María José Hoffmann Opazo (born 28 December 1976) is a Chilean

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who currently serves as Secretary-General of the

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, law professor and senator Jaime Guzmán, a civilian a ...

. She is a Member of the

Chamber of Deputies of Chile The Chamber of Deputies () is the lower house of Chile's Bicameralism, bicameral National Congress of Chile, Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chile's current Chilean Constitution of 1980, ...

Early life

Daughter of Fernando Hoffmann Álamos and María Eugenia Opazo Villaseca, she was born in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

on 28 December 1976. Her father was a second lieutenant in the army and received training from the

Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Benning (briefly known as Fort Moore) in Columbus, Georgia, the school bein ...

(1974). She is married to Gonzalo Müller, a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and political analyst known to being an advisor of

Joaquín Lavín Joaquín José Lavín Infante (born 23 October 1953) is a Chilean politician of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) party and former mayor of Las Condes, in the northeastern zone of Santiago. Formerly Lavín has also been mayor of Santiag ...

in the Municipality of Las Condes.

Political career

She entered politics as a university student, when she joined the

Youth. Similarly, she was the first woman to take over as UDI Youth national president. From 2000 to 2004, she was a councilor for the Municipality of Recoleta. From 2003 to 2004, Hoffmann was executive secretary of the Jaime Guzmán Pro Memorial Corporation. From 2004 and 2008, now she was elected councilor for the Municipality of

Conchalí Conchalí () is a commune of Chile in Santiago Province, within the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is located in the northern part of the city of Santiago. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Conc ...

. During the same period she assumed the national presidency of the councilors of her party. Also, from 2005 to 2008, she was vice president of councilors of the Chilean Association of Municipalities (ASCHM). In December 2009, Hoffmann was elected deputy for the 15th district representing the communes of Algarrobo, Cartagena,

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

El Quisco El Quisco is a Chilean city and commune in San Antonio Province, Valparaíso Region. Located in the country's central coast, it serves as a popular summer resort for the population of Santiago and forms part of the Coast of Poets, a cultural sp ...

, El Tabo,

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

and

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

in the

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 Regions of Chile, first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , the region is Chile's sec ...

for the 2010−2014 legislative period. In the chamber, Hoffmann was a member of the permanent commissions of Interior Government and Regionalization, Education, Human Rights, Nationality and Citizenship. Likewise, she was part of the UDI parliamentary committee. In the 2013 parliamentary elections, she was re-elected in her district for the 2014−2018 period. Now Hoffmann was a member of the Permanent Commissions of Culture, Arts and Communications; Education; Social Development, Overcoming Poverty and Planning; and Science and Technology. On 26 November 2014, Hoffmann questioned

Nicolás Eyzaguirre Nicolás Eyzaguirre Guzmán (born 3 January 1953 in Santiago) is a Chilean economist, and the former Minister of Education of his country. Previously, he was Chile's Minister of Finance between 2000 and 2006. He is the son of architect Joaquín E ...

, the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

with almost 20 questions, in the midst of demonstrations in the congress. Hoewever, she was criticized for her role in the interpellation, both by pro-government parliamentarians and by her coalition peers. In November 2017, Hoffmann was elected deputy for the new

District 7 District 7 could refer to: *District 7, Ho Chi Minh City District 7 () is an Districts of Vietnam, urban district of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. As of 2024, the district had a population of 456,789 and an area of 36 km². ...

of the Valparaíso Region for the legislative period 2018−2022; she obtained the first majority of votes. Until 2022, she integrated the permanent commissions of Sciences and Technologies; Education; and Environment and Natural Resources. In the

2021 Chilean general election General elections were held in Chile on 21 November 2021, including presidential, parliamentary and regional elections. Voters went to the polls to elect a President of Chile, president to serve a four-year term, 27 of 50 members of the Senate ...

, Hofmann was a promoter by default of the candidacy of

José Antonio Kast José Antonio Kast Rist (born 18 January 1966), also known by his initials JAK, is a Chilean lawyer and politician. He is running for president in the 2025 Chilean general election, for the third time. Part of the prominent Kast family, he se ...

despite her party officially supported to

Sebastián Sichel Sebastián Iglesias Sichel Ramírez (born 30 July 1977) is a Chilean lawyer, professor, mayor elect of Ñuñoa, ex minister of State and politician who served as president of the () from June 2020 until December 2020. He also previously serve ...

References

External links

BCN profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, María José 1976 births Living people Independent Democratic Union politicians Universidad Central de Chile alumni Francisco de Vitoria University alumni University for Development alumni Chilean anti-communists Deputies of the LIII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the LIV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the LV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile 21st-century Chilean women politicians