{{Short description|Chilean politician (born 1966)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Claudio Orrego | image = Claudio Orrego sobre fondo negro (Headshot).jpg | birth_name = Claudio Benjamín Orrego Larraín | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|12|20|df=y}} | birth_place = Santiago, Chile | office = Governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region | term_start = {{start date|2021|7|21|df=y}} | term_end = | predecessor = ''Office established'' | office1 = Intendant of Santiago Metropolitan Region | term_start1 = {{start date|2014|3|11|df=y}} | term_end1 = {{end date|2018|3|11|df=y}} | predecessor1 = Juan Antonio Peribonio | successor1 = Karla Rubilar | office2 = Mayor of Peñalolén | term_start2 = {{start date|2004|12|6|df=y}} | term_end2 = {{end date|2012|12|6|df=y}} | predecessor2 = Carlos Alarcón Castro | successor2 = Carolina Leitao | office3 = Minister of Housing and Urban Development | predecessor3 = Sergio Henríquez | successor3 = Jaime Ravinet | president3 = Ricardo Lagos | term_start3 = {{start date|2000|3|11|df=y}} | term_end3 = {{end date|2000|12|29|df=y}} | office4 = Minister of National Assets | predecessor4 = Sergio Galilea | successor4 = Jaime Ravinet | president4 = Ricardo Lagos | term_start4 = {{start date|2000|3|11|df=y}} | term_end4 = {{end date|2000|12|29|df=y}} | spouse = Francisca Morales | children = Four | profession = Lawyer | occupation = Politician | death_date = | death_place = | parents = Claudio Orrego Vicuña | party = Christian Democratic Party | alma_mater = {{ubl|Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (LL.B)|Harvard University (LL.M)}} }} '''Claudio Benjamín Orrego Larraín''' (born December 20, 1966) is a Chilean lawyer, Christian Democrat politician, and the Governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region since July 14, 2021.
Orrego is a former minister of President Ricardo Lagos and the former mayor of the commune of Peñalolén. In 2013, he was a candidate for the presidency of Chile, but lost the primary election to Michelle Bachelet, and other candidates.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://impresa.elmercurio.com/default.aspx?dt=2013-07-01 |title=El Mercurio (Santiago), 1 de julio de 2013, p.C7 |access-date=2013-10-08 |archive-date=2021-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123013026/http://impresa.elmercurio.com/default.aspx?dt=2013-07-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.latercera.com/noticia/politica/2013/07/674-530826-9-tercer-lugar-de-orrego-instala-peor-escenario-de-la-dc.shtml |title=La Tercera (Santiago), 1 de julio de 2013, p.16 |access-date=2013-10-08 |archive-date=2013-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130710043644/http://www.latercera.com/noticia/politica/2013/07/674-530826-9-tercer-lugar-de-orrego-instala-peor-escenario-de-la-dc.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> On March 11, 2014, he was appointed intendant of the Santiago Metropolitan Region by President Bachelet.<ref>{{cite web |author= |url=http://www.intendenciametropolitana.gov.cl/conozca_al_intendente.html |title=Conozca al Intendente |language=Spanish |publisher=Intendencia de Santiago |date= |accessdate=22 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223072630/http://www.intendenciametropolitana.gov.cl/conozca_al_intendente.html |archive-date=23 December 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
On June 13, 2021, he was elected governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, in a newly created position,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.t13.cl/noticia/elecciones-2021/politica/claudio-orrego-gobernador-region-metropolitana-karina-oliva-servel-13-06-2021|title=Orrego vence a Oliva por estrecho margen y será el gobernador de la Región Metropolitana|date=13 June 2021 }}</ref> and was reelected in 2024.
== Family and education == He is the son of Christian Democratic politician Claudio Orrego Vicuña and Valentina Larraín Bunster, personal secretary to former President of the Republic Patricio Aylwin.<ref name="estrategia1">Estrategia (Santiago), 8 June 2006, p.15</ref> He is also the great-great-grandson of politician Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna.
