Paulina Saball

Paulina Saball
Saball in 2014
Minister of Housing and Urbanism
In office
11 March 2014 – 11 March 2018
PresidentMichelle Bachelet
Preceded byRodrigo Pérez Mackenna
Succeeded byCristián Monckeberg
Personal details
BornMaría Paulina Saball Astaburuaga
(1952-10-26) 26 October 1952 (age 73)
Santiago, Chile
PartyParty for Democracy
Other political
affiliations
Popular Unitary Action Movement
EducationPontifical Catholic University of Chile
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionSocial worker

María Paulina Saball Astaburuaga (born 26 October 1952) is a Chilean politician and social worker. She was a minister during the second government of Michelle Bachelet.

Saball studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where she was a member of the leftist movement Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU).

Saball was an opponent to the Pinochet dictatorship and was linked to human rights defense groups through various entities, such as the Committee of Cooperation for Peace in Chile and the Vicariate of Solidarity. Similarly, once returned the democracy she was part of the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation (Rettig Report) during the christian-democratic government of Patricio Aylwin.

Early life and education

Saball is the daughter of Gustavo Saball Meneses and Carmen Astaburuaga Silva. She was married to sociologist Fernando José Ossandón Correa, with whom she had two children, Felipe and Macarena. She later married Socialist lawyer Ernesto Alejandro Galaz Cañas.

She studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where she became involved with the left-wing Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU).

Following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, Saball became involved in human rights advocacy through organizations including the Committee for Peace in Chile, the Vicariate of Solidarity, and later the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation in 1990.

Political career

During the administration of President Patricio Aylwin, Saball worked as head of the Outreach and Promotion Unit at the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism, then headed by engineer Alberto Etchegaray Aubry.

Between 1994 and 1997, she served as chief of staff to Minister of National Assets Adriana Delpiano, and subsequently remained with the ministry as an adviser following Delpiano's departure.

In 1999, President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle appointed her Undersecretary of National Assets, serving alongside Minister Sergio Galilea. She was confirmed in the position by President Ricardo Lagos in 2000.

In February 2004, Lagos appointed her executive director of the National Environment Commission (CONAMA).

At the beginning of the first Bachelet administration in March 2006, Saball was appointed Undersecretary of Housing and Urbanism, serving until 2010. In 2014, Bachelet selected her to serve as Minister of Housing and Urbanism.

In August 2020, she became regional coordinator for Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica of the Horizonte Ciudadano Foundation, established by Bachelet in 2018.

In February 2023, President Gabriel Boric appointed Saball to oversee the housing reconstruction plan in areas affected by the wildfires in south-central Chile, including the regions of Ñuble, Biobío, and La Araucanía.

References

  1. ↑ "María Paulina Saball asumirá Vivienda y Urbanismo". Radio Cooperativa. 24 January 2014. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Paulina Saball, exministra MINVU en Escuela de Gobierno UC: "El tema del futuro es la calidad de la vida urbana"". PUC School of Government. 4 November 2018. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "Paulina Saball, ministra de Vivienda y Urbanismo: "La celeridad en el proceso de reconstrucción no puede ir en contra de la calidad"". Diario El Día. 4 November 2018. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Anales de la República ― Paulina María Saball Astaburuaga". www.anales.cl. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 El Mercurio (Santiago), 8 February 2004, p. D5
  6. 1 2 3 La Segunda (Santiago), 3 February 2004, p. 2
  7. 1 2 3 4 El Mercurio (Santiago), 2 March 2006, p. C4
  8. ↑ La Segunda (Santiago), 3 February 2000, p. 13
  9. ↑ La Segunda (Santiago), 25 January 2014, p. 12
  10. ↑ El Mercurio (Santiago), 25 January 2014, p. C12
  11. ↑ El Mercurio (Santiago), 26 January 2014, p. D4
  12. ↑ "Paulina Saball asume como coordinadora regional de Horizonte Ciudadano". www.horizonteciudadano.cl. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2021.