Ana María Sempértegui

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Sempértegui and the second or maternal family name is Valdez.

Ana María Sempértegui Valdez (born 15 December 1958) is a Bolivian accountant and politician who served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz from 2010 to 2015.

Ana María Sempértegui
Official portrait, 2014
Member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz
In office 19 January 2010 – 18 January 2015
Substitute	Andrés Ortega (2010–2014)^[α] Sergio Fernando Ascarrunz (2014–2015)^[2]
Preceded by	Jorge Solari
Succeeded by	Wilson Santamaría
Constituency	Party list
Personal details
Born	Ana María Sempértegui Valdez (1958-12-15) 15 December 1958 (age 65) Potosí, Bolivia
Political party	Plan Progress for Bolivia
Alma mater	Tomás Frías University
Occupation	Accountant politician

Sempértegui was born to a mining family native to Potosí. She graduated as an accountant from Tomás Frías University and worked in the administrative area of the Potosí Development Corporation from 1985 to 1986 and 1988 and 1989. Following a brief retirement to focus on family, Sempértegui returned to the private sector, now in the city of La Paz. She held administrative and financial positions at various companies from 1995 to 2000 and 2008 to 2009.

In 2000, Sempértegui was hired as a minor public official in the El Alto municipal government [es]. She became a woman of confidence to José Luis Paredes [es], who appointed her as his advisor in the mayor's office. She was kept on board following Paredes's ascent as prefect in 2006 and remained in administration through his fall from power in 2008. Despite her lack of political experience, Paredes secured Sempértegui's election to parliament in 2009. His exile meant she was not re-nominated in 2014.

Early life and career

Early life and education

Ana María Sempértegui was born on 15 December 1958 in Potosí to a family of humble means involved in the department's mining industry.^[3] She was one of seven children – three girls and four boys – born to Héctor Sempértegui Toro, a mine mechanic stationed at Pailaviri, and his wife Elena Valdez Tardío, a career homemaker.^[4]

Sempértegui attended the Jaime Mendoza School for most of primary and received her intermediate school education at the 31 de Octubre Educational Unit,^[5] located on Antofagasta Avenue in the railway zone of Potosí.^[6] Both institutes were dependent on the Bolivian Mining Corporation [es] and catered exclusively to the children of mineworkers.^[7]

She then enrolled at the women's lyceum Sucre,^[4] where she received her secondary baccalaureate [es].^[8] After graduating, Sempértegui was accepted into Tomás Frías University,^[4] where she studied to become an accountant.^[8] She graduated with a licentiate in public accounting^[9] – the first in her family to be awarded a professional degree.^[5]

Accounting and business career

Sempértegui worked in administration at the Potosí Development Corporation (CORDEPO) from 1985 to 1986.^[9] Following the death of her father, she and her mother moved to Argentina to stay with family. She gained employment as a bookseller in Buenos Aires before being brought on as an accounting clerk at Termas Villavicencio but ultimately opted to accompany her mother's return trip to Bolivia.^[5]

Resettled in Potosí, Sempértegui returned to her previous job at CORDEPO between 1988 and 1989.^[9] Following her marriage, she retired from her profession to raise their three children. She accompanied her husband's postings to Monteagudo and later La Paz, where they settled and she reentered the workforce.^[5] Sempértegui lent her services to private sector corporations for the next half-decade: at Copla, an import-export company, from 1995 and 1996, and at the construction companies Ormachea and América from 1997 to 1998 and 1998 to 2000, respectively.^[8]

Public official

 

Official portrait, 2010

Sempértegui's late entrance into politics began indirectly.^[8] Encouraged by her husband, she answered a public tender to work at the El Alto municipal government [es] and was brought on as an administrative assistant at the Chief Financial Administrative Office.^[10] She became a close personal confidant to then-mayor José Luis Paredes [es],^[11] who appointed her general advisor of the El Alto Mayor's Office, a post she held throughout his two terms in office between 2000 and 2005.^[12]

Paredes was elected prefect of the La Paz Department in 2005 and,^[13] with his ascent to office early the following year,^[14] brought on Sempértegui to an advisory position within the new administration. She stayed on board for the duration of Paredes's term, resigning with the rest of the prefect's staff in 2008, after his successful recall and subsequent removal.^[15]

