Minister Secretary General of the Presidency Jose Antonio Viera-gallo of Chile
Viera-Gallo has over ten years experience in parliament and his appointment was warmly welcomed by Chiles rightwing opposition who see him as a man they can deal with.
Born in 1943, Jos Antonio Viera-Gallo received his law degree from the Catholic University of Chile in 1967.
Viera-Gallo was Under Secretary of Justice from 1970 to 1973, Adjunct Executive Secretary of IDOC, the International Documentation Center in Rome from 1977 to 1984, and a member of the Steering Committee of the Human Rights Information and Documentation System (HURIDOCS) in Oslo, Norway from 1978 to 1984.
In 1998, Viera-Gallo was elected Senator for District 12, the Coastal Bo Bo Region, a position he held until 2005.
Opposition Senator Carlo Bianchi in an interview with La Prensa Austral said he felt disappointed because Viera-Gallo was only 48 hours in the region and preached as if he had spent all his life in Magallanes.
Aged less than thirty, Viera-Gallo was a Member of Parliament during the left-wing elected government of president Salvador Allende, representing the Socialist Party of Chile.