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Sebastián Sichel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Sichel and the second or maternal family name is Ramírez.

Sebastián Sichel
Sichel in 2019
Mayor of Ñuñoa
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 December 2024
Preceded byEmilia Ríos
President of the Banco del Estado de Chile
In office
4 June 2020 – 18 December 2020
Preceded byArturo Tagle
Succeeded byRicardo de Tezanos Pinto
Minister of Social Development
In office
19 June 2019 – 4 June 2020
PresidentSebastián Piñera
Preceded byAlfredo Moreno Charme
Succeeded byCristián Monckeberg
Executive Vice President of the CORFO
In office
9 March 2018 – 13 June 2019
Preceded byEduardo Bitrán
Succeeded byPablo Terrazas
Personal details
Born
Sebastián Andrés Sichel Ramírez

(1977-07-30) 30 July 1977 (age 47)
Santiago, Chile
Political party
SpouseBárbara Encina (m. 2008)
Children3
Residence(s)Las Condes, Chile
Alma mater
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionLawyer

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 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 Sebastián Piñera.[4] He was an independent candidate in the 2021 Chilean presidential election who ran under the centre-right Chile Podemos Más coalition.[5][6]

In 2010, he was one of the founding members of El Dínamo,[7] an online newspaper on topics such as politics, culture, and sports.

Biography

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Born in Santiago, his parents are Antonio Alejandro José Sichel Poblete and Ana María Ramírez Alvarado. His birth name was registered as Sebastián Sichel, but his paternal surname was changed to Iglesias after his mother married Saúl Iglesias.[8] When Sebastián Iglesias was 11 years old, he learned from his grandfather that Saúl 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 María Goretti Lyceum, in Concón,[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 Ramírez was a professor of constitutional law at the San Sebastián University from 2016 to 2018.

In 2008, he married the journalist Bárbara Encina. They have three children.

Political career

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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 Andrés 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]

From 2013 to 2018, he served as the executive president of the Plural Chile Study Center, representing it in hearings regulated by lobbying legislation.[14][15] He was also the executive director of the public issues business network Giro País[16][17] and a partner at Paréntesis Comunicaciones.[18] During Sichel's presidency at Plural Chile, the foundation received $225,000 in 2017 from Open Society Foundations, established by Hungarian-American investor George Soros, for a two-year term.[19][20]

In 2016, Plural proposed eliminating the law that prohibits hiring more than 15% foreign employees. Sichel argued that, in the immigration debate, Chile Vamos had shown "irresponsibility," creating "an anti-immigration climate that is exactly the opposite of what the country needs today. (...) The study shows that many are making blunders to capture votes without addressing the issue seriously. (...) Economic growth is unfeasible without immigration as one of the vectors driving that growth."[21]

On 19 November 2017, he decided to publicly support Sebastián Piñera, distancing himself from Andrés Velasco.

On 2 May 2018,[22] during the second government of President Piñera, he became executive vice president of Corfo,[23] 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.[24][25][26]

On 13 June 2019, he became Minister of Social Development and Family, after the cabinet change announced by President Piñera.[27]

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 Andrés Velasco.[28]

He remained in the position of Minister of Social Development and Family until 4 June 2020, when he was reassigned by Piñera 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 Más (previously Chile Vamos) for the 2021 Chilean presidential election.[29] 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 Joaquín Lavín, who previously ran in the 1999 and 2005 presidential elections and was considered a frontrunner in the primary.[30] Sichel is considered the favourite candidate of the private sector and is supported in his presidential campaign by prominent business figures.[31]

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 José Antonio Kast in the second round.[32]

Controversies

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In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile and the high level of unemployment in the country, on 18 May 2020, President Sebastián Piñera 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 Piñera announced a cabinet reshuffle amid the growing coronavirus cases in Chile. Former minister Cristián Monckeberg was then assigned to the Ministry of Social Development and Family, replacing Sichel, who was appointed as president of BancoEstado.[33]

