The National Congress of Chile is the legislative branch of the Republic of Chile. According to the current Constitution, it is a bicameral organ made up of a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate. Established by law No. 18678, the city of Valparaíso is its official headquarters.
Elections in Chile are held nationwide, including the presidency, parliament, regional offices, and municipal positions. Chilean citizens and foreign residents with legal residency of at least five years, who are 18 years or older on election day, are eligible to vote. Previously, voting was voluntary, but since 2023, it has become compulsory.
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the presidency. She was re-elected in December 2013 with over 62% of the vote, having previously received 54% in 2006, making her the first President of Chile to be re-elected since 1932. After her second term, she served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. Earlier in her career, she was appointed as the first executive director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Chile's abortion laws have undergone significant changes in recent years. Prior to 2017, Chile had one of the strictest abortion laws globally, prohibiting the practice altogether. However, since then, abortion has become legal in certain circumstances.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Chile have advanced significantly in the 21st century, and are now quite progressive.
National Renewal is a liberal conservative political party in Chile. It is a member of Chile Vamos, a centre-right to right-wing coalition. Sebastián Piñera, the former President of Chile, was a member of the party.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Chile since 10 March 2022. The path to legalization began in June 2021 when President Sebastián Piñera announced his administration's intention to sponsor a bill for this cause. The Chilean Senate passed the legislation on 21 July 2021, followed by the Chamber of Deputies on 23 November 2021. Due to disagreements between the two chambers of the National Congress on certain aspects of the bill, a mixed commission was formed to resolve these issues. A unified version of the bill was approved on 7 December 2021. President Piñera signed it into law on 9 December, and it was published in the country's official gazette on 10 December. The law took effect 90 days later, and the first same-sex marriages occurred on 10 March 2022. Chile was the sixth country in South America, the seventh in Latin America and the 29th in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.
Adriana Delpiano Puelma is a Chilean politician. From 27 June 2015 to 11 March 2018 she was the Minister of Education of Chile in the cabinet of Michelle Bachelet. Formerly, she was Intendant of the Santiago Metropolitan Region. She received a degree in Social Work from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and earned her Masters of Education Science from the Center for Advanced Studies in Mexico.
General elections were held in Chile on 17 November 2013 to elect the president, all 120 members of the Chamber of Deputies, 20 of the 38 members of the Senate and 278 members of regional boards. All elected members would serve a four-year term, aside from the Senators would serve for eight years. All the newly elected authorities began their terms on 11 March 2014.
Cecilia Pérez Jara is a Chilean politician which has served as minister in the two governments of Sebastián Piñera.
The Nueva Mayoría, also translated in English as New Majority, was a Chilean centre-left electoral coalition from 2013 to 2018, composed mainly of centre-left political parties supporting the presidential candidacy of Michelle Bachelet in the 2013 election.
Feminism in Chile has its own liberation language and activist strategies for rights that is shaped by the political, economic, and social system of Chile. Beginning in the 19th century, Chilean women have been organizing with aspirations of asserting their political rights. These aspirations have had to work against the reality that Chile is one of the most socially conservative countries in Latin America. The Círculo de Estudios de la Mujer is one example of a pioneering women's organization during the Pinochet dictatorship (1973–1989) which redefined women's responsibilities and rights, linking mothers' rights to women's rights and women's civil liberties. The founding members of the Círculo de Estudios de La Mujer consisted of a small group of Santiago feminists who were from the Academia de Humanismo Cristiano. These women gathered "to discuss the situation of women in Chile", their first meeting drew a crowd of over 300 participants and from there challenged the authoritarian life in Santiago. These women helped shape the rights for women in Chile.
Mario Adolfo del Carmen Fernández Baeza is a Chilean lawyer, professor and politician, member of the Christian Democratic Party. He served as the Minister of the Interior and Public Security in Michelle Bachelet's second term.
Clarisa Rut Hardy Raskovan is an Argentinian-born psychologist, anthropologist, writer and politician from Chile, Minister for Social Development and Planning during the first term of Michelle Bachelet.
Paula Narváez Ojeda is a Chilean politician and psychologist who is the Chile ambassador to the United Nations under President Gabriel Boric. She was elected as the seventy-ninth President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council on 27 July 2023.
The Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage is the Ministry of the State of Chile in charge of the design, formulation and implementation of cultural policies, plans and programs. Its main headquarters are in Valparaíso, in a building located in Plaza Sotomayor, being the only secretariat of the Chilean State whose national address isn't located in Santiago. The current head of the ministry is Jaime de Aguirre.
Lidia Magdalena Amarales Osorio is a Chilean politician, surgeon, and Master in Public Health. She is a former member of the Party for Democracy (PPD) and the Communist Party of Chile (PC). She served as Undersecretary of Public Health of her country during the first government of Michelle Bachelet between 2006 and 2008, and as National Director of the National Service for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Drug and Alcohol Consumption of Chile (SENDA) between 2014 and 2015..
The University of O'Higgins (UOH) is a Chilean state university, created by law in 2015, during the second government of President Michelle Bachelet, along with the University of Aysén. It is located in the Region of Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins. It began its operations in March 2017.
The University of Aysén is a Chilean state university, created by law in 2015, during the second government of President Michelle Bachelet, along with the University of O'Higgins. It is located in the Aysén Region. It began its operations in March 2017.
