Mario Desbordes

Mario Guillermo Desbordes Jiménez (born October 15, 1968) is a Chilean politician and former police officer of Carabineros de Chile. He became minister of Defense in July 2020.
He was a member of Congress in the Chamber of Deputies and also was president of the National Renewal party between 2018 and 2020, and secretary-general between 2010 and 2018. During the first administration of President Sebastián Piñera he had a stint as undersecretary of Investigations.
Known in Chile for his project of a «social right-wing», he played a key role in the 2019 agreement for a plebiscite towards a new constitution to replace the 1980 Constitution drafted under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship (1973–1990). Likewise, after the agreement, he mentioned to press that he decided to vote «Approve» a new text (winner option) in the Plebiscite held on October 25, 2020.
He will run to be the center-right candidate for president of Chile in a July 2021 primary.
Biography.
Early life.
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 live in La Cisterna commune until 1986. He completed his primary education at the public school E–556 Lyceum of that commune, whilst he realized his high school at the A–109 Lyceum in El Bosque commune.
Political career.
In 2000, he joined to his party: Renovación Nacional (RN; "National Renewal").
Piñera's first term: 2010–2014.
In 2010, Desbordes became RN's General Secretary after a caretaker period of Cecilia Pérez, who replaced him until he finished his services as Invesgation's Subsecretary on November 23.
Piñera's second term: 2018–2022.
On January 9, 2020, he participated of a seminar about Chilean right-wing's characteristics and future alongside Jacqueline van Rysselberghe and Hernán Larraín Matte.
On March 12, 2020, it was reported by Interferencia newspaper that Desbordes received threats from far–right leader Sebastián Izquierdo, who called him as a «coward rightist».
On July 28, he resigned to his post as deputy after accepting the proposal of President Sebastián Piñera of appointing him as Minister of Defense of Chile.
On January 23, 2021, he was proclaimed by his party as candidate for president of Chile to face the 2021 Chilean general election.
Political thought.
He declares himself as a Social Christian rightist and has declared to have as his reference Angela Merkel's Social-Christian and Spanish Popular Party politics.
On more than one occasion he has been critical towards libertarian-conservative positions of key leaders of the party Independent Democratic Union («UDI») like the economist Cristián Larroulet (close to that organization) or senator van Rysselberghe. According French–Chilean sociologist Stéphanie Alenda, the reason about these frictions have relation with the «solidarity» endorsed by social right versus the «ultraliberalism» from Larroulet or think tanks like Libertad y Desarrollo. These differences have led him to criticism from politicians of his own party like Carlos Larraín and Andrés Allamand, both from RN's conservative factions which have opined that Desbordes would leading to the party towards left-wing politics in first place because of his support to a new constitution and then due to his coincidence with positions from Humanist Party respect to the retirement of AFP's 10% funds.
One of the intellectual heros of Desbordes is the philosopher Hugo Eduardo Herrera, who ―however― don't recognizes himself as his theoretical.
Personal life.
He is fan of Colo-Colo, most successful team in the history of football in Chile.