Jacqueline van Rysselberghe | |
|---|---|
 Van Rysselberghe in 2014 | |
| President of Independent Democratic Union | |
| Assumed office 7 January 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Hernán Larraín |
| Senator of the Republic Circumscription 12, Biobío Costa | |
| In office 11 March 2014 – 11 March 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Hosain Sabag Castillo |
| Intendent of the Biobío Region | |
| In office 11 March 2010 – 3 April 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Jaime Tohá González |
| Succeeded by | Víctor Lobos del Fierro |
| Mayor of Concepción | |
| In office 6 December 2000 – 10 March 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Ariel Ulloa Azócar |
| Succeeded by | Patricio Kuhn Artigues |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 February 1965 Concepción, Chile |
| Parent(s) | Enrique van Rysselberghe Varela María Norma Herrera Caire |
Jacqueline van Rysselberghe Herrera[lower-alpha 1] (born 3 February 1965) is a Chilean surgeon and politician. She is a member of the right-wing party Independent Democratic Union (UDI) was National Senator from 2014 to 2022.[1][2]
She was mayor of Concepción from 2000 until her resignation in March 2010 to take the office of Intendant of the Biobío Region. Previously, she had been a city council member since 1992.[3] On 3 April 2011 she resigned as Intendant.
Family
Her surname comes from Flanders, Belgium.[4] Her great grandfather was Max van Rysselberghe, an engineer who left Belgium when he was about 20 years old on what was originally planned to be a six-month-long scientific expedition to Antarctica. The expedition lasted two years. Reports of her connection to the Pierre Van Rysselberghe dynasty are, at this point, unverified. During the first year, plans to return to Europe were abandoned when the ice in the waterways failed to thaw during the summer. In Belgium, Max met Isabel Martínez, the daughter of Valentin Martínez, Chilean Minister of Public Works, who at that time had escaped to Belgium after the coup in Chile. Max and Isabel were married in Europe, and in 1905 left for Chile. This couple had four children, Lydia, Yvonne, and Henry, the grandfather of Jacqueline and Daniel.[3]
Controversy
On 23 January 2017 an investigative report published by the news agency Ciper Chile disclosed a series of email exchanges which had happened in 2014 between Jacqueline van Rysselberghe and Luis Felipe Moncada, President of ASIPES (Fishing Industry Association of the Bío Bío Region) while she was presiding the Senate Fishing Committee. That committee was discussing a law that would benefit smaller, artisan fishermen so it was opposed by ASIPES. In those emails, Moncada gave explicit instructions to the Senator on how to act in the committee, including clauses to put in the law. Former assistant to the Senator Joel Chávez declared to prosecutors on 4 August 2016 that van Rysselberghe had been receiving monies from ASIPES since the municipal elections of 2000,[5] when she was first elected Mayor of Concepción. The Senator confirmed the existence of the email exchanges but declared "it had not influenced legislative work."[6]
Notes
- ↑ Spanish pronunciation: [ɟʝaˈklim ban riselˈβeɾɣe (e)ˈreɾa], Dutch: [ʒaːˈkliɱ vɑn ˈrɛisəlˌbɛrɣə ʔɛˈrɛraː]. In isolation, the first name is pronounced [ɟʝaˈklin] in Spanish and [ʒaːˈklin] in Dutch.
References
- ↑ "Van Rysselberghe renuncia a la Intendencia del Biobío y frenaría acusación constitucional" (in Spanish). Emol. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ↑ "Reseña Biográfica Parlamentaria Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe Herrera" (in Spanish). Historia Política Legislativa del Congreso Nacional de Chile. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- 1 2 Dettwiler Rodríguez, Gretel (17 January 2008). "De la antártica al municipio penquista – Los Van Rysselberghe, belgas dignos de novela de aventuras". El Sur (in Spanish). Concepción. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ↑ Revista Cosas Archived 25 December 2004 at archive.today Jacqueline van Rysselberghe: "Si la política invade a mi familia, la dejo" por André Jouffé
- ↑ Ramírez, Pedro and Nicolás Sepúlveda (23 January 2017). "Así pauteó Asipes a la senadora Van Rysselberghe cuando presidió la Comisión de Pesca". Ciper Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ↑ Pinto, Fabiola (24 January 2017). "Van Rysselberghe: Hubo correspondencia con Asipes pero no influyó en la labor legislativa". Biobiochile (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 January 2017.