direction of the

Carabineros The was an armed carabiniers force of Spain under both the monarchy and the Second Spanish Republic, Second Republic. The formal mission of this paramilitary gendarmerie was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country, operating against ...

of General

Rodolfo Stange Rodolfo Stange Oelckers (born 30 September 1925) is a Chilean politician who served as a Senator. He was a member of the Government Junta that ruled Chile during the dictatorship period from 1973 to 1990, representing the police force (Carabine ...

, who refused to resign after having been accused of dereliction of duty regarding the Caso Degollados. Within the Frei administration, Pérez Yoma was in conflict with

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

Ricardo Lagos Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military dic ...

. Lagos refused to assent to the creation of Punta Peuca, a prison built specifically for the military convicts detained for violations of

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

, whose first occupants were General

Manuel Contreras Juan Manuel "Mamo" Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda (4 May 1929 – 7 August 2015) was a Chilean Army officer and the former head of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional, National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the ...

and Brigadier Pedro Espinoza for the murder of former Foreign Minister

Orlando Letelier Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar (13 April 1932 – 21 September 1976) was a Chilean economist, politician and diplomat during the presidency of Salvador Allende. A refugee from the Military government of Chile (1973–1990), military dictato ...

. On January 16, 1998, Pérez Yoma left office to become the ambassador to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

On June 22, 1999, he returned to the administration as Minister of National Defense. In that stint, he created the '' Mesa de Diálogo'' (English: ''Bargaining Table''), a body that sought to resolve problems concerning the violation of human rights during the

military regime A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez Yoma, Edmundo University of Washington alumni 1939 births Living people Chilean Ministers of Defense Chilean Ministers of the Interior Chilean diplomats Chilean business executives Ambassadors of Chile to Argentina People from Antofagasta University of Chile alumni Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians Chilean people of Croatian descent Chilean people of Palestinian descent