Piñera, Sebastián (Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique) [key], 1949–, Chilean business executive and politician, president of Chile (2010–14, 2018–), grad. Catholic Univ. of Chile, 1971, Ph.D Harvard, 1975. The son of an ambassador, he made a fortune in banking, largely through his involvement the introduction of credit cards into Chile, and in subsequent airline, television, and other investements. A moderate conservative who opposed the Pinochet regime, he became a member of the National Renewal party and served as a senator (1990–98). In the 2006 presidential election he lost after a runoff to Socialist Michele Bachelet, but four years later he won the presidency, defeating former president Eduardo Frei. The first conservative to be elected president since the end of Pinochet's rule, he appointed a cabinet consisting mainly of techocrats and took office in the aftermath of the worst earthquake Chile had suffered in five decades. A candidate for president again in 2017, he became the Chile Vamos conservative coalition candidate and won the presidency after a runoff.
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