Bettina Mariela Horst von Thadden (born 30 May 1971) is a Chilean economist and public policy figure. She is the executive director of the Libertad y Desarrollo think tank and a member of the Senior Public Management System's council. She has also served as a member of the Public Enterprise System's council and as president of the Liberal Network for Latin America (RELIAL).
Horst previously headed the Monetary Area of the Research Department of the Central Bank of Chile and was a senior fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in Washington, D.C. She was a member of the Regional Council of Santiago Metropolitan Region from 2005 to 2008 and has held several positions at Libertad y Desarrollo, including general manager and director of public policy.
In 2023, Horst was one of 24 members of the Expert Commission, an appointed body tasked with preparing a draft constitution for consideration by the elected Constitutional Council. She was nominated by the Senate and sponsored by the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), and served on the commission's subcommission on economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.
Early life and education
Bettina Mariela Horst von Thadden was born in Santiago, Chile, on 30 May 1971, the daughter of Heriberto Gustavo Mario Horst Pretzer and Reinhild von Thadden Graser.
She studied commercial engineering at Gabriela Mistral University, graduating after studying there from 1990 to 1994. She subsequently obtained a master's degree in economics with a specialization in public policy from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in 2001.
Horst also taught microeconomics at Gabriela Mistral University and Finis Terrae University from 1995 to 2002, and taught a course in principles of microeconomics at the Universidad del Desarrollo in 2016.
Career
Horst joined the Central Bank of Chile in 1995 and became head of the Monetary Area of its Research Department, a position she held until 2000. Other accounts of her career date her tenure in that position to 1997–2000. She was subsequently a senior fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in Washington, D.C., from 2011 to 2013.
From 2005 to 2008, Horst was a member of the Regional Council of the Santiago Metropolitan Region.
Horst joined Libertad y Desarrollo in 2009 and subsequently held several positions there, including economist, director, general manager and deputy director of public policy. In June 2021, she became the organization's executive director.
She was appointed to the council of the Public Enterprise System, serving from 2018 to 2022. In 2016, she was appointed by President Michelle Bachelet to the Council of the Senior Public Management System for a six-year term. She was subsequently renewed for a second six-year term, serving from 2022 to 2028.
In October 2022, Horst was elected president of the board of the Liberal Network for Latin America (RELIAL), a network of liberal organizations in Latin America.
In 2023, Horst was recognized as one of the "100 Women Leaders", an annual recognition presented by El Mercurio and Mujeres Empresarias. She had previously received the recognition in 2008, 2019 and 2021.
2023 constitutional process
On 25 January 2023, the Senate selected Horst as one of its 12 nominees to the 24-member Expert Commission created as part of Chile's 2023 constitutional process. The commission was tasked with preparing a preliminary draft constitution for consideration by the Constitutional Council.
The commission began its work on 6 March 2023. Horst was assigned to the subcommission on economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, alongside Alejandra Krauss, Teodoro Ribera, Alexis Cortés, Jaime Arancibia and Flavio Quezada.
The commission produced the preliminary constitutional draft that was subsequently considered and amended by the Constitutional Council. Horst participated in the commission's later review of the Council's proposed amendments in October 2023. The constitutional process concluded with a national plebiscite on 17 December 2023, in which the proposed constitution was rejected.
Personal life
Horst has been married to Darío Paya since 1994. Paya is a former member of the Chamber of Deputies and former Chilean ambassador to the Organization of American States. They have four children.
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