Chilean president

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 ...

declared his position on many political issues through his public comments and legislative record. While he belonged to the right-wing party Renovación Nacional, Piñera himself said he was "almost" a

Christian Democrat Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

Social issues

Abortion

Piñera supports Chile's abortion laws, which outlaw the practice in all circumstances. In 2013, he praised as "brave and mature" a pregnant 11-year-old rape victim who said she was happy to have the child. In 2018, Piñera promised to oppose efforts to expand abortion in the country, saying he will do “everything that is necessary to defend life.”.

LGBT issues

In June 2021, Piñera said he will expedite a bill legalising

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

which had stalled in the National Congress of Chile, saying "I think the time for equal marriage has come in our country", and "all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, will be able to live, love and form a family with all the protection and dignity they need and deserve".

Education

With respect to the massive 2011–2012 Chilean student protests, Piñera defended for-profit activity in education and proposed to legalize it, rejecting the students' demands for the public ownership of educational establishments.Cadena Nacional de Radio y Televisión: Presidente Piñera anunció Gran Acuerdo Nacional por la Educación
Government of Chile. July 5th of 2011. Accessdate July 5th of 2011 Piñera considers education a

consumer good A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but ...

Foreign policy

As president, Piñera expressed support for the Argentine claim on the Falkland Islands, as "the unrenounceable rights of Argentina on the islands." After the death of Hugo Chávez, the left-wing president of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, it was known that on 4 May 2010, during a Unasur summit, Piñera agreed with him a verbal and previously unreleased personal

non-aggression pact A non-aggression pact or neutrality pact is a treaty between two or more states/countries that includes a promise by the signatories not to engage in military action against each other. Such treaties may be described by other names, such as a tr ...

Pinochet's dictatorship

Piñera has declared he voted ''No'' in the 1988 plebiscite on whether

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 ...

should stay on power until 1997.Piñera y sus raíces DC
La Tercera In 1998, Piñera opposed the arrest and detention of Pinochet in London, initiated by

Baltasar Garzón Baltasar Garzón Real (; born 26 October 1955) is a former Spanish judge. Garzón formerly served on Spain's central criminal court, the ''Audiencia Nacional'', and was the examining magistrate of the ''Juzgado Central de Instrucción No. 5'', ...

, arguing that it was an attack on the sovereignty and dignity of

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 ...

.Piñera y su acalorado apoyo a Pinochet en 1998
. ''La Nación'', 10 de diciembre de 2009 (part of the speech can be seen a
Youtube
.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Political positions of Sebastian Pinera Political history of Chile