Mario Adolfo del Carmen Fernández Baeza (born 22 November 1947 in Rancagua) is a Chilean lawyer, professor and politician, member of the Christian Democratic Party. He served as the Minister of the Interior and Public Security in Michelle Bachelet's second term.

This article uses bare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot. (September 2022)

Quick Facts Interior Minister of Chile, President ...

Mario Fernández Baeza
Interior Minister of Chile
In office 8 June 2016 – 11 March 2018
President	Michelle Bachelet
Preceded by	Jorge Burgos
Succeeded by	Andrés Chadwick
Defense Minister of Chile
In office 11 March 2000 – 7 January 2002
President	Ricardo Lagos
Preceded by	Edmundo Pérez Yoma
Succeeded by	Michelle Bachelet
Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency
In office 7 January 2002 – 3 March 2003
President	Ricardo Lagos
Preceded by	Álvaro García Hurtado
Succeeded by	Francisco Huenchumilla
Personal details
Born	(1947-11-22) 22 November 1947 (age 76) Rancagua, Chile
Political party	Christian Democratic Party (Chile)
Education	Universidad de Chile Heidelberg University

Close

Previously he served as Minister of State of president Ricardo Lagos, minister of the Chilean Constitutional Court (2006-2011), and ambassador of Chile to Germany, Austria, and Uruguay.

He studied in the Public School Nª 3 and the Liceo de Hombres, both in his native town.^[1] He was secretary and vice-president of the Students Centre of his school, and its delegate in two National Congresses of Secondary Students. He also was member of the Youth of Catholic Students.

Later he studied in the Universidad de Chile Law School in Valparaíso, between 1967 and 1969, when he moved to the Law School in Santiago. He got a grade in Juridical and Social Sciences in 1975. Afterwards he earned doctorates in political science, history, international right public and philosophy from Heidelberg University, Germany.^[2][3]

He has been Law professor in the Diego Portales University, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and University of Chile, among others.^[3]

He joined the Christian Democrat Party in 1966. He served as undersecretary of Aviation and War during the governments of the presidents Patricio Aylwin and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (1990-1993, 1994-1995 and 1996-1999).^[2][3][4][5]

In 2000 he was appointed by president Ricardo Lagos as minister of National Defence, until 2002, when a cabinet reshuffle assigned the Ministry to Michelle Bachelet, and Fernández was named Minister General Secretariat of the Presidency (2002-2003).^[6] Later he was designated ambassador to Germany.^[7][8]

On 13 December 2005, the Senate appointed him minister of the Constitutional Court of Chile, starting on 1 January 2006.^[9][10] He resigned on 31 March 2011, to join the consulting firm Latinus and restart his teaching classes in different universities.^[11][12]

In 2014 he assumed, in the second term of Michelle Bachelet, as ambassador to Germany, being reassigned in mid-2015 to Uruguay. On 8 June 2016, president Bachelet appointed him as minister of the Interior and Public Security, in replacement of the renounced Jorge Burgos.^[13]

Fernández is an Opus Dei member.^[14]

• Más allá de la transición, Santiago, 1986
• Las políticas sociales en el Cono Sur, 1975-1985, Santiago, 1986
• (ed., with Dieter Nohlen and O. Bareiro) Kooperation und Konflikt im La Plata-Becken, Saarbrücken/Fort Lauderdale, 1986
• (with Dieter Nohlen and A. van Klaveren) Demokratie und Aussenpolitik in Lateinamerika, Opladen, 1991
• (with Dieter Nohlen) Presidencialismo versus parlamentarismo en América Latina, Caracas, 1991
• (with Dieter Nohlen) El Presidencialismo renovado, Caracas, 1998