Manuel José Ossandón

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ossandón and the second or maternal family name is Irarrázabal.
Manuel José Ossandón
President of the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 March 2025
Preceded byJosé García Ruminot
Member of the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
11 March 2014
Preceded byEna von Baer
Constituency7th Circumscription
Mayor of Puente Alto
In office
6 December 2000 – 6 December 2012
Preceded bySergio Roubilard
Succeeded byGermán Codina
Mayor of Pirque
In office
6 September 1992 – 6 December 2000
Preceded byHernan Prieto
Succeeded byAlejandro Rosales
Personal details
Born (1962-08-24) 24 August 1962
Viña del Mar, Chile
PartyRenovación Nacional
ChildrenEight (among them, Manuel)
RelativesXimena Ossandón (sister)
OccupationPolitician
Professionagricultural technician

Manuel José Ossandón Irarrázabal (24 August 1962) is a Chilean agricultural technician and politician. Since March 2022, he has served as a senator of the Republic, representing the 7th Constituency (Santiago Metropolitan Region), elected in the 2021 parliamentary elections, for the 2022–2030 legislative term.[1] Previously, he held the same office, representing the 8th Constituency, Santiago Oriente, during the 2014–2022 period.[1] Since March 26, 2025, he has served as President of the Senate of Chile.[2]

He is a member of the National Renewal (RN) party, although he remained independent from July 2016 to July 2017, when he returned to the party. He served as mayor of the Santiago communes of Pirque, from 1992 to 2000 — for two consecutive terms —, and Puente Alto, between 2000 and 2012 — for three consecutive terms. His career has been marked by a social-conservative line.[3][4]

In July 2017, he was a presidential pre-candidate for the center-right coalition Chile Vamos, running in the coalition’s primary, where he placed second behind former president of the Republic, Sebastián Piñera.[1][5]

Family and studies

He was born in Viña del Mar, on August 24, 1962. Son of Roberto Ossandón Valdés and Ximena Irarrázabal Correa,[6] he is the brother of fellow RN politician Ximena Ossandón. He is married to Paula Lira Correa —with whom he has eight children: Manuel José (who served as a member of the Constitutional Convention), Paula, Benjamín (priest),[7] Nicolás, Jacinta, Pedro Pablo, Juan Diego and María—.[8]

He completed his primary and secondary studies at «Tabancura» and «Colegio de los Sagrados Corazones de Santiago» schools in Santiago.[1] After finishing high school, he pursued higher education at the National Institute of Professional Training «Inacap», where he obtained the title of agricultural technician, later completing a diploma in business administration at Adolfo Ibáñez University (UAI).[8]

From 1982 to 1992, he worked as a farmer and agricultural manager of «Sociedad Agrícola Santa Magdalena Ltda».[1]

Political career

A self-described social Christian, Ossandón's platform has emphasized poverty reduction, increased quality of life, and anti-corruption.[9][10]

Ossandón decided to run for mayor in the rural town of Pirque, a suburb of Santiago. He won with 21.86% of the votes and became mayor in 1992. He was re-elected for the next term, garnering 64.52% of the vote. In 2000, he decided to run for mayor in the largest municipality of Chile, Puente Alto. He won with 45% of the vote, was re-elected in 2004 with 60%, then re-elected again in 2008 with 70%.

Ossandón was elected a senator of Chile for the 8th Senatorial District in the parliamentarian elections of 2013, for the period 2014–2022. He ran for president in 2017, obtaining 27.6% in the presidential primaries (Sebastian Piñera won the candidacy with 57.5% of the vote). Ossandón submitted 34 motions in 2015, the most of any senator that year.[11]

Ossandón was candidate to the primaries elections for the «Chile Vamos» coalition and the most popular candidate of the center right according to the CEP poll of 2016.[12]

In May 2020, Ossandón contracted COVID-19 and recovered the following month.[13][14] An opponent of same-sex marriage, he criticized President Sebastián Piñera for pushing the bill legalizing it in the Chilean Congress.[15]

Ossandón was elected a senator of Chile for the 7th Senatorial District for the period 2022–2030, and became president of the Senate on 26 March 2025.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Parliamentary Biographical Reviews; Manuel José Ossandón Irarrázabal". Library of the National Congress of Chile. 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  2. ^ Senate of Chile (2025-03-26). "New Senate Board: Senator Manuel José Ossandón elected president and Ricardo Lagos vice president". Retrieved 2025-03-26.
  3. ^ "The "social right," according to Ossandón". La Tercera (in Spanish). July 14, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  4. ^ "La reflexión de Ossandón: "El sexo anal, como se dice, no es sexo... es otra cosa"". The Clinic Online (in Spanish). September 27, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  5. ^ "Manuel Ossandón: "Renuncio a RN para tener la libertad de ir a primarias o a primera vuelta"". La Tercera. 2016-07-17. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  6. ^ Mauricio Pilleux Cepeda (April 8, 2013). "Familia Ossandón". www.genealog.cl. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  7. ^ "Dos nuevos sacerdotes para servir en la Iglesia de Santiago". iglesia.cl. Archdiocese of Santiago. September 16, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Municipalidad de Puente Alto. "Vida política". www.mpuentealto.cl. Archived from the original (PHP) on August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  9. ^ "Ossandón presenta proyecto para terminar con el monopolio de Transbank". La Tercera. 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  10. ^ "Ossandón se reúne con contralor general y anuncia sus 10 medidas presidenciales contra la corrupción". Emol.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  11. ^ "Senador Ossandón destacado como el parlamentario que más proyectos presentó durante el 2015". La Tercera. 2015-12-30. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  12. ^ "Estudio Nacional de Opinión Pública, Noviembre-Diciembre 2016 - Centro de Estudios Públicos". Cepchile.cl. 2017-01-05. Archived from the original on 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  13. ^ "Manuel José Ossandón es el tercer senador contagiado con coronavirus". El Dínamo (in Spanish). 18 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Senador Manuel José Ossandón da positivo a test Covid-19 y se convierte en el tercer parlamentario contagiado". El Mostrador (in Spanish). 18 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Al rojo la polémica por el matrimonio igualitario en Chile Vamos: Ossandón califica el anuncio como "una puñalada tremenda" del Presidente Piñera". El Mostrador. 2021-06-21. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  16. ^ "Manuel José Ossandón Irarrázabal - Reseñas biográficas parlamentarias" (in Spanish). Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
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