In the ensuing years, Sempértegui returned to the private sector as the administrative manager and financial controller of automotive manufacturer Toyosa from 2008 to 2009.^[8] At the same time, she also maintained a presence in the civil service as a consultant for the La Paz municipal government [es],^[9] as well as her ties to Paredes, as his personal accountant.^[16]

Chamber of Deputies

Election

Further information: 2009 Bolivian general election

In the leadup to the 2009 election, Paredes invited Sempértegui to join the National Convergence (CN) ticket as a candidate for parliament.^[17] In effect, Paredes's party, Plan Progress for Bolivia (PPB), granted CN the legal backing it needed to compete – giving him great latitude to select candidates as he saw fit.^[18] Just as he had done in 2005, Paredes placed members of his innermost circle – up to and including relatives – in the "safety zone" of CN's slate of candidates, regardless of past political experience or public notoriety.^[8] The result: Sempértegui was elected to the Chamber of Deputies,^[19] accompanied by two other members of PPB affiliated with Paredes – his former cabinet secretary, Alejandro Zapata, and his own son, Hernán Paredes.^[16]

Tenure

No sooner did the elections come to pass than CN – devoid of either clear leadership or ideological coherence – fell apart as an effective parliamentary alliance.^[20] In La Paz, the flight of Paredes – accosted on all sides by criminal cases and investigations – left the band of legislators elected under his watch to fend for themselves.^[21] In the aftermath of the former prefect's exile, Sempértegui recalled: "I had to carry out my term practically alone".^[22]

In legislation, Sempértegui's tenure made headwinds in the development of children's rights law. She was the main drafter behind a 2011 bill aimed at the prevention of school violence.^[23] Its contents were later incorporated into the more wide-ranging Child and Adolescent Code,^[19] enacted in 2014, near the end of her term.^[24] Sempértegui promoted similar legislation in her capacity as a representative to the Latin American Parliament, where she also elaborated a proposal for the creation of a regionwide network for the protection of child laborers.^[19]

Absent their political benefactor, Sempértegui and other Paredes allies were not nominated for reelection come the 2014 elections.^[25] A similar instance occurred with many of the lawmakers elected under the influence of Manfred Reyes Villa – CN's other political leader-turned-fugitive.^[26]

Commission assignments

• Planning, Economic Policy, and Finance Commission
  • Planning and Public Investment Committee (2010–2011, 2013–2014)^[27]
• Human Rights Commission
  • Gender Rights Committee (Secretary: 2014–2015)^[28]
• Government, Defense, and Armed Forces Commission
  • Fight Against Drug Trafficking Committee (2012–2013)^[29]
• International Relations and Migrant Protection Commission
  • International Economic Relations Committee (Secretary: 2011–2012)^[30]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Ana María Sempértegui

Year	Office	Party		Alliance		Votes			Result	Ref.
						Total	%	P.
2009	Deputy		Plan Progress for Bolivia		National Convergence	119,248	8.71%	2nd	Won	^[31]^[β]
Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ | Electoral Atlas

References

Notes

1. Resigned from office.^[1]
2. Presented on an electoral list. The data shown represents the share of the vote the entire party/alliance received in that constituency.

Footnotes

1. Oxígeno 2014a.
2. Oxígeno 2014b.
3. Vargas & Villavicencio 2014, p. 143; Romero Ballivián 2018, p. 558.
4. Gonzales Salas 2013, p. 175; Vargas & Villavicencio 2014, p. 143.
5. Gonzales Salas 2013, p. 175.
6. ECOS 2018.
7. Vargas & Villavicencio 2014, p. 143; ECOS 2018.
8. Romero Ballivián 2018, p. 558.
9. Vicepresidencia 2010.
10. Gonzales Salas 2013, pp. 175–176.
11. La Patria 2010, p. 8.
12. Gonzales Salas 2013, p. 176; Romero Ballivián 2018, p. 558.
13. Jornada 2005, p. 2.
14. Jornada 2006, p. 4.
15. La Prensa 2008; Gonzales Salas 2013, p. 176; Romero Ballivián 2018, p. 558.
16. Los Tiempos 2010.
17. Gonzales Salas 2013, p. 176.
18. Romero Ballivián 2018, pp. 440, 654.
19. Vargas & Villavicencio 2014, p. 143.
20. La Razón 2013.
21. El Deber 2010; Los Tiempos 2010.
22. Gonzales Salas 2013, p. 176: "Pasó el tiempo y recién me hice la idea de ... [que] tuve que llevar adelante mi gestión prácticamente sola".
23. Noticias Fides 2011.
24. Página Siete 2014.
25. Romero Ballivián 2018, pp. 440, 558, 654.
26. Romero Ballivián 2018, pp. 201, 231.
27. Vargas & Villavicencio 2014, pp. 312, 317.
28. Vargas & Villavicencio 2014, pp. 310.
29. Prensa Diputados 2012.
30. Prensa Diputados 2011.
31. Atlas Electoral 2009.

