Sebastián Piñera, the 74-year-old former president of Chile who died in a helicopter crash, has died. Piñera has been criticized primarily for numerous human rights violations.

Former Chilean President Sebastián Pinera died in a helicopter crash. His office said the accident occurred in the resort of Lago Rancho, 920 kilometers south of the capital, Santiago de Chile. The statement said: “It is with deep regret that we announce the death of the former President of the Republic of Chile.”

Chilean Interior Minister Carolina Toha also confirmed the death. President Gabriel Buric declared national mourning and ordered a state funeral.

The accident occurred in the municipality of Lago Rancho in the Los Rios region, where heavy rain fell, according to the Chilean newspaper La Terceira. The 74-year-old former head of state was flying the helicopter himself. He lost control near the shore of the lake of the same name, Lago Rancho, and fell into the water.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, in addition to Pinera, there were three other people on board the plane who managed to reach the beach under their own strength after the accident and survived. Emergency services recovered the former president's body from the water.

Pinera was 74 years old. Pinera ruled Chile for two terms, from 2010 to 2014 and from 2018 to 2022. Pinera led the South American country through devastating natural disasters, including the effects of an earthquake and tsunami. He also ruled during the Corona pandemic and had the highest vaccination rates in the world in his country.

Neoliberal policies are accompanied by protests

His political legacy has been marred by a violent police crackdown on protesters in October 2019 who opposed the country's education, health and pensions systems, dating back to the 1973-1990 military dictatorship.

International organizations pointed to widespread human rights violations in suppressing the protests. Social unrest eventually led to two attempts to update the constitution, but both attempts failed.

Piñera's first presidency was already marked by protests. His neoliberal economic path, a continuation of the Pinochet era, has ensured continuous growth of the Chilean economy and low unemployment, not least because of rising prices for copper on the world market – Chile's most important export product.

One of the richest men in the country

From the 1970s to the 1990s, Piñera worked as an entrepreneur in various industries. He was considered to have the fifth largest fortune in Chile, estimated at about $3 billion. Piñera also worked for almost 20 years as a researcher at various universities and as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank.

He has been married to Cecilia Muriel Montes since 1973, and they have four adult children.

Many past and current presidents from Latin America expressed their condolences. Argentine President Javier Miley expressed his condolences through the presidential office to family, friends and the Chilean people on behalf of the Argentine state. He also mourned the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pue, and the former President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos.

“Sebastián Pinera was a good personal friend and a great ally of Colombia,” Santos wrote on the X platform. “Chile has lost one of its best presidents,” said former Mexican President Felipe Calderon.