Evelyn Matthei

Evelyn Rose Matthei Fornet (born 11 November 1953) is a Chilean politician, who served as mayor of Providencia, a commune in Santiago, from 2016 to 2024. She previously served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1990 to 1998 and as a senator from 1998 to 2011. Under President Sebastián Piñera she served as Minister of Labor and Social Welfare from 2011 to 2013. Later that year, she ran for president of Chile as the candidate for the Independent Democrat Union but lost in a runoff to former President Michelle Bachelet in the 2013 elections.Senate Resume
(Spanish).La Tercera
, July 20th, 2013. (Spanish)

Trained as an economist, Matthei began her career as a lecturer at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago before moving into management roles in the private sector. After Chile's return to democracy in 1988, she transitioned to politics. In addition to her political achievements, she is also an accomplished pianist.La Tercera
, June 3rd, 2012 (Spanish).

Though a strong supporter of the dictator Augusto Pinochet during the 1988 Chilean presidential referendum, Matthei is considered a moderate figure on the traditional Chilean right. She is currently a candidate for president of Chile in the 2025 presidential election.

Family and early life

Matthei was born in Santiago de Chile, the second child of Elda Fornet Fernández of Spanish descent and Fernando Matthei Aubel, a military officer of German descent. Her father was Minister of Health during Augusto Pinochet’s government; later becoming Commander-in-chief of the Air Force, and in this capacity, a member of the Military Junta until Chile’s return to democracy.

Matthei was raised a Lutheran, and her father was a noted minority in the largely Catholic Pinochet junta.

Relationship with Bachelet family

As a child while living in Antofagasta, Matthei's family was friends with Michelle Bachelet's family. Bachelet's father Alberto, a brigader air force general, was friends with Fernando Matthei.

After the deposition of Salvador Allende, to whom Alberto Bachelet was aligned, Matthei assumed his position, while Alberto was imprisoned, dying a year later in custody.

Bachelet later became president of Chile, and in 2013, Matthei ran against her for the presidency.

Education

During her secondary education at the German School of Santiago, Matthei developed a passion for music and piano, and upon graduation expressed interest in becoming a concert pianist, obtaining scholarships for her studies.

Following graduation, her father was appointed military attaché to the Chilean Embassy in London. Matthei decided to pursue her piano career in Britain. Three years later, she realized she would not become a concert pianist and decided to return to Chile.

In 1974, Matthei began studying at the Economics Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where she earned a licentiate in Economics after four years. She was recognized as the top economics student of her graduating class. However, her thesis was reportedly "stolen," preventing her from fulfilling the requirements for a professional business license.

While studying, Matthei worked as a research assistant, collaborating with future President Sebastián Piñera on a Latin American Economic Commission paper on poverty in the region; as well as a helping develop a textbook on Monetary Theory with Professor Hernando Cortés for the Economics Institute of her university.

Early career

Matthei started her career as a professor of International Economics at the Economics Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Following a year of work as a researcher in a private consultancy, Forestal S.A., she took on the role of an analyst in the ''Superintendencia de AFP''. This government body was responsible for overseeing Chile's privatized pension system. Less than a year later she was promoted to the head of the department.

In 1986, Matthei made the decision to resign from her government position and assumed the role of Vice President of Tourism, Commerce, and Securities at Bancard S.A., where she remained until her election as Deputy four years later. During this time, in 1988, she was invited to serve as an adviser for the Social and Economic Commission. She also returned to teaching at the Catholic University, this time as a Professor of Introduction to Economics.

Political career

Matthei entered Chilean politics in the late 1980s, after the military government relaxed control over political activity.

National Renewal

In 1987 Matthei joined National Renewal (RN), a conservative party that supported Augusto Pinochet's government. She was a member of the party's Political Commission.

1988 plebiscite

Matthei became a public face of the "Sí" campaign in favor of Augusto Pinochet in the 1988 plebiscite on his continued rule. She appeared in political broadcasting as a representative of RN to discuss better job opportunities for skilled workers through technical training brought on by Pinochet.

Matthei's father was the first military official after the vote to recognize the outcome.

Chamber of Deputies

In the parliamentary elections of December 1989, Matthei was elected deputy representing RN for the legislative period 1990-1994, for district no. 23, corresponding to the municipalities of Las Condes, Lo Barnechea, and Vitacura. She defeated Joaquín Lavín of the Independent Democratic Union, a later political ally.

Matthei supported Hernán Büchi's failed presidential run along with her party in the concurrent presidential elections, along with her party.

