Jorge Máximo Arturo Pacheco Matte (born 12 February 1953) is a Chilean economist and politician. He served as minister of Michelle Bachelet's second government (2014−2018), specifically in Energy.
Early life
Born in the capital city Santiago de Chile, Pacheco is the son of Christian-democratic politician, Máximo Pacheco Gómez He attended Saint George's College, school located in Las Condes. He studied at University of Chile, earning a Bachelor of Arts in business administration. He finished in 1976 with the specialty of business manager. He continued there and completed a MBA with a mention in economics.
He married designer Soledad Flanagan, with whom he fathered four daughters.
Career
At university Pacheco was a member of the Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU), a Christian socialist political movement ally of socialist president Salvador Allende from 1970 to 1973. After the 1973 coup d'état and the military dictatorship, he joined the Socialist Party.
In the late 1990s and 2000s, he was a close collaborator of the presidential campaigns of Ricardo Lagos (1999−00), and Michelle Bachelet (2005−06). However, during those governments, he worked for American pulp and paper company International Paper (2000−2012).
Pacheco returned to Chile in 2013 after leaving the business world. He helped Bachelet in her campaign for the general elections. Once re-elected, she appointed him as Minister of Energy in January; he took office on 11 March 2014.
On 19 October 2016, Pacheco resigned from the ministry to become the generalissimo of Lagos' presidential pre-candidacy.
