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. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an politician from the

Christian Democrat Party of Chile The Christian Democratic Party (, 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 Frei Montalva. Customarily, the PD ...

. He was twice the

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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

, 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 President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the presidency. She was re-elected in December ...

's administration. Pérez Yoma is the son of Edmundo Pérez Zujovic, the assassinated minister under President

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

, 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 () is a public university, 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 the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

to attend the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, 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 socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

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 Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company until its ...

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

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 military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

and preparing the transfer of command of the army from his hands. In contrast with his predecessor,

Patricio Rojas Patricio Rojas (28 January 1933 – 27 May 2021) was a Chilean physician, surgeon and politician. As a politician he was minister of the interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affa ...

Pérex Yoma maintained good personal and professional relations with Pinochet, coming to an agreement that his successor in command would be

Ricardo Izurieta Ricardo Edmundo Izurieta Caffarena (11 June 1943 – 17 August 2014) was a Chilean military officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Army between 1998 and 2002. Izurieta was a key figure in managing civil-military relations as Chile worked to consol ...

. 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, who refused to resign after having been accused of dereliction of duty regarding the

Caso Degollados The ''Caso Degollados'' ('Slit-Throat Case') was a politically motivated series of murders of opposition members that took place in Chile in 1985, during Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship. The murders caused a huge political scandal. Event ...

. 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 di ...

. 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 universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, 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 National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto ...

and Brigadier

Pedro Espinoza Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

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 dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, Letelier ...

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

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

On June 22, 1999, he returned to the administration as Minister of National Defense. In that stint, he created the ''

Mesa de Diálogo A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a re ...

'' (English: ''Bargaining Table''), a body that sought to resolve problems concerning the violation of human rights during the

military regime A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a strongman, or by a council of mi ...

References

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