Mónica Madariaga Gutiérrez (25 January 1942 – 8 October 2009) was a Chilean lawyer, academic, and politician, a

state minister Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior ministers ...

of the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...

headed by her cousin,

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 ...

, which ruled the country from 1973 to 1990.

Biography

The daughter of Carlos Madariaga Pizarro and Laura Gutiérrez Ugarte, and granddaughter of a

Chilean Army The Chilean Army () is the land arm of the Chilean Armed Forces. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, an army aviation brigade and a special operations brigade. In recent years, and after sever ...

general, Mónica Madariaga studied with the Ursulines Nuns, at the Colegio Compañía de María, and at in Providencia. She entered the law school of 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.

and graduated in 1966 with the thesis ''Derecho administrativo y seguridad jurídica'' (Administrative Law and Legal Security). She worked at the office of the

Comptroller General A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...

from 1962 to 1977. When

headed the military junta, she was appointed Minister of Justice, serving from 1977 and 1983. At this time the Constitution of 1980, as well as Decree Law 2.191, better known as the – which was drafted by Madariaga herself – were enacted. Mónica Madariaga apologized in an interview granted in 1985 to the journalist Mónica González for the magazine ', claiming to have lived in a "micro-reality" that did not allow her to see what was really happening in the country with regard to

human rights violations Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

. At the same time she blamed

Jaime Guzmán Jaime Jorge Guzmán Errázuriz (June 28, 1946 – April 1, 1991) was a Chilean constitutional law professor, politician, and founding member of the conservative Independent Democratic Union party. In the 1960s, he strongly opposed the Universit ...

and

José Piñera José Piñera Echenique (born 6 October 1948) is a Chilean economist, one of the famous Chicago Boys, who served as minister of Labor and Social Security, and of Mining, in the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. He is the architect of Chi ...

for some of their actions. After the country's return to democracy, she became the rector of

Andrés Bello University Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

. She was a

Union of the Centrist Center The Union of the Centrist Center (, UCC) — named Progressive Union of the Centrist Center (, UCCP) between 1994 and 1998 — was a small Political parties of Chile, political party in Chile. The party was founded by supermarket tycoon Franci ...

candidate for senator for

O'Higgins Region The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region (, ), often shortened to O'Higgins Region (), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is subdivided into three provinces. It is named in honour of Bernardo O'Higgins Riquel ...

in the 1997 parliamentary election, but received 16.65% of votes and was not elected. Later she was director of the Law School of the University UNIACC. From 2001 to 2003, she was active in 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 ...

(UDI).

Death

In 2004, Mónica Madariaga contracted an aggressive form of bone and breast cancer, which was initially contained, but then returned and

metastasized Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...

to her lymphatic system. She died from cancer at 6:00 a.m. on 8 October 2009 at her home in the municipality of

Las Condes Las Condes is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. The area is inhabited primarily by upper middle- to high-income families and is known in the Chilean collective consciousness as home to the country's e ...

Controversies

Mónica Madariaga was characterized by her strong personality, frank character, and divisive revelations and statements, which landed her in several controversies in the press. She was a frequent guest on television programs precisely because of her openness to unveiling some episodes of the military regime, such as indicating the great influence that

Lucía Hiriart María Lucía Hiriart Rodríguez (10 December 1923 – 16 December 2021), also known as Lucía Hiriart de Pinochet, was the wife of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Early life and education Hiriart was born into a wealthy family in A ...

exerted on her husband. She caused a stir when, in an interview with the newspaper ''

La Tercera (), formerly known as (), is a daily newspaper published in Santiago, Chile and owned by Copesa. It is s closest competitor. is part of Periódicos Asociados Latinoamericanos ( Latin American Newspaper Association), an organization of fourte ...

'' in 2000, she affirmed that the leaders of the rightist UDI were indoctrinated in

Colonia Dignidad Colonia Dignidad (Dignity Colony' or 'Colony of Dignity') was an isolated colony established in post-World War II Chile by German Chileans, emigrant Germans which became notorious for the Human rights violations in Pinochet's Chile, internment, ...

. In 2009 she returned to the public spotlight by affirming, in an interview with of

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 ...

, that in 1982 she interceded to free

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 ...

, then general manager of the Banco de Talca, from his imprisonment for fraud and infractions to the General Bank Law. Piñera denied the accusations, but Madariaga reaffirmed her statements, calling the Coalition for Change's presidential candidate a "liar".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madariaga, Monica 1942 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Chilean lawyers Academic staff of the Andrés Bello National University Ministers of education of Chile Ministers of justice of Chile Deaths from cancer in Chile Independent Democratic Union politicians Ministers of the military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990) Politicians from Santiago, Chile Union of the Centrist Center politicians University of Chile alumni Women government ministers of Chile Female justice ministers 20th-century Chilean women lawyers Government ministers of Chile 20th-century Chilean women politicians