References

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  1. ^ "Ministerio de Hacienda informó nombramiento de Sebastián Sichel como nuevo presidente de BancoEstado". corporativo.bancoestado.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b "BNamericas - Sebastián Sichel steps down from BancoEstado helm". BNamericas.com. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Presidente Piñera informó nombramiento de Ricardo de Tezanos Pinto como nuevo presidente de BancoEstado". corporativo.bancoestado.cl (in Spanish). 21 December 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia". Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b "Elección de Presidente 2021". Servicio Electoral de Chile (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  7. ^ Mujica, Kike (15 January 2021). "Sebastián Sichel fuego cruzado". Revista SML (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Carmona Lopez, Alejandra (4 October 2013). "El candidato a diputado por Las Condes que vivió en campamentos hippies y nunca vio tele cuando niño". El Mostrador (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  9. ^ a b Fernández G., M. Eugenia (14 July 2017). ""Tarde o temprano vamos a ser socios con evópoli" – Revista Qué Pasa". Revista Qué Pasa (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  10. ^ Palma, Sebastián (1 October 2021). "Saúl Iglesias, primer padre de Sichel: "No entiendo para qué describe algo que es una realidad disfrazada"". The Clinic (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Sebastián Sichel Ramírez – Foro de Economía Circular". Foro Economía Circular (in European Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Exalumno Derecho UC Sebastián Sichel liderará el Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia". derecho.uc.cl (in Spanish). 13 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  13. ^ Briones, Nicole (19 November 2016). "Movimiento "Ciudadanos" presenta a Sebastián Sichel como posible candidato presidencial". BioBioChile (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  14. ^ "Representado en Audiencias: Asociación Para la Calidad de las Políticas Públicas Plural". Info Lobby. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Sichel denies being registered as a lobbyist and highlights that Provoste "had 20 hearings this year"". El Dínamo. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Sebastián Sichel appointed Executive Vice President of Corfo". Radio Universidad de Chile. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Government appoints Sebastián Sichel as the new executive vice president of Corfo". Emol. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Who is presidential candidate Sebastián Sichel". Pauta. 24 October 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Plural Chile". Open Society Foundations. 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Sebastián Sichel and his links to George Soros". La Demagogia. 31 May 2021. Archived from the original on 31 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Plural proposes eliminating the law that prohibits hiring more than 15% foreign employees". Economía y Negocios. 11 December 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  22. ^ Brion Cea, Felipe (16 July 2018). "Vicepresidente ejecutivo de Corfo, Sebastián Sichel: "Una de las promesas de la Corfo es que no pedirá aumento de recursos el próximo año"". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  23. ^ S.A.P., El Mercurio (24 April 2018). "Gobierno nombra a Sebastián Sichel como nuevo vicepresidente ejecutivo de Corfo | Emol.com". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  24. ^ Brion, Felipe (6 May 2018). "Sichel creará comisión especial en Corfo para evitar conflictos de interés en temas de litio – PULSO". Pulso. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  25. ^ Leiva, Diego (6 June 2018). "Sebastián Sichel: "Los términos del contrato (con SQM) es lo que acordó la Corfo anterior"". 24Horas.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  26. ^ Valladares, Javier (12 July 2018). "¿Es litio el nuevo cobre? Para Sebastián Sichel de la Corfo, "mirando números duros, no lo es"". Radio Concierto (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  27. ^ Labarca, Daniel (13 June 2019). "Los seis factores que incidieron en el cambio de gabinete". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  28. ^ Arellano, Jorge (25 March 2019). "Ex "Ciudadanos" se reagrupan en "Libres" y se reúnen hoy con el Presidente Piñera". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  29. ^ "Sichel: "Soy candidato a presidente como independiente en la primaria de Chile Vamos"". CNN Chile (in Spanish). 20 December 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  30. ^ "Elecciones en Chile: Gabriel Boric y Sebastián Sichel ganan las primarias y son los dos primeros candidatos que buscarán la presidencia en las elecciones de noviembre". BBC Mundo (in Spanish). 18 July 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  31. ^ "Derecha económica se cuadra con Sichel antes que los partidos políticos". El Mostrador (in Spanish). 20 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  32. ^ "Sebastián Sichel apoyará a José Antonio Kast: candidato republicano aceptó el petitorio con condiciones". ADN (in Spanish).
  33. ^ "President Piñera announces cabinet change amid COVID-19 outbreak". Chile News | Breaking News, Views, Analysis. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
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