Chilean politician and lawyer; candidate for the presidency of Chile in 2021 elections
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
Sichel
and the second or maternal family name is
Ramirez
.
Sebastian Iglesias Sichel Ramirez
(born 30 July 1977) is a Chilean lawyer, professor, ex minister of State and politician who served as president of the
Banco del Estado de Chile
(
BancoEstado
) from June 2020 until December 2020.
[1]
[2]
[3]
He also previously served as
Minister of Social Development and Family
and executive vice president of
Corfo
under the second government of
Sebastian Pinera
.
[4]
He was an
independent
candidate in the
2021 Chilean presidential election
who ran under the centre-right
Chile Podemos Mas
coalition.
[5]
[6]
In 2010, he was one of the founding members of
El Dinamo
,
[7]
an
online newspaper
on topics such as politics, culture, and sports.
Biography
[
edit
]
Born in
Santiago
, his parents are Antonio Alejandro Jose Sichel Poblete and Ana Maria Ramirez Alvarado. His birth name was registered as Sebastian
Sichel
, but his
paternal surname
was changed to
Iglesias
after his mother married Saul Iglesias.
[8]
When Sebastian Iglesias was 11 years old, he learned from his grandfather that Saul Iglesias was not his father.
[9]
He then met his biological father for the first time at age 30 and changed his paternal surname back to
Sichel
, but retained
Iglesias
as his middle name out of affection.
[8]
He studied at the Maria Goretti Lyceum, in
Concon
,
[10]
and the Alexander Fleming Lyceum. Subsequently, he obtained a law degree from the
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
(PUC) where he also obtained his master's degree in public law.
[11]
[12]
Sichel Ramirez was a professor of constitutional law at the
San Sebastian University
from 2016 to 2018.
In 2008, he married the journalist Barbara Encina. They have three children.
Political career
[
edit
]
In the
2013 parliamentary elections
, he ran for the position of deputy for the districts of
Las Condes
,
Vitacura
and
Lo Barnechea
. His bid was supported by the
Public Force movement
.
[8]
The party later became the
Citizens party
(
Ciudadanos
), which was founded by
Andres Velasco
, a former minister of
Michelle Bachelet
.
In a controversial move, he resigned from the
Christian Democratic Party
in 2015, distancing himself from emblematic figures such as
Claudio Orrego
, whose presidential candidacy Sichel worked for in 2013.
[9]
In 2016, he was on the verge of becoming a presidential candidate of the Citizens party for the
2017 Chilean general election
.
[13]
On 19 November 2017, he decided to publicly support
Sebastian Pinera
, distancing himself from
Andres Velasco
.
On 2 May 2018,
[14]
during the second government of President Pinera, he became executive vice president of
Corfo
,
[15]
becoming the first member of the Citizens party to hold public office. He took command of the lithium exploitation contracts signed by his predecessor Eduardo Bitran with the company
SQM
.
[16]
[17]
[18]
On 13 June 2019, he became
Minister of Social Development and Family
, after the cabinet change announced by President Pinera.
[19]
After the crisis experienced within the Citizens party during the election of its leadership, Sichel resigned from the party and became one of the founders of the
Libres
("Free") political movement in March 2019. The new political movement was led by ex-members of Citizens who distanced themselves from Andres Velasco.
[20]
He remained in the position of Minister of Social Development and Family until 4 June 2020, when he was reassigned by Pinera as president of
BancoEstado
.
Sichel remained BancoEstado's president until December 2020.
[2]
[3]
He shortly after announced his desire to participate as an independent candidate in a primary of the centre-right coalition
Chile Podemos Mas
(previously
Chile Vamos
) for the
2021 Chilean presidential election
.
[21]
On 18 July 2021, he won the coalition's
primary
and became its presidential candidate.
[5]
He received 49% of the vote, beating three other candidates including
Joaquin Lavin
, who previously ran in the
1999
and
2005
presidential elections and was considered a frontrunner in the primary.
[22]
Sichel is considered the favourite candidate of the private sector and is supported in his presidential campaign by prominent business figures.
[23]
In the presidential election on 21 November 2021, Sichel received 898,510 (12.79%) of votes cast, ranked fourth out of seven candidates, and did not qualify for the second round.
[6]
He supported the far-right candidate
Jose Antonio Kast
in the second round.
[24]
Controversies
[
edit
]
In the midst of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
and the high level of unemployment in the country, on 18 May 2020, President Sebastian Pinera announced from inside
La Moneda
the delivery of a family basket in aid for the entire middle class. Sichel, in his position as Minister of Social Development and Family, had to publicly correct the president's announcement, maintaining that the "percentage of the population benefited" will only have a scope for "70% of the most vulnerable 40%".
On 4 June 2020, President Pinera announced a
cabinet
reshuffle amid the growing coronavirus cases in Chile. Former minister
Cristian Monckeberg
was then assigned to the Ministry of Social Development and Family, replacing Sichel, who was appointed as president of
BancoEstado
.
