Mario Guillermo Desbordes Jiménez (born 15 October 1968) is a Chilean politician and former police officer of

Carabineros de Chile The () are the Chilean national law enforcement gendarmerie, who have jurisdiction over the entire national territory of the Republic of Chile. Created in 1927, their mission is to maintain order and enforce the laws of Chile. They reported to ...

who is the mayor-elect of the commune of Santiago. He also was

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

(2020–2021). Desbordes previously served as a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

in Congress and was the president of National Renewal from 2018 to 2020. He also held the position of Secretary-General of his political party from 2010 to 2018 and was Undersecretary of Investigations during

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 ...

's first administration. In July 2021, Desbordes finished last in a four-way primary for the

Chile Vamos (Spanish for "Let's go Chile") is a centre-right to right-wing political coalition of three political parties in Chile. The coalition was created on 29 January 2015 by the general secretaries of the Independent Democrat Union (UDI), National Re ...

coalition, ending his bid for the presidency. Then, in 2024, he was elected as mayor of

Santiago Centro The Commune of Santiago is the central commune of the Santiago Province, located at the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region in Chile's Central Zone. Locally, Santiago is usually abbreviated ''Stgo.'' It is also called as "Santiago Centro ...

Biography

Born in 1968, Desbordes spent part of his childhood in Los Andes, his native town. Then, he moved to Santiago, Chile's capital city, where he lived in

La Cisterna La Cisterna (, Spanish for "the cistern") is a commune and census-designated city in Santiago Province, part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region of Chile. Founded on 30 May 1925, it is part of the urban area of Greater Santiago. Demographics ...

commune until 1986. He completed his elementary school education at E–556 public school of that commune, and finished the high school at A–109 Lycée in El Bosque commune.

Political career

In 2000, he joined to his party: Renovación Nacional (RN; ''National Renewal''). In 2010, Desbordes became RN's General Secretary after a caretaker period of Cecilia Pérez, who replaced him until he finished his services as Undersecretary of Invesgation on 23 November. On 9 January 2020, he participated on a seminar about characteristics and the future of the Chilean right-wing alongside Jacqueline van Rysselberghe and

Hernán Larraín Matte Hernán Larraín Matte (born 24 December 1974) is a Chilean lawyer and politician involved in centre-right politics. Larraín is an adjunct professor at the Adolfo Ibáñez University and during Sebastián Piñera's first government (2010–201 ...

. On 12 March 2020, it was reported by Interferencia newspaper that Desbordes received threats from libertarian far-right leader Sebastián Izquierdo, who called him as a «coward rightist». On 28 July 2020, he resigned to his charge of deputy after accepting the proposal of the President Piñera about appointing him as Minister of Defense of Chile. On 23 January 2021, he was proclaimed by his party as candidate for the primaries presidential elections of the coalition. On 18 July, he was defeated after finishing in the last place (fourth) behind Ignacio Briones (

Evópoli Political Evolution (), also known in Spanish by its shorthand Evópoli, is a Chilean centre-right political party, founded in 2012. The party defines itself as a liberal platform for the people who look for a "modern centre-right who proposes as ...

Joaquín Lavín Joaquín José Lavín Infante (born 23 October 1953) is a Chilean politician of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) party and former mayor of Las Condes, in the northeastern zone of Santiago. Formerly Lavín has also been mayor of Santiag ...

(UDI) and

Sebastián Sichel 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 () from June 2020 until December 2020. He also previously serve ...

(Independent).

Political thought

He has declared being a social christian. Similarly, he has as his references to

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

or the Spanish Popular Party politics. On more than one occasion he has been critical to the

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

positions from allies or key leaders of the party

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), like ―for example― the independent economist

Cristián Larroulet Cristián Patricio Larroulet Vignau (born 1953 in Temuco) was the Minister General Secretariat of the Presidency of Chile under President Sebastián Piñera. He served as the Head of Advisors to the Presidency of the Republic in the second admini ...

or the senator van Rysselberghe (UDI). According to French sociologist Stéphanie Alenda, the reason of these frictions have relation with the «solidarity» endorsed by Desbordes' social right. These differences have stirred up criticism from politicians of his own party like

Carlos Larraín Carlos Aníbal Larraín Peña is a Chilean lawyer and politician. He represented Los Ríos in the Senate and was the president of National Renewal (Renovación Nacional). Biography Carlos Larraín Peña received an LL.B. from the Pontificia Uni ...

and

Andrés Allamand Andrés Allamand Zavala (born February 7, 1956), a Chilean politician, is the founder and one of the past leaders of Renovación Nacional. He is of French, and Basque descent. On January 14, 2011 he was named Minister of Defense by president Se ...

, both from RN's conservative factions which have opined that Desbordes would leading to the party towards

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

because two reasons: 1) his support to a new constitution, and 2) his coincidence with positions of the

Humanist Party The Humanist International (also known as the International Humanist Party) is a consortium of political parties adhering to universal humanism founded in 1952. The five basic principles of Humanist International are: # The value of human li ...

respect to the retirement of AFP's 10% funds. One of Desbordes' intellectual referents is the philosopher Hugo Eduardo Herrera, who ―however― doesn't recognize himself as Desbordes' theoretician.

Personal life

He is fan of

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

, most successful team in the history of football in Chile.

References

External links

Profile
at Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile {{DEFAULTSORT:Desbordes, Mario 1968 births Living people Chilean people of French descent National Renewal (Chile) politicians Ministers of defense of Chile Deputies of the LV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Mayors of Santiago, Chile Chilean Roman Catholics