Jacqueline van Rysselberghe Herrera (born 3 February 1965) 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 surgeon and politician. She is a member of the right-wing party

Independent Democratic Union 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 ...

(UDI) was National Senator from 2014 to 2022. She was mayor of Concepción from 2000 until her resignation in March 2010 to take the office of Intendant of the

Biobío Region The Biobío Region ( es, Región del Biobío ), is one of Chile's sixteen regions (first-order administrative divisions). With a population of 1.5 million, thus being the third most populated region in Chile, it is divided into three provinces: ...

. Previously, she had been a city council member since 1992. On 3 April 2011 she resigned as Intendant.

Family

Her surname comes from Flanders, Belgium.Revista Cosas
Jacqueline van Rysselberghe: "Si la política invade a mi familia, la dejo" por André Jouffé Her great grandfather was

Max van Rysselberghe Max van Rysselberghe (; 19 December 1878 – 1961) was a Belgian-born Chilean engineer and Antarctic explorer. Biography Max van Rysselberghe was born in Ixelles, Brussels, on 19 December 1878. He was born into the Van Rysselberghe family, a pr ...

, an engineer who left

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

when he was about 20 years old on what was originally planned to be a six-month-long scientific expedition to Antarctica. The expedition lasted two years. Reports of her connection to the Pierre Van Rysselberghe dynasty are, at this point, unverified. During the first year, plans to return to Europe were abandoned when the ice in the waterways failed to thaw during the summer. In Belgium, Max met Isabel Martínez, the daughter of Valentin Martínez, Chilean

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 ...

, who at that time had escaped to Belgium after the coup in Chile. Max and Isabel were married in Europe, and in 1905 left for Chile. This couple had four children, Lydia, Yvonne, and Henry, the grandfather of Jacqueline and Daniel.

Controversy

On 23 January 2017 an investigative report published by the news agency Ciper Chile disclosed a series of email exchanges which had happened in 2014 between Jacqueline van Rysselberghe and Luis Felipe Moncada, President of ASIPES (Fishing Industry Association of the Bío Bío Region) while she was presiding the Senate Fishing Committee. That committee was discussing a law that would benefit smaller, artisan fishermen so it was opposed by ASIPES. In those emails, Moncada gave explicit instructions to the Senator on how to act in the committee, including clauses to put in the law. Former assistant to the Senator Joel Chávez declared to prosecutors on 4 August 2016 that van Rysselberghe had been receiving monies from ASIPES since the municipal elections of 2000, when she was first elected Mayor of Concepción. The Senator confirmed the existence of the email exchanges but declared "it had not influenced legislative work."

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:van Rysselberghe, Jacqueline 1965 births Living people Senators of the LV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Intendants of Biobío Region Mayors of places in Chile People from Concepción, Chile Candidates for President of Chile Independent Democratic Union politicians Opus Dei members University of Concepción alumni Women members of the Senate of Chile Women mayors of places in Chile Chilean people of Belgian descent