Cristián Patricio Larroulet Vignau (born 1953 in
Temuco
Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The cit ...
) was the
Minister General Secretariat of the Presidency of Chile under
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:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Sebastián Piñera
Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean 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 Party (C ...
. He served as the Head of Advisors to the Presidency of the Republic in the second administration of
Sebastián Piñera
Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean 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 Party (C ...
.
Larroulet graduated from high school at Colegio Sagrados Corazones de Manquehue, and he obtained his Business Administration degree from the
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...
and a master's degree in economics from the University of Chicago, United States of America. He was present in the
Acto de Chacarillas
The Acto de Chacarillas was a ceremony performed on the summit of Cerro Chacarillas in Santiago, Chile on 9 July 1977 organized by the Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990), military dictatorship of Chile. It was organized by the Frente Juv ...
in 1977,
a ritualized pro-Pinochet act reminiscent of
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
.
Larroulet was a professor at the Universidad Católica, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, and at the School of Economics of the Universidad de Chile. He was a visiting researcher at the Institute of The Americas, the University of California, San Diego, United States of America. He was dean of the Economics and Business Faculty at the Universidad del Desarrollo. He is currently a member of the
Mont Pelerin Society
The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS), founded in 1947, is an international academic society of Economist, economists, Political philosophy, political philosophers, and other Intelligentsia, intellectuals who share a classical liberal outlook. It is hea ...
and of the Social Science Academy, Politics and Moral, of the Chile Institute.
Larroulet has experience in the design and implementation of political policies. He was Chief of Staff of the Treasury under former Minister
Hernán Büchi, and was the executive director of the Instituto
Libertad y Desarrollo. From that position, he advised the National Congress on a wide range of policy subjects and he is a member of several commissions, such as the one that led to the General Education Law as well as the new Corporate Governance agreement for Codelco.
Larroulet's contributions have been recognized with distinctions on several occasions, such as Economist of the Year in 2009 by the newspaper El Mercurio.
In May 2010 he was distinguished with the Professional Achievement Award 2010 by the University of Chicago, being the only Latin-American which has received this recognition, granted since 1967.
He has written different academic publications in Chile and abroad. He is the author of the books “Economics”, published by McGraw-Hill, “Chile, Camino al Desarrollo”, published on 2012 by Aguilar/El Mercurio and "La Educación en la Encrucijada: ¿Estado Docente o Sociedad Docente?", published on 2015 by RIL.
Criticism
Since assuming as Head of Advisors to the Presidency of the Republic during the second administration of
Sebastián Piñera
Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean 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 Party (C ...
, Cristián Larroulet's performance received public
criticism
Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...
. Most critics described him as exerting an excessive and uncontested influence in key government decisions, pointed to his alleged efforts in defending the
neoliberal paradigm within the Piñera government after the
Chilean Protests from October 2019, and to his refusal to make "ideological concessions" to provide state aid in the frame of the
Coronavirus Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
in Chile. While commenting the performance of Piñera's administration during the
Chilean Protests, the education expert
Mario Waissbluth described both Piñera's and Larroulet's management of the crisis as "ideological and suicidal governmental stinginess".
Criticism of Larroulet has also come from Piñera's own government coalition. Referring to him, Mayor Germán Codina from the political party
Renovación Nacional, pointed in December 2019 that "some people advise the president badly"
and that "politics is not just numbers."
In April 2020, after President Sebastián Piñera questioned the realization of Chile's
2020 National Plebiscite during a television interview, the deputy of his coalition, Ximena Ossandón, accused that in Chile "there is an extreme right-wing sector that never wanted the plebiscite", and added "I believe there are traces of the Head of Advisors Cristián Larroulet again (...) I have seen how the government made a
U-turn
A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the U, letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as ...
, it was very pro-plebiscite and now doesn't want the plebiscite. I think of
La Moneda
Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the president of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency, and General Sec ...
, and I think of Cristián Larroulet."
Following a televised debate of the
Chile Vamos
(Spanish for "Let's go Chile") is a centre-right to right-wing political coalition of three political parties in Chile. The coalition was created on 29 January 2015 by the general secretaries of the Independent Democrat Union (UDI), National Re ...
2021 presidential primaries it was noted by ''
El Mostrador
El Mostrador is a Chilean online newspaper, founded on 1 March 2000. Its current president is Germán Olmedo Acedvedo and its director is Federico Joannon Errázuriz.
History
''El Mostrador'' was launched on 1 March 2000 and is Chile's first excl ...
'' that association to Larroulet had effectively become a smear among right-wing candidates.
Publications
*La Educación en la Encrucijada: ¿Estado Docente o Sociedad Docente?, 2015
*Chile, Camino al Desarrollo, 2012
*Entrepreneurship and Growth: A Latin American Paradox?, 2009
*Chile: libertad económica 1860-2007, 2009
*Concesiones: Agenda para el 2020. Prólogo, 2009
*Emprendimiento: Factor clave para la nueva etapa de Chile, 2007
*La lucha contra el populismo: el caso de Chile, 2006
*La enseñanza de economía y administración en las instituciones de educación superior, 2006
*''Private solutions to public problems'', editor, The Center for International Private Enterprise (USA), 1991
*''Las tareas de hoy: políticas sociales y económicas para una sociedad libre'', editor, published by Zigzag, 1994
*''Chile 2010: El desafío del desarrollo'', editor, Libertad y Desarrollo, 2001
*Una reflexión sobre la reforma previsional, 2003
*La Huella de Miguel Kast 30 años después, 2003
*Políticas públicas para el desarrollo, 2003
*Ideas para una educación de calidad, 2002
*''El Gobierno de las personas: políticas para el Gobierno Local'', editor, published by Libertad y Desarrollo, 1998
*Fomento a la innovación tecnológica: El caso chileno, 1998
*Endeudamiento interno: orígenes, soluciones y perspectivas, 1987
*Reflexiones en torno al estado empresario en Chile,
1984
References
External links
Cristián Larroulet Vignau(Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larroulet, Cristian
Living people
1953 births
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni
Presidents of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Student Federation
Independent Democratic Union politicians