Gabriel Gaspar
Gabriel Eduardo Gaspar Tapia (born 24 April 1949) is a Chilean political scientist, diplomat, academic and politician.
He has held a number of senior diplomatic and defense policy positions, including ambassador to Colombia and Cuba, Undersecretary of War, Undersecretary for the Armed Forces, and ambassador-at-large in connection with the Bolivia–Chile maritime dispute.
From September 2022 to March 2023, he served as Undersecretary of Defense under President Gabriel Boric.
Early life and education
Gaspar was born in Arica, Chile, on 24 April 1949. His parents, Eduardo Arturo Gaspar and Lidia del Carmen Tapia Yucra, were trade union activists associated with the Arica–La Paz railway who had moved from Putre to Arica. He is of Aymara descent through his maternal family.
At the age of eight, Gaspar moved with his family to Santiago, where they settled in the Estación Central area. He attended School No. 58 and later the Liceo Miguel Luis Amunátegui. In 1967, he enrolled at the School of Law of the University of Chile, completing his studies there in 1972.
Following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, Gaspar went into exile in Mexico in 1974. While living there, he pursued postgraduate studies in political science at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) and doctoral studies in Latin American Studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He also taught at several Mexican universities.
Career
Government and diplomatic service
Gaspar returned to Chile in 1992 and joined the Ministry General Secretariat of Government as an international affairs adviser. He subsequently joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On 11 March 2000, President Ricardo Lagos appointed Gaspar Undersecretary of War. He remained in the position throughout Lagos's administration, leaving office on 11 March 2006.
During the first administration of President Michelle Bachelet, Gaspar served as Chilean ambassador to Colombia from 2006 to 2008 and subsequently as ambassador to Cuba from 2008 to 2010.
Following Bachelet's return to the presidency in March 2014, Gaspar was appointed Undersecretary for the Armed Forces. He served in the position from 11 March 2014 until 21 October 2015, when he was succeeded by Paulina Vodanovic.
In January 2015, Gaspar was also appointed ambassador-at-large in connection with Chile's defense in the maritime dispute brought by Bolivia before the International Court of Justice. He remained in that role until 10 March 2018.
Academic work
Gaspar has published works through universities and academic institutions in Latin America, Europe and Russia. He has also taught at the Chilean Army War Academy, the Chilean Air Force's war academy, the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE), the Diplomatic Academy of Chile, and the Institute of Political Science at the University of Chile.
Undersecretary of Defense
On 8 September 2022, President Gabriel Boric appointed Gaspar Undersecretary of Defense, serving under Minister of National Defense Maya Fernández.
Shortly after taking office, Gaspar was involved in the government's response to the September 2022 cyberattack against Chile's Joint Chiefs of Staff. During his tenure, the Undersecretariat also began work on updating the country's National Defense Policy and participated in inter-agency coordination concerning wildfire emergencies and the protection of critical infrastructure in Chile's northern border areas.
Gaspar left office on 10 March 2023 as part of a broader reshuffle of undersecretaries. He was succeeded by Víctor Barrueto.