Patricio Alejandro Hales Dib (born 11 September 1946) is a Chilean politician who served as a parliamentarian in his country.
He has been the founder, director, and active member of various political, social, cultural, and human rights organizations. He was a founding partner of Fundación Chile XXI, together with former President Ricardo Lagos.
He was also a member of the Chilean Planning Society and of the Santiago Biennial Award ëUna Ciudad Trizadaû, and has written press columns on environmental and urban issues.
He was born in Santiago on 11 September 1946. He is the son of Adela Dib and Alejandro Hales, former Minister of State and Ambassador of Chile to Bolivia.
He is married to MarÃÂa de los ÃÂngeles Swinburn Novoa and is the father of five children. One of his daughters, Teresa Hales, is an actress.
He completed his primary and secondary education at the Sagrados Corazones de Manquehue School and at the General Bernardo OâÂÂHiggins Military School. He later entered the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Chile, where he graduated as an architect.
After obtaining his degree, he devoted himself to the design and construction of social housing and high-rise buildings for real estate companies and private clients. He also served as Professor of Urbanism at the University of Chile, the Academia de Humanismo Cristiano University, and at the Night School for Construction Workers. In addition, he was a member of the Advisory Council for Urban and Land Policy of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
During his university years, he served as president of the Student Center of the School of Architecture and as Secretary General of the Student Federation of the University of Chile (FECh).
In the political sphere, he participated in the Central Committee of the Communist Youth. He was the first public spokesperson of the Communist Party of Chile while it remained illegal during the military regime of General Augusto Pinochet. He was also a founding member of the Democratic Popular Movement, a political coalition that existed between 1983 and 1987.
He led an internal dissent within the Communist Party advocating its democratization and promoted its registration in the Electoral Records for the 1988 national plebiscite. He also contributed as a columnist to various alternative publications during the dictatorship.
In 1990, he joined the Party for Democracy (PPD), where he served as Secretary General. He later became a member of its Political Commission, National Directorate, and General Council. During the presidential campaign of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, he was Vice President of the Professionalsâ sector and subsequently joined the campaign team of Ricardo Lagos.
In April 2014, he was appointed Ambassador of Chile to France by President Michelle Bachelet. He served in that position until 16 June 2016.