María Nora Cuevas Contreras (born 4 January 1959) is a Chilean public relations officer and politician of the

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). She has been 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 ...

for

District 14 A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

since August 2020. She previously served as a councilor of San Bernardo from 2000 to 2008, and its mayor from 2008 to 2020.

Early life and education

Nora Cuevas was born 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 country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

on 4 January 1959, the daughter of Nora Hilda Contreras Quiroz and Raúl Alfredo Cuevas Palma. Her father was a politician of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

(PL), who served as the mayor of San Bernardo from 1963 to 1967, and a councilor there from 1992 to 1996. She attended the Colegio Inmaculada Concepción de San Bernardo, and later studied pedagogy in biology at the

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.

. She graduated as a public relations officer from the National School of Public Relations. She worked at the

Central University of Chile Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

for 16 years as its head of wellness. She is married to Jean-Yves Gautier, and has two children from a previous marriage.

Political career

Cuevas began her political career with an unsuccessful run for councilor of San Bernardo commune in the 1996 municipal elections. She ran again in 2000 and was elected, repeating the result in 2004. In 2008, she ran for mayor of San Bernardo, and was elected with 41.6% of the votes. She was reelected twice, serving until 2020. As mayor, she promoted the establishment of San Bernardo as a center of Chilean folklore. During the 2017 general election, Cuevas was a spokesperson for presidential candidate

José Antonio Kast José Antonio Kast Rist (born 18 January 1966), also known by his initials JAK, is a Chilean lawyer and politician. He is running for president in the 2025 Chilean general election, for the third time. Part of the prominent Kast family, he se ...

, a former member of the

UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi Hills, Enugu State, Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People Given name * Udi Aloni (born 1959), Israeli-American film ...

, dealing with social, municipal, and housing issues for his campaign. On 31 July 2020, she was designated by the UDI's board to fill the vacancy left by Jaime Bellolio in the

when he was named Minister Secretary General of Government. Cuevas was sworn in on 5 August, becoming a member of the permanent commissions on human rights and indigenous peoples, family, sports and recreation, and women and gender equity.

References

External links

* *

''This article incorporate
text
from the

Library of Congress of Chile The Library of the National Congress of Chile (, BCN) is a service of the National Congress of Chile that serves as an information center for the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The library advises parliamentarians in the social sciences, law, ...

available under th
CC BY 3.0 CL
license.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuevas, Nora 1959 births 21st-century Chilean women politicians Independent Democratic Union politicians Living people Mayors of San Bernardo, Chile Politicians from Santiago, Chile University of Chile alumni Women mayors of places in Chile Women members of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile Deputies of the LV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile