Mario Adolfo del Carmen Fernández Baeza (born 22 November 1947 in

Rancagua Rancagua () is a city and commune in central Chile and part of the Rancagua conurbation. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province and of the O'Higgins Region, located south of the national capital of Santiago. It was originally named Sa ...

) is a Chilean

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, professor and politician, member of the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

. He served as the Minister of the Interior and Public Security in

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) 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 ...

's second term. Previously he served as

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

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 ...

Ricardo Lagos Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military di ...

, minister of the Chilean Constitutional Court (2006-2011), and ambassador of Chile to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Studies and academic career

He studied in the Public School Nª 3 and the Liceo de Hombres, both in his native town. He was secretary and vice-president of the Students Centre of his school, and its delegate in two National Congresses of Secondary Students. He also was member of the Youth of Catholic Students. Later he studied in the

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

Law School in Valparaíso, between 1967 and 1969, when he moved to the Law School in Santiago. He got a grade in Juridical and Social Sciences in 1975. Afterwards he earned doctorates in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, international right public and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

. Las Últimas Noticias (Santiago), 23 de marzo de 1993, p.15 El Mercurio (Santiago), 28 de enero de 1994, p. He has been Law professor in the

Diego Portales University Diego Portales University (, UDP) is one of the first private universities founded in Chile and is named after the Chilean statesman Diego Portales. UDP has campuses in the Barrio Universitario de SantiagoA literal translation is the Santiago ...

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...

and

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, among others.

Political and public career

He joined the

Christian Democrat Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

in 1966. He served as undersecretary of Aviation and War during the governments of the

presidents 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 *''Præsidenten ...

Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party of Chile, Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the 30th president of Chil ...

and

Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle Eduardo Alfredo Juan Bernardo Frei Ruiz–Tagle (; born 24 June 1942) is a Chilean politician and civil engineering, civil engineer who served as president of Chile from 1994 to 2000. He was also a Senate of Chile, Senator, fulfilling the role of ...

(1990-1993, 1994-1995 and 1996-1999). In 2000 he was appointed by president

as minister of National Defence, until 2002, when a cabinet reshuffle assigned the Ministry to

, and Fernández was named Minister General Secretariat of the Presidency (2002-2003). Later he was designated

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

. On 13 December 2005, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

appointed him minister of the Constitutional Court of Chile, starting on 1 January 2006. He resigned on 31 March 2011, to join the

consulting firm A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad ra ...

Latinus and restart his teaching classes in different universities. In 2014 he assumed, in the second term of Michelle Bachelet, as

, being reassigned in mid-2015 to

. On 8 June 2016, president Bachelet appointed him as minister of the Interior and Public Security, in replacement of the renounced

Jorge Burgos Jorge Burgos (born 24 June 1956) is a Chilean lawyer and politician. He was Defense Minister until May 11, 2015 and Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabi ...

Beliefs

Fernández is an

Opus Dei is an institution of the Catholic Church that was founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaría Escrivá. Its stated mission is to help its lay and clerical members seek holiness in their everyday occupations and societies. Opus Dei is officially r ...

member.

Works

* ''Más allá de la transición'',

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, 1986 * ''Las políticas sociales en el Cono Sur, 1975-1985'',

, 1986 * (ed., with

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

and O. Bareiro) ''Kooperation und Konflikt im La Plata-Becken'',

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

, 1986 * (with Dieter Nohlen and A. van Klaveren) ''Demokratie und Aussenpolitik in Lateinamerika'', Opladen, 1991 * (with Dieter Nohlen) ''Presidencialismo versus parlamentarismo en América Latina'',

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, 1991 * (with Dieter Nohlen) ''El Presidencialismo renovado'',

, 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez Baeza, Mario 20th-century Chilean lawyers University of Chile alumni Heidelberg University alumni Ambassadors of Chile to Germany Ambassadors of Chile to Austria Ambassadors of Chile to Uruguay Philosophers of law Ministers of defense of Chile Ministers of the interior of Chile Chilean Ministers Secretary General of the Presidency 1947 births Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians People from Rancagua Liceo Bicentenario Óscar Castro Zúñiga alumni Living people Chilean Roman Catholics