He completed his schooling at Saint George's College in Santiago, where he received the "Best Georgian" award for the class of 1984.<ref name="estrategia1" /><ref name="elsabado1" /> He earned a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where he served as president of the Student Federation (FEUC),<ref name="estrategia1" /> and later obtained a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University in the United States.<ref name="estrategia1" /><ref name="elsabado1" />
During the years of the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, he participated in the ''Movement against the torture, Sebastián Acevedo''.<ref>El Mercurio (Santiago), 20 January 2001, p.A13</ref><ref>El Mercurio (Santiago), 28 April 2013, p.D8</ref>
He was married to Francisca Morales, with whom he has four children.<ref name="elsabado1">{{Cite web |url=http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id=%7B9e6bb373-d6a9-4f4f-809f-686548c66eb2%7D |title=El Mercurio (Santiago), 15 September 2007, El Sábado, p.14 |access-date=16 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195020/http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id=%7B9e6bb373-d6a9-4f4f-809f-686548c66eb2%7D |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref>
== Political career == === Early years === Between 1996 and 2000 he served as a city councillor for Peñalolén.<ref name="estrategia1" />
On 11 March 2000 he assumed office as dual minister of Housing and Urbanism and National Assets under President Ricardo Lagos.<ref name="estrategia1" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id=%7Ba21a306e-cc56-4766-ac19-6247aea23f27%7D |title=El Mercurio (Santiago), 7 January 2001, p.D12 |access-date=16 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195530/http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id=%7Ba21a306e-cc56-4766-ac19-6247aea23f27%7D |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>El Mercurio (Santiago), 5 March 2000, p.D29</ref>
He served as vice president for business development at Sonda from June 2001, a position he resigned from in order to run for mayor of Peñalolén in 2004. He won the election with 48.60% of the vote.<ref name="estrategia1" /><ref name="elsabado1" />
=== Mayor of Peñalolén === Among his most emblematic projects as mayor were the construction of three new primary healthcare centers of higher-than-usual standards, the end of the ''Nazur land occupation'' and the creation of a park on that site,<ref>[http://www.lacuarta.cl/diario/2006/11/24/24.12.4a.CRO.PENALOLEIN.html La Cuarta (Santiago), 24 November 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131003712/http://www.lacuarta.cl/diario/2006/11/24/24.12.4a.CRO.PENALOLEIN.html}}</ref> a new police station in the Lo Hermida sector, the cultural and sports center Chimkowe, the installation of two innovative schools supported by the U.S.-based Microsoft, and the creation of a Municipal Housing Management Office to address the situation of thousands of overcrowded families.<ref>Diario Financiero (Santiago), 29 May 2006, p.12</ref>
In 2007, in an award ceremony organized by Radio Agricultura, he was chosen by his peers, together with Johnny Carrasco (mayor of Pudahuel), as the best mayor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id=%7Bc83534c3-c3ae-4a25-aaca-abf8adf27c8e%7D |title=El Mercurio (Santiago), 13 January 2008, p.D4 |access-date=16 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195936/http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id=%7Bc83534c3-c3ae-4a25-aaca-abf8adf27c8e%7D |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref> He received the same distinction the following year in a vote coordinated by the newspaper ''La Segunda'', which surveyed all members of Congress of Chile and six of the country's most prestigious public policy think tanks.<ref>La Segunda (Santiago), 25 July 2008, p.24</ref>
In the October 2008 municipal elections he was re-elected with 58.42% of the vote (46,419 votes).<ref>[http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id={2ce27fb5-da21-46fa-b947-044cbcf9f4d6} El Mercurio (Santiago), 27 October 2008, p.C21]</ref> His party, however, suffered a significant electoral crisis that led to the resignation of its president, Senator Soledad Alvear. Orrego was mentioned as a possible successor to Deputy Jorge Burgos, who was serving as interim head of the party. However, his candidacy failed to gain traction, leaving the so-called ''Príncipes'' faction—comprising members such as Alberto Undurraga and Ignacio Walker—out of party leadership.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id=%7B790ee2a2-5ce9-4d03-af3c-c7a40a06e749%7D |title=El Mercurio (Santiago), 16 November 2008, p.D15 |access-date=16 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211633/http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id=%7B790ee2a2-5ce9-4d03-af3c-c7a40a06e749%7D |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref>
===Presidential pre-candidacy=== In March 2012, Orrego officially announced his intention to seek his party's nomination ahead of the 2013 Chilean presidential election.<ref>[http://www.cooperativa.cl/claudio-orrego-quiero-ser-presidente-para-la-gente-de-a-pie/prontus_nots/2012-03-02/104845.html Radio Cooperativa, 2 March 2012, 10:45]</ref><ref>El Mercurio (Santiago), 3 March 2012, p.C4</ref>
