María Soledad Barría
María Soledad Barría | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Health | |
| In office 11 March 2006 – 28 October 2008 | |
| President | Michelle Bachelet |
| Preceded by | Pedro García Aspillaga |
| Succeeded by | Álvaro Erazo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 October 1953 |
| Party | Socialist Party |
| Spouse(s) | Oscar Neira (1978−present) |
| Children | Two |
| Parent(s) | Daniel Barría María Iroume |
| Alma mater | University of Chile |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Physician |
María Soledad Barría Iroume (born 27 October 1953) is a Chilean physician who served as minister during the first government of Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010).[1]
Biography
She is the daughter of María Margarita Iroume Carrere[2] and Daniel Osvaldo Barría Sánchez, a lawyer and Christian Democrat politician who served as Undersecretary of Agriculture during the administration of President Eduardo Frei Montalva and later as Chilean ambassador to Yugoslavia.[3] She spent part of her adolescence in that country and developed a sympathy for the government of Josip Broz Tito.[4]
After returning to Chile, she began studying medicine at the University of Chile, where she openly supported the left-wing Popular Unity (UP) coalition. During those years, she met Michelle Bachelet, who was two years ahead of her in medical school and a classmate of her brother Cristián.[3][5]
During the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, she collaborated with the Vicariate of Solidarity in medical assistance programs, working alongside Fanny Pollarolo.[3] In 1979, she participated in the occupation of the headquarters of the Medical College of Chile together with a group of colleagues. She was subsequently taken to a police station and placed under house arrest for approximately ten days.[3]
She later moved to Corral in southern Chile, where she worked as a rural general practitioner until 1983. During that period, she served as director of the local hospital and was its sole physician for two years.[3] She subsequently received a scholarship to specialize in internal medicine at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santiago, earning her specialist certification from the University of Chile in 1986.[6]
She then spent a year in Paris, France, undertaking advanced training in kidney transplantation. During the 1990s, she joined the Ministry of Health, where she renewed her acquaintance with Michelle Bachelet.[5][6]
She has been married since 1978 to Óscar Javier Neira Quiroga,[2] and they have two children, Paz Julieta and Vicente.[2]
Political career
In the 1996 Chilean municipal elections, she ran for a seat on the municipal council of Providencia.[3]
On 11 March 2006, she was appointed Minister of Health in the first administration of President Michelle Bachelet.[4][6][7]
During her tenure, Chile's healthcare reform was further advanced through the implementation of the AUGE Plan, which sought to modernize the provision of health services by establishing explicit guarantees of coverage for selected medical conditions.[8]
Her tenure, however, was marked by a series of high-profile controversies, including disputes with professional associations, the inauguration of a hospital that was not fully prepared to operate, and, most notably, a scandal involving failures in notifying individuals infected with HIV in Iquique. The episode ultimately led her to tender her resignation on 27 October 2008, which was accepted the following day.[6][9][10][11][12]
She later ran for mayor of Puente Alto as the candidate of the Concertación coalition in the 2012 Chilean municipal elections.[13] She was defeated by National Renewal politician Germán Codina.[14]
She ran again in the 2016 Chilean municipal elections, this time as the candidate of the New Majority coalition, but was once again defeated by Codina.[15]
References
- ↑ "María Soledad Barría, la doctora que asume en Salud". Emol. 30 January 2006. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- 1 2 3 "Anales de la República; María Soledad Barría". [www.anales.cl](http://www.anales.cl). 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Reportajes". La Tercera (Santiago). 26 March 2006. p. 13.
- 1 2 "Aspectos biográficos". Caras (Santiago). 7 September 2007. p. 39.
- 1 2
- 1 2 3 4 "Noticias de la Dra. Barría". Teletrece. 28 October 2008. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ↑ "María Soledad Barría, la doctora que asume en Salud" (in Spanish). Emol. 30 January 2006.
- ↑ "Perfil: María Soledad Barría, 30 años ligada al mundo de la salud". Emol. 28 October 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ↑ "Barría resigns amid mounting criticism of her administration" (in Spanish). El Mostrador. 28 October 2008.
- ↑ "María Soledad Barría". La Nación Online (in Spanish). 28 October 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ↑ "Health Minister María Soledad Barría resigns". Radio Cooperativa. 28 October 2008.
- ↑ "Minister Barría resigns to avert constitutional accusation". Valparaíso: El Mercurio de Valparaíso. 29 October 2008.
- ↑ "Ganó Barría". La Segunda (Santiago). 28 May 2012. p. 14.
- ↑ "María S. Barría ganó". La Tercera (Santiago). 29 October 2012. p. 18. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ↑ "Former minister Barría registers pre-candidacy for Puente Alto to compete in municipal primaries". Emol. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2022.