During this period she was a member of the permanent commissions of Finance, Labor and Social Security, and the Special Commission on the Chilean Political Regime. She drafted the law that legalized organ transplants in Chile, after a series of consultations with lawyers, priests, and doctors to discuss the legal, ethical, and scientific ramifications of the project, and followed these with a two-hundred person seminar where the issue was debated publicly. Through a series of media interviews and strategic use of legislative debate, the law passed in 1992.

Within RN, Matthei formed the group known as "the youth patrol", which also included other young figures such as Sebastián Piñera, Andrés Allamand and Alberto Espina. This group proposed to displace the founding board of the party, chaired since 1987 by Sergio Onofre Jarpa, something they achieved in 1990, when Allamand assumed the presidency of RN, and Matthei the vice-presidency.

Piñeragate

Matthei and Piñera, both figures of "the youth patrol", became the presidential candidates of RN for the presidential election of 1993. Piñera adopted the more moderate position in the party, while Matthei aligned with the populist right of Jarpa. The contest became one of personalities rather than ideology given their previous proximity.

However, both aspirations to become the next president of Chile were cut short on August 23, 1992, when businessman Ricardo Claro made public on television a telephone conversation between Piñera and Pedro Pablo Díaz, in which both were discussing ways to publicly discredit Matthei. This is known as ''" Piñeragate''" or "''Kiotazo''", after the radio station on which the recording was played.

In the recording, Sebastián Piñera and his friend Diaz discussed how to trap Matthei in a television debate. They suggested bringing up the topic of divorce to make her feel uncomfortable due to her recognized conservatism and reveal certain contradictions of the candidate. For example, they aimed to demonstrate that Matthei professed Catholicism but did not practice it.After repeatedly denying her involvement in the wiretapping case, and pressured by an investigation carried out by Piñera himself, on November 7 of that year Matthei publicly confessed her responsibility, declaring that she had obtained the recording from an alleged radio amateur. The judicial investigation of the case, however, clarified that in reality there was no radio amateur involved in the events, but that the tape was delivered by Captain Fernando Diez, an officer of the Electronic Warfare Company of the Telecommunications Regiment No. 9 "Sovereignty".  Incidentally, in her public statement on November 7, she withdrew her presidential candidacy.

Shortly thereafter, she resigned from RN, and moved closer to the bench of deputies of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), although without being a member of that party.

Independent

In 1994, she opted to run for Deputy of the 15th Electoral District in Valparaíso, winning the seat as an independent with support from the UDI and the broader Union for the Progress of Chile. The district consisted of the communes of Algarrobo, Cartagena, Casablanca, El Quisco, El Tabo, San Antonio, and Santo Domingo.

During the period 1994-1998 in the Chamber of Deputies, Matthei was a member of the permanent committees of Labor and Social Security, Economy, Promotion and Development, Science and Technology, Foreign Relations, Latin American Integration and Interparliamentary Affairs. She was also a substitute in the Finance Committee.

Allamand Drug Case

During this period, it was proven that Matthei and Pinochet's former minister, Francisco Javier Cuadra, participated in the montage of a video that attempted to prove that Juan Carlos Latorre of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and Andrés Allamand Zavala of the RN were involved in drug use. For this, Cuadra was sentenced to 540 days in prison under the State Security Law. Likewise, and prior to this sentence, Matthei endorsed Cuadra's statements, and also supported him in the legal proceedings against him. In this, she provided him with witnesses, who claimed to have heard comments from third parties, about alleged drug use by Allamand.

The episode, which severely marked Allamand's political career —and which was used against him in the 1997 senatorial election— ended up straining his relationship with Matthei. This continued for years in the fact that Matthei did not later applaud Allamand's nomination as minister of the first government of Sebastián Piñera in 2011, or that, apparently, said she did not want to compete against him to have been the candidate of the Alliance for the presidential election of 2013.

Arrest of Pinochet

Matthei called for a boycott of English and Spanish industries in 1998, due to the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in London. Together with Pía Guzmán and Rosa González Román, she created the "Women's Movement for Chilean Dignity", an organization that brought together Pinochetist women who protested in front of the Spanish embassy in Santiago.

Independent Democratic Union

In 1999, Matthei joined the Independent Democratic Union, after being elected to the senate in 1997 representing the Coquimbo Region.

Senate

As Senator, Matthei became the first woman to preside over the Senate Budget and Oversight Committee. For the period 1998-2006, she was a member of the permanent commissions of Economy, Mining and Energy, Health; and Finance. She chaired the Audit Commission.

In the parliamentary elections of December 2005, she was re-elected for the same constituency, for the period 2006-2014. During this period she was a member of the Economy, Health, Transport and Telecommunications, Labour and Social Security, Finance, and Special Joint Budget Committees.

Minister of Labor and Social Security

Matthei resigned from her seat in January 2011 when she was appointed Minister of Labor and Social Security by President Sebastián Piñera. Matthei replaced Camila Merino in the ministry and was replaced by Gonzalo Uriarte in the Senate. Piñera as a member of RN and Matthei as a member of the UDI were jointly a part of Alliance which in 2015 became Chile Vamos.

As Minister, Matthei gained notoriety for her fiery personality and was the center of several heated exchanges with members both of the governing coalition and the opposition. She supported domestic workers along with many academics against abuse from rich homeowners in Chicureo, a region like her party's typical base. Her relatively liberal views on abortion, same-sex marriage and tax reform deepened a growing rift with her own party, and in March 2013, she confided that she had decided to quit politics following completion of her term as Minister.El Mercurio, July 21st, 2013
(Spanish)

2013 presidential election campaign

On July 17, 2013, and after winning the primary, UDI presidential candidate Pablo Longueira resigned citing health reasons. On July 20, Matthei was nominated as the UDI candidate. That same day, Matthei submitted her resignation to the Piñera government, materialized with the cabinet reshuffle on July 24.

On August 10, she was ratified as presidential candidate by the General Council of the UDI and proclaimed by the National Council of RN with 81% of the preferences, being from that day the candidate of the Alliance. With this, she became the first woman to be a presidential candidate of the center-right Chilean politics in its history.

= First round

=
Matthei achieved 25% in the first round against the 47% of Nueva Mayoría candidate Michelle Bachelet, the former president from 2006 to 2010.

Following the first round, both candidates offered no change in aggressive campaigning for the second round except to include young MPs elected in their campaign. Matthei did however compare her politices that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bachelet's to that of the former East Germany, where Bachelet lived in exile from Pinochet. While Green Ecologist Party's candidate Alfredo Sfeir was the only losing first-round candidate to back one of the two second-round candidates, in his case Michelle Bachelet, independent candidate Franco Parisi said "Bachelet will be a great President, (...) Matthei would do bad for Chile, she is not to be trusted."

Though Bachelet almost won in the first round, more limited returns for her coalition in Congress and the record low turnout of the election made the result more of a disappointment. Matthei is credited with salvaging down-ballot candidates, limiting Bachelet's ability to reform the constitution created by Augusto Pinochet.

= Second round

=
On December 15, 2013 Matthei lost the presidential election in the second round 62% to 38%. Polling had widely expected her loss.

Break from politics

During 2014 she worked as a teacher at the José Agustín Alfonso School in the commune of Pedro Aguirre Cerda, where she taught mathematics to first and second year high school students.

In she announced her return to political life and became a fierce opponent of Michelle Bachelet's second government, also being a member of the board of directors of the Avanza Chile Foundation, a center-right ''think tank'' . In November of that year she announced that she would be a candidate for mayor of Providencia in the 2016 municipal elections, for the period 2016−2020.

Mayor of Providencia

She was elected mayor of Providencia by obtaining 53.22% of the votes in the election of October 23, 2016, defeating the acting mayor Josefa Errázuriz. She took office on December 6 of that year. She was re-elected —in the elections of May 15 and 16, 2021—, for a second term (2021−2024) with 54.86%.

2025 presidential campaign

After leaving the mayor's office of Providencia, on December 9, 2024, she began her presidential pre-candidacy in offices in the Las Condes commune . On January 11, 2025, Renovación Nacional proclaimed her presidential candidate for the elections of that year; after her proclamation, Matthei thanked RN. On January 18, the  Democratic Union (UDI) proclaimed her as a presidential candidate; in her speech, she criticized the management of the government of Gabriel Boric, alluded to the discussion on pension reform and recalled the guidelines of the founder of the UDI, Jaime Guzmán.

Political positions and persona

Matthei's views have shifted over time, but she has always been described as center-right, existing in the political middle.

Reflecting on her own political evolution, Matthei declared at the close of her tenure as mayor of Providencia, “less ideology, more pragmatism”, emphasizing the urgent need for unity and practical solutions to national challenges. Even in her first run for public office, her platform was one of "reasoned moderation".

Matthei noted for her combative yet candid approach to politics. She frequently has made herself the target of self-deprecating jokes. The Chilean right, especially in its empowerment of longtime experts, is viewed a technocratic grouping, especially in justifying the technical successes of the Pinochet regime. Matthei has been able to develop a persona outside her "technical self" through her charisma.

