Camila Vallejo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Camila Vallejo
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Camila Vallejo in 2024
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| Minister General Secretariat of Government | |
| Assumed office 11 March 2022 |
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| President | Gabriel Boric |
| Preceded by | Jaime Bellolio |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile | |
| In office 11 March 2018 – 11 March 2022 |
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| Preceded by | District established |
| Constituency | District 12 of the Santiago Metropolitan Region |
| In office 11 March 2014 – 11 March 2018 |
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| Preceded by | Carlos Montes Cisternas |
| Succeeded by | District dissolved |
| Constituency | District 26 of the Santiago Metropolitan Region |
| President of the University of Chile Student Federation | |
| In office 24 November 2010 – 16 November 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Julio Sarmiento |
| Succeeded by | Gabriel Boric |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 April 1988 Santiago, Chile |
| Political party | Communist |
| Domestic partners | Julio Sarmiento (2011–2016) Abel Zicavo (2016–present) |
| Children | 1 |
| Residences | La Florida, Chile |
| Alma mater | University of Chile |
| Profession | Geographer |
Camila Antonia Amaranta Vallejo Dowling (born 28 April 1988) is a Chilean politician and former student leader. She is currently the Minister General Secretariat of Government for Chile. She started this job on 11 March 2022.
Camila Vallejo is a member of the Communist Party of Chile. Before becoming a minister, she was a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile. This is like being a representative in a country's parliament.
She became well-known as the leader of the University of Chile Student Federation (FECh). She was also a spokesperson for student groups during big student protests in Chile from 2011 to 2013. Many people see her as one of the most important communist figures in Chile in the 21st century. The New York Times Magazine even called her "the world's most glamorous revolutionary."
Contents
About Camila Vallejo
Early Life and Education
Camila Vallejo was born in Santiago, Chile. Her parents, Reinaldo Vallejo and Mariela Dowling, were both members of the Communist Party of Chile. They were also active in the Chilean resistance during the time of the military government led by Augusto Pinochet.
She grew up in the areas of Macul and La Florida. She went to a private school called Colegio Raimapu. In 2006, she started studying geography at the University of Chile. While there, she became interested in politics and joined the Chilean Communist Youth group in 2007. She finished her geography degree in July 2013.
A Strong Student Leader
In 2008, Camila Vallejo became a counselor for the University of Chile Student Federation (FECh). In November 2010, she was chosen as its president. She was only the second woman to lead this student group in its 105-year history.
In 2010, she and four other students made a video called "Students of the Left." It talked about how education problems showed bigger issues in society. Camila Vallejo became a very important voice during the student protests in Chile in 2011. She worked with other student leaders like Giorgio Jackson and Camilo Ballesteros.
Because of her role, she even received threats. In August 2011, Chile's Supreme Court ordered police to protect her. In October 2011, she was elected to a leadership role in the Communist Youth of Chile.
In December 2011, she ran for re-election as FECh president but lost to Gabriel Boric. Interestingly, Boric later appointed her to his government when he became president in 2022. Even after her term as student president ended, Camila Vallejo continued to speak out for student rights and workers' rights.
Becoming a Deputy
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In November 2012, the Communist Party of Chile chose Camila Vallejo to run for Congress in the 2013 elections. At first, she said she wouldn't support Michelle Bachelet for president. But she changed her mind when her party decided to support Bachelet. She said it was "not an easy decision."
After the elections on 17 November 2013, Camila Vallejo was elected to represent District 26 of La Florida. She won with more than 43 percent of the votes. This was one of the biggest wins in that election.
She joined other former student leaders in Congress, including Giorgio Jackson, Gabriel Boric, and Karol Cariola. They were sometimes called the "student bench." They worked hard on new laws about education that were suggested by Michelle Bachelet's government.
Camila Vallejo became a well-known figure in Congress and was re-elected in the 2017 general election. As a deputy, she mostly worked on committees for Education and Gender Equality. She was also a big supporter of a law to reduce the work week to 40 hours.
For the 2021 presidential election, Camila Vallejo supported Daniel Jadue from her party. She was a spokesperson for his campaign. After Jadue lost the primary election, she became a leader in Gabriel Boric's campaign, who later won the presidency.
Minister Secretary General of Government
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After Gabriel Boric was elected president, he chose Camila Vallejo to lead the Ministry General Secretariat of Government. In this role, she is the official spokesperson for the Boric government. She started this job on 11 March 2022.
She worked to support a new, more progressive Chilean constitution in the 2022 referendum. However, the proposal was rejected by voters.
In August 2023, Camila Vallejo met with a group of U.S. politicians visiting Chile. This group included Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Vallejo and Ocasio-Cortez both asked the U.S. government to apologize for its role in the 1973 coup in Chile.
Recognition and Impact
Many media outlets have called Camila Vallejo the most important and influential communist person in Chile in the 21st century. Some see her as a symbolic successor to another important politician, Gladys Marín.
In August 2011, she was featured on the front page of the German newspaper Die Zeit. In December of that year, readers of The Guardian newspaper voted her "Person of the Year" in an online poll.
She was also included in Time magazine's "100 People Who Mattered" list in December 2011. In March 2012, Newsweek magazine included her in their "150 Fearless Women" list. In 2012, a book of her writings called Podemos Cambiar el Mundo ("We Can Change the World") was published.
In August 2013, the band Desaparecidos released a song called "Te amo Camilla Vallejo." It was a tribute to her role in the student movement.
Personal Life
In April 2013, Camila Vallejo announced she was expecting her first child. The father was Julio Sarmiento, a leader of the Communist Youth of Chile and her partner at the time. She gave birth to a daughter on 6 October 2013.
In 2016, she shared that she and Julio Sarmiento had separated. She then began a relationship with musician Abel Zicavo. On 1 August 2024, Camila Vallejo announced she was pregnant with her second child, her first with Abel Zicavo, whom she had married. The next month, she shared that they were expecting a boy.
See also
- Leaders of the 2011 Chilean protests
- 2011 student protests in Chile
- Education in Chile
