María Soledad Barría

María Soledad Barría Iroume (born 27 October 1953) is a Chilean physician who served as minister during the first government of Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010).

Biography She is the daughter of María Margarita Iroume Carrere and Daniel Osvaldo Barría Sánchez, a lawyer and Christian Democrat politician who served as Undersecretary of Agriculture during the administration of President Eduardo Frei Montalva and later as Chilean ambassador to Yugoslavia. She spent part of her adolescence in that country and developed a sympathy for the government of Josip Broz Tito.

After returning to Chile, she began studying medicine at the University of Chile, where she openly supported the left-wing Popular Unity (UP) coalition. During those years, she met Michelle Bachelet, who was two years ahead of her in medical school and a classmate of her brother Cristián.

During the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, she collaborated with the Vicariate of Solidarity in medical assistance programs, working alongside Fanny Pollarolo.

She then spent a year in Paris, France, undertaking advanced training in kidney transplantation. During the 1990s, she joined the Ministry of Health, where she renewed her acquaintance with Michelle Bachelet.

During her tenure, Chile's healthcare reform was further advanced through the implementation of the AUGE Plan, which sought to modernize the provision of health services by establishing explicit guarantees of coverage for selected medical conditions.

Her tenure, however, was marked by a series of high-profile controversies, including disputes with professional associations, the inauguration of a hospital that was not fully prepared to operate, and, most notably, a scandal involving failures in notifying individuals infected with HIV in Iquique. The episode ultimately led her to tender her resignation on 27 October 2008, which was accepted the following day.

She later ran for mayor of Puente Alto as the candidate of the Concertación coalition in the 2012 Chilean municipal elections. She was defeated by National Renewal politician Germán Codina.

She ran again in the 2016 Chilean municipal elections, this time as the candidate of the New Majority coalition, but was once again defeated by Codina.