Sergio Bitar, MPA

Sergio Bitar, MPA is a Chilean politician and economist. He is currently the President of the Fundación por la Democracia in Chile and a nonresident senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, where he heads the Global Trends and Latin America’s Future Initiative. He is also working on the project “Lessons Learned” at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) with Abraham Lowenthal on transitions to democracy.
 
Sergio served as the Minister of Mining under President Salvador Allende in 1973 and was detained under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, imprisoned in Dawson Island, and then forced into exile (1974–1984), living in Venezuela and the United States. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Institute for International Development (1974–76), Visiting Fellow, Latin American Program, Smithsonian Institution (1982–83). After his return to Chile, he was elected president of the Party for Democracy on three occasions (1992–1994, 1997–2000, and 2006–2008) and served as a Senator (1994–2002). In addition, he served as the Minister of Education under President Ricardo Lagos and Minister of Public Works under President Michelle Bachelet.
 
His recent books include: Democratic Transitions: Conversations with World Leaders, Johns Hopkins University Press / The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2015; Tendencias Globales y el Futuro de America Latina, CEPAL, 2014; How and Why Latin America must think about the Future, Inter-American Dialogue, 2013; El Gobierno de Allende, Pehuén, Santiago, 3rd edition, 2013; Chile, Bolivia, Peru. Un Futuro Común, Aguilar, 2011; Dawson Isla 10, 13th edition, Pehuén, 2010; and Chile Mas Allá del Bicentenario, Planeta, 2009. Read the full list of his publications! The movie Dawson Isla 10 was based on his book and was Chile’s official submission to the 82nd Academy Award’s Foreign Language category in 2010.
 
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