Sergio Bitar
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Sergio Bitar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Public Works | |
| In office 11 January 2008 – 11 March 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Eduardo Bitrán |
| Succeeded by | Hernán de Solminihac |
| President of the Party for Democracy | |
| In office 17 Julio 2006 – 11 January 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Víctor Barrueto |
| Succeeded by | Pepe Auth |
| In office 3 April 1997 – 2 May 2000 | |
| Preceded by | Jorge Schaulsohn |
| Succeeded by | Guido Girardi |
| In office 11 September 1992 – 3 October 1994 | |
| Preceded by | Erich Schnake |
| Succeeded by | Jorge Schaulsohn |
| Minister of Education | |
| In office 3 March 2003 – 14 December 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Mariana Aylwin |
| Succeeded by | Marigen Hornkohl |
| Member of the Senate of Chile | |
| In office 11 March 1994 – 11 March 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Humberto Palza |
| Succeeded by | Fernando Flores |
| Constituency | 1st Circunscription |
| Minister of Mining | |
| In office 11 March 1973 – 5 July 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Claudio Sepúlveda Donoso |
| Succeeded by | Pedro Felipe Ramírez |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 December 1940 |
| Party | Christian Democratic Christian Left Socialist Party Party for Democracy |
| Spouse | María Eugenia Hirmas |
| Children | Three |
| Parent(s) | Julia Chacra Chacra Nazmir Bitar |
| Alma mater |
|
| Occupation | Politician, Researcher and Scholar |
| Profession | Economist |
Sergio Bitar Chacra (born 30 December 1940) is a Chilean economist and politician who served as minister during the governments of Salvador Allende (1970−1973) and Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010).[1]
Civil engineer, economist, and politician of the Party for Democracy. He served as Senator for the 1st Senatorial Constituency, Tarapacá Region, between 1994 and 2002. He was Minister of Mining from 27 March 1973 to 5 July 1973 during the government of President Salvador Allende.[2][3]
He later served as Minister of Education between 3 March 2003 and 14 December 2005 under President Ricardo Lagos, and as Minister of Public Works from 11 January 2008 to 11 March 2010 during the government of President Michelle Bachelet. He was President of the Party for Democracy for three terms: 1992–1994; 1997–2000; and 2006–2008.[4]
Family and youth
He was born on 30 December 1940 in Santiago, Chile.[4] He is the son of Nazmi Bitar Chacra, a Syrian Orthodox Christian who immigrated to Chile in 1927, and Julia Chacra Chacra, who were first cousins.[4][5] He is the eldest of four siblings: Lorenzo, Virginia Isabel, and Carlos.[4]
In 1964, he married María Eugenia Hirmas Rubio, a sociologist and Director of the Sociocultural Area of the Presidency between 2007 and 2010. He is the father of Javier, Rodrigo, and Patricia.[4] [6]
Professional career
He completed his primary education at Andrew Carnegie College and his secondary education at the Instituto Nacional, both in Santiago. He later entered the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile, graduating as a Civil Engineer in 1963. Due to his outstanding academic performance, in 1965 he received the “Marcos Orrego Puelma” award from the Institute of Engineers, granted to the best student.[4]
In 1965, he traveled to Paris to pursue further specialization and began a one-year postgraduate program in Economic Theory at the Centre d'Études de Programmes Économiques. He returned to Chile in 1966 and served until 1968 as Director of the Department of Industries and Planning Center of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile.[4]
In September 1971, he traveled to Boston, United States, where he completed a master's degree in economics at Harvard University. In parallel, he worked as head professor of the Industrial Planning area of the Department of Industries.[4]
During his exile, between 1975 and 1976 he served as a visiting researcher at the Harvard Institute for International Development. Later, between 1982 and 1983, he was again a visiting researcher, this time at the Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., until he was authorized to return to Chile.[4]
He also worked as a researcher at the Central University of Venezuela and supervised civil engineering theses at the Andrés Bello Catholic University.[4]
Between 2011 and 2015, together with Professor Abraham Lowenthal, founding president of the Pacific Council on International Policy, he directed the project Transitions to Democracy: Lessons Learned of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), conducting thirteen interviews with presidents from nine countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America who led major democratic transitions.[4]