This persona has been asset on the right where Andrés Allamand remarked in 1992 " atthei'scontribution is not primarily conceptual—the ideas are more or less a given. Matthei’s strong suit is when she looks you in the eyes and says ‘I care.’"

Social views

Matthei's social views have been described as progressive conservative.

Matthei supports gay marriage and opposes significant regression of Chile's abortion laws. Even in the 1990s, her speeches and some of her votes in Congress revealed a more liberal stance on social issues—supporting divorce, the morning-after pill, and abortion under three circumstances. She considers herself an ardent feminist.

Matthei opposes legalized euthanasia, but supports the death penalty.

Immigration

Matthei believes immigration is an issue of public order and empathy, but has continued to drive a hard line against President Boric. She opposes significant structures being built at ports of entry. On illegal or irregular immigrants who commit crimes, she has stated that “I would expel them and their families as well,” and regarding the threats posed by organized crime to authorities, she suggested that “it might be necessary to talk about the death penalty for these cases.”

Matthei supports appointing a crime czar, but has argued that Bukele-style crime policies would not be legal under Chilean institutions.

Economic policy

Matthei’s economic policy is firmly rooted in free‑market principles, developed during her tenure reforming the social security administration of the Pinochet regime. She advocates for reduced taxation, deregulation, and fiscal discipline as the means to stimulate private enterprise and generate sustainable growth. Matthei has described active government deregulation as the depoliticization of the economy, criticizing the interventionist policies of President Boric.

Matthei's record as Minister of Labor, during which she oversaw improvements in employment rates and economic performance, reinforced her view that a robust market economy is essential to providing opportunities that ultimately support social progress. Notably, her approach is considered by some observers as more flexible than that of her conservative peers, blending economic conservatism with a pragmatic openness to necessary reforms.

Support for Pinochet

A significant aspect of Matthei’s political legacy is her early and unequivocal support for Augusto Pinochet during the 1988 plebiscite—a position largely influenced by her family background, given that her father served in the military junta. Over time, however, she has moderated her rhetoric on this issue. While she acknowledges her past support, she now emphasizes a commitment to moving past Pinochet, distancing herself from the more doctrinaire elements of her earlier positions.

In 2018 she stated that "I have never been a Pinochet supporter in my life ... nor was my father. I have never been a fanatic ... he impacts of Pinochetare mixed, nobody is that good, and nobody is that bad."

Regardless, she continues to defend her father, who has never been charged with any crime after the dictatorship.

This candid evolution is consistent with Matthei's overall political style, which prizes honesty and adaptability over strict ideological adherence. She has maintained since redemocratization a belief in the prosecution of human rights violation and criticized the denial of such atrocities.

Personal life

Evelyn Matthei is married to fellow economist Jorge Desormeaux Jiménez, with whom she has three children. Desormeaux served as Chilean Central Bank Deputy Governor from 1999 to 2009. Matthei is Catholic, like her mother, but her husband is Lutheran. She has said she has explored Buddhism and says she has her house embrace a policy of religious relativism.

Matthei is a classically trained pianist, and speaks English and German as well as her native Spanish.

Electoral history

Chamber of Deputies

1989 parliamentary elections

Deputy for the District No. 23 (Las Condes, Vitacura and Lo Barnechea), Santiago Metropolitan Region

1993 parliamentary elections

Deputy for District No. 15 (San Antonio), Valparaíso Region

Senate

1997 parliamentary elections

Senator for the Circunscription No. 4 ( Coquimbo Region)

2005 parliamentary elections

Senator for the Circunscription No. 4 ( Coquimbo Region)Elecciones.gov.cl
Votación Candidatos por Circunscripción 4, Senadores 2005

President of Chile

; 2013 presidential election

Mayor

2016 Providencia mayoral election

2020 Providencia mayoral election

References

External links

Official campaign web siteBiography of Evelyn Matthei by CIDOB
(in Spanish)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthei, Evelyn
1953 births
Candidates for President of Chile
20th-century Chilean economists
Chilean people of French descent
Chilean people of German descent
Chilean people of Spanish descent
Chilean people of Swiss descent
Independent Democratic Union politicians
National Renewal (Chile) politicians
Living people
Politicians from Santiago, Chile
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni
20th-century Chilean women politicians
21st-century Chilean women politicians
Women members of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile
Women members of the Senate of Chile
Deputies of the XLVIII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile
Deputies of the XLIX Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile
Senators of the L Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile
Senators of the LI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile
Senators of the LII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile
Senators of the LIII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile
Women mayors of places in Chile
Mayors of Providencia
Chilean lecturers