Works cited

Online and list sources

• "Ana María Sempértegui Valdez". vicepresidencia.gob.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Vicepresidencia del Estado Plurinacional. from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
• . diputados.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Diputados del Estado Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
• . diputados.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Diputados del Estado Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
• "Elecciones Generales 2009 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Órgano Electoral Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2023.

Digital and print publications

• "Abel Mamani: Ley anticorrupción debe estrenarse con 'Clan Paredes'" [Abel Mamani: Anti-corruption Law Should Debut Against the "Paredes Clan"]. La Patria (in Spanish). Oruro. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 8 March 2010. p. 8. from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
• Aguilar, Ricardo (22 November 2013). [National Convergence Succumbs to the Heat of the Pre-electoral Fire]. La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
• Campos, Evelyn (28 October 2018). "Una escuela para hijos de mineros" [A School for Children of Mineworkers]. ECOS (in Spanish). Sucre. from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
• [Lawmaker Presents Bill to Prevent School Abuse] (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 8 June 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
• "Diputado Ortega renuncia irrevocable al cargo para postular en las elecciones" [Deputy Ortega Irrevocably Resigns from Office to Run in the Elections]. Oxígeno (in Spanish). La Paz. 7 July 2014. from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
• [José Luis Paredes Left the Country, According to Prosecutor]. El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Agence France-Presse. 15 January 2010. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
• "Manfred Reyes Villa, Rubén Costas y José Luis Paredes electos prefectos" [Manfred Reyes Villa, Rubén Costas, and José Luis Paredes Elected Prefects]. Jornada (in Spanish). La Paz. 19 December 2005. p. 2. Retrieved 1 November 2023 – via the Internet Archive.
• [Paredes Is Recalled by 59.8% and Accepts His Defeat]. La Prensa (in Spanish). La Paz. 11 August 2008. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
• [Plan Progress Without Direction: Pepelucho Lives in Miami]. Los Tiempos (in Spanish). Cochabamba. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 16 January 2010. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
• "Posesionan a dos nuevos asambleístas nacionales" [Two New National Assembly Members Are Sworn In]. Oxígeno (in Spanish). La Paz. 1 October 2014. from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
• "Prefectos piden coordinación directa para desarrollo regional" [Prefects Request Direct Coordination for Regional Development]. Jornada (in Spanish). La Paz. APG/EFE. 24 January 2006. p. 4. Retrieved 1 November 2023 – via the Internet Archive.
• [García Linera Enacts Child and Adolescent Code That Seeks to Eliminate Child Labor by 2019]. Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2023.

Books and encyclopedias

• Gonzales Salas, Inés, ed. (2013). Biografías: Historias de vida en la Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional (in Spanish). Editorial Gente Común; ERBOL; Fundación Friedrich Ebert; IDEA Internacional. pp. 175–177. ISBN 978-99954-93-05-9. OCLC 876429743 – via the Internet Archive.
• Romero Ballivián, Salvador (2018). Quiroga Velasco, Camilo (ed.). Diccionario biográfico de parlamentarios 1979–2019 (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). La Paz: FUNDAPPAC; Fundación Konrad Adenauer. p. 558. ISBN 978-99974-0-021-5. OCLC 1050945993 – via the Internet Archive.
• Vargas Luna, María Elena; Villavicencio Arancibia, Jois Sarelly, eds. (2014). Primera Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional de Bolivia, Cámara de Diputados: Diccionario biográfico, diputadas y diputados titulares y suplentes 2010–2015 (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Diputados del Estado Plurinacional. p. 143. OCLC 961105285 – via the Internet Archive.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ana María Sempértegui.

• Parliamentary profile Office of the Vice President (in Spanish).
• Biographic profile ERBOL (in Spanish).

Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia
Preceded by Jorge Solari	Member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz 2010–2015	Succeeded by Wilson Santamaría