Fernando Echeverría

Fernando Echeverría Vial (born 19 November 1961) is a Chilean civil engineer and politician who served as Minister of Energy during the first government of Sebastián Piñera.

Biography

Early life and education He studied at Colegio San Ignacio in the Santiago commune of El Bosque and later pursued a degree in civil engineering at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) between 1972 and 1978. He later obtained a diploma in business management from the University of Chile.

Although politically independent, those close to him describe him in his youth as opposed to the government of the Popular Unity (1970–1973). shortly after graduating from university, he founded a construction company with two classmates, Francisco Javier Silva and Álvaro Izquierdo.

Among his closest friends are the businesspersons Juan Ignacio Silva, Andrés Santa Cruz, José Cox, and the lawyer and politician Andrés Allamand. He left that position in July 2011 to assume office at the Ministry of Energy, where he remained for only three days, citing a potential conflict of interest.

In 2012, as chairman of the board, he led the stock market debut of Echeverría Izquierdo on the Santiago Stock Exchange.