He secured the nomination in January 2013 after defeating Senator Ximena Rincón in a nationwide primary election.<ref>[http://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/pais/politica/democracia-cristiana/claudio-orrego-gano-las-primarias-internas-y-es-oficialmente-el-candidato-presidencial-dc/2013-01-19/195426.html Radio Cooperativa, 19 January 2013]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://diario.latercera.com/2013/01/20/01/contenido/pais/31-128084-9-orrego-se-impone-a-rincon-en-primarias-dc-donde-votaron-mas-de-56-mil-personas.shtml |title=La Tercera (Santiago), 20 January 2013, p.4 |access-date=20 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520150646/http://diario.latercera.com/2013/01/20/01/contenido/pais/31-128084-9-orrego-se-impone-a-rincon-en-primarias-dc-donde-votaron-mas-de-56-mil-personas.shtml |archive-date=20 May 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 13 April he was officially proclaimed his party's candidate for the 2013 Nueva Mayoría presidential primary held on 30 June.<ref>[http://cnnchile.com/noticia/2013/04/13/claudio-orrego-fue-proclamado-oficialmente-candidato-presidencial-de-la-dc CNN Chile, 13 April 2013, 14:38]</ref>
In that primary he finished third among the four candidates of the Nueva Mayoría coalition, obtaining 8.86% (189,582 votes), behind Michelle Bachelet (73.05%) and independent candidate Andrés Velasco.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://impresa.elmercurio.com/default.aspx?dt=2013-07-01 |title=El Mercurio (Santiago), 1 July 2013, p.C7 |access-date=2 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123013026/http://impresa.elmercurio.com/default.aspx?dt=2013-07-01 |archive-date=23 November 2021 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.latercera.com/noticia/politica/2013/07/674-530826-9-tercer-lugar-de-orrego-instala-peor-escenario-de-la-dc.shtml |title=La Tercera (Santiago), 1 July 2013, p.16 |access-date=2 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130710043644/http://www.latercera.com/noticia/politica/2013/07/674-530826-9-tercer-lugar-de-orrego-instala-peor-escenario-de-la-dc.shtml |archive-date=10 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Following Bachelet's victory in the presidential election, he was appointed Intendant of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, a position he held from March 2014 to March 2018.
===Governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region === In 2020 he launched his candidacy in the 2021 Santiago Metropolitan Region gubernatorial election, ultimately winning the office in a close runoff against Karina Oliva of the Broad Front. He assumed office on 14 July 2021, becoming the first elected governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region.
In September 2022 he resigned from the Christian Democratic Party, in which he had been a member for more than thirty years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/2022/10/10/sigue-la-salida-de-historicos-dc-claudio-orrego-pone-fin-a-su-militancia-tras-33-anos/|title=Sigue la salida de «históricos» DC: Claudio Orrego pone fin a su militancia, tras 33 años|work=El Mostrador|date=10 October 2022|access-date=10 October 2022}}</ref>
In 2024 he gathered the required signatures to run as an independent candidate in the 2024 Chilean regional elections.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lanacion.cl/claudio-orrego-fui-el-unico-gobernador-a-reeleccion-que-tuvo-que-juntar-firmas/ |title=Claudio Orrego: “Fui el único gobernador a reelección que tuvo que juntar firmas” |last=Schüller |first=Patricia |work=La Nación |date=7 November 2024 |access-date=7 November 2024}}</ref> He advanced to the runoff election against the Chile Vamos candidate Francisco Orrego.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latercera.com/politica/noticia/claudio-orrego-y-francisco-orrego-pasan-a-segunda-vuelta-para-disputarse-la-region-metropolitana/5HKPCLMYDJH43INVNDDHGGQ4LM/|last=Mora|first=Helen|work=La Tercera|date=27 October 2024|title=Claudio Orrego y Francisco Orrego pasan a segunda vuelta en la carrera por la gobernación de la Región Metropolitana|access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Claudio Orrego Larraín}} * [http://www.orregopresidente.cl/ Official campaign website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728005735/http://www.orregopresidente.cl/ |date=2013-07-28 }} {{in lang|es}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orrego, Claudio}} Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Santiago, Chile Category:Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians Category:Saint George's College, Santiago alumni Category:Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Category:Ricardo Lagos cabinet ministers Category:Intendants of Santiago Metropolitan Region Category:Mayors of places in Chile Category:Presidents of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Student Federation Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni Category:Chilean people of Basque descent Category:Candidates for President of Chile Category:20th-century Chilean lawyers Orrego Category:Governors of the Santiago Metropolitan Region