[25]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Ministerio de Hacienda informo nombramiento de Sebastian Sichel como nuevo presidente de BancoEstado"
.
corporativo.bancoestado.cl
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
5 June
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"BNamericas - Sebastian Sichel steps down from BancoEstado helm"
.
BNamericas.com
. Retrieved
8 April
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Presidente Pinera informo nombramiento de Ricardo de Tezanos Pinto como nuevo presidente de BancoEstado"
.
corporativo.bancoestado.cl
(in Spanish). 21 December 2020
. Retrieved
8 April
2021
.
- ^
"Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia"
.
Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
7 June
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Sherwood, Dave (19 July 2021). Cooney, Peter (ed.).
"Two political upstarts notch upset wins in Chile's presidential primaries"
.
Reuters
. Retrieved
1 August
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Eleccion de Presidente 2021"
.
Servicio Electoral de Chile
(in Spanish). Archived from
the original
on 23 November 2021
. Retrieved
23 November
2021
.
- ^
Mujica, Kike (15 January 2021).
"Sebastian Sichel fuego cruzado"
.
Revista SML
(in Spanish). Archived from
the original
on 16 January 2021
. Retrieved
5 July
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
Carmona Lopez, Alejandra (4 October 2013).
"El candidato a diputado por Las Condes que vivio en campamentos hippies y nunca vio tele cuando nino"
.
El Mostrador
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
18 July
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Fernandez G., M. Eugenia (14 July 2017).
"
"Tarde o temprano vamos a ser socios con evopoli" ? Revista Que Pasa"
.
Revista Que Pasa
(in European Spanish). Archived from
the original
on 16 July 2017
. Retrieved
18 July
2018
.
- ^
Palma, Sebastian (1 October 2021).
"Saul Iglesias, primer padre de Sichel: "No entiendo para que describe algo que es una realidad disfrazada"
"
.
The Clinic
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
1 October
2021
.
- ^
"Sebastian Sichel Ramirez ? Foro de Economia Circular"
.
Foro Economia Circular
(in European Spanish)
. Retrieved
7 June
2020
.
- ^
"Exalumno Derecho UC Sebastian Sichel liderara el Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia"
.
derecho.uc.cl
(in Spanish). 13 June 2019
. Retrieved
7 June
2020
.
- ^
Briones, Nicole (19 November 2016).
"Movimiento "Ciudadanos" presenta a Sebastian Sichel como posible candidato presidencial"
.
BioBioChile
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
10 July
2018
.
- ^
Brion Cea, Felipe (16 July 2018).
"Vicepresidente ejecutivo de Corfo, Sebastian Sichel: "Una de las promesas de la Corfo es que no pedira aumento de recursos el proximo ano"
"
.
La Tercera
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
18 July
2018
.
- ^
S.A.P., El Mercurio (24 April 2018).
"Gobierno nombra a Sebastian Sichel como nuevo vicepresidente ejecutivo de Corfo | Emol.com"
.
Emol
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
10 July
2018
.
- ^
Brion, Felipe (6 May 2018).
"Sichel creara comision especial en Corfo para evitar conflictos de interes en temas de litio ? PULSO"
.
Pulso
. Archived from
the original
on 18 July 2018
. Retrieved
18 July
2018
.
- ^
Leiva, Diego (6 June 2018).
"Sebastian Sichel: "Los terminos del contrato (con SQM) es lo que acordo la Corfo anterior"
"
.
24Horas.cl
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
18 July
2018
.
- ^
Valladares, Javier (12 July 2018).
"¿Es litio el nuevo cobre? Para Sebastian Sichel de la Corfo, "mirando numeros duros, no lo es"
"
.
Radio Concierto
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
18 July
2018
.
- ^
Labarca, Daniel (13 June 2019).
"Los seis factores que incidieron en el cambio de gabinete"
.
La Tercera
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
7 June
2020
.
- ^
Arellano, Jorge (25 March 2019).
"Ex "Ciudadanos" se reagrupan en "Libres" y se reunen hoy con el Presidente Pinera"
.
La Tercera
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
7 June
2020
.
- ^
"Sichel: "Soy candidato a presidente como independiente en la primaria de Chile Vamos"
"
.
CNN Chile
(in Spanish). 20 December 2020
. Retrieved
14 February
2021
.
- ^
"Elecciones en Chile: Gabriel Boric y Sebastian Sichel ganan las primarias y son los dos primeros candidatos que buscaran la presidencia en las elecciones de noviembre"
.
BBC Mundo
(in Spanish). 18 July 2021
. Retrieved
1 August
2021
.
- ^
"Derecha economica se cuadra con Sichel antes que los partidos politicos"
.
El Mostrador
(in Spanish). 20 July 2021
. Retrieved
28 July
2021
.
- ^
"Sebastian Sichel apoyara a Jose Antonio Kast: candidato republicano acepto el petitorio con condiciones"
.
ADN
(in Spanish).
- ^
Editor, Web (4 June 2020).
"President Pinera announces cabinet change amid COVID-19 outbreak"
.
Chile News | Breaking News, Views, Analysis
. Retrieved
7 June
2020
.
External links
[
edit
]