Marisela Santibáñez

Marisela del Carmen Santibáñez Novoa (born 24 April 1975) is a Chilean actress, presenter, and politician of the Communist Party (PCCh). She has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies for District 14 since March 2018.

Biography Marisela Santibáñez was born in Santiago on 24 April 1975, the younger of two daughters of Rosario Novoa Benavente and Ricardo Fernando Santibáñez Moya. She grew up on in Estación Central, and completed her secondary education at the Luis Pasteur School in Providencia.

Media career Santibáñez studied theater under the guidance of Patricio Achurra, as well as social communication.

She has hosted and participated as a panelist on several television programs. In 2002, she hosted the late-night program on Mega. She competed on the reality shows La Granja VIP (2005) and (2009), both on Canal 13.

Political career Santibáñez actively participated in the presidential candidacy of Marco Enríquez-Ominami in 2009. She later joined the Progressive Party (PRO), which he formed in 2010. She received the majority of popular votes, but was not elected because, by the rules of the binomial system which rewards the two highest-voted lists, her list finished third behind those of Nueva Mayoría and the Alliance.

In the 2016 municipal elections, she was the coalition's candidate for mayor of San Bernardo, receiving 13,079 votes – equivalent to 25.54% – and losing to Independent Democratic Union candidate Nora Cuevas.

She again competed for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, this time for the new District 14, in the 2017 parliamentary election. She received 35,913 votes – equivalent to 11.9% of the total – and was elected, becoming the PRO's first deputy and its sole representative in the legislative session that began on 11 March 2018. In September 2019, she joined the PCCh.

In October 2025, Santibáñez introduced legislation to make Chile the first country to ban octopus farming, citing environmental and animal welfare concerns.