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DE RUEHSG #1176/01 3381837
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O R 041835Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0374
INFO RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001176 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KWMN SOCI CI
SUBJECT: Embassy Santiago Nomination for International Woman of 
Courage Award 
 
REF: STATE 111471 
 
¶1.  Post nominates Maria Antonieta Saa Diaz, Chilean 
parliamentarian, for the Secretary's International Woman of Courage 
Award for 2010.  Deputy Saa has been a fierce advocate for women's 
issues throughout her political career, spanning from her 
clandestine activism during the Pinochet dictatorship to her roles 
as mayor and member of Congress.  Whether she is co-authoring and 
supporting legislation on trafficking in persons, advocating for 
harsher punishments for domestic violence, or speaking out about 
access to reproductive health and education, Saa has always worked 
to put women's issues at the top of the agenda. 
 
 
 
¶2.  Since she was a young child, Saa dreamed of a career in 
politics, telling her mother that she wanted to become the first 
female president of Chile.  At twelve years old, Saa began her 
lifelong commitment to social justice issues by joining the 
Catholic Student Youth organization (Juventud Estudiantil 
Catolica).  With Juventud Estudiantil Catolica, Saa engaged in her 
first community service efforts, volunteering in impoverished areas 
of Santiago, and took on the first of many leadership roles. 
During her time with this organization, Saa traveled to Berlin, 
Germany, to participate in an international Catholic Student Youth 
conference.  Along with fellow students, Saa was in Berlin to 
witness the building of the Berlin Wall and to experience, 
first-hand, the ravages of Communism. 
 
 
 
A Women's and Human Rights Advocate from Dictatorship to Democracy 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------- 
----------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  A woman of courage since her early days in the trenches of the 
Chilean feminist movement, Saa faced a difficult decision following 
the 1973 military coup d'etat.  Many progressive leaders and 
ordinary citizens were fleeing Chile due to the harsh repression 
and very real risk of detention, torture, or death at the hands of 
the Pinochet military regime.  However, Saa made a personal and 
political decision to remain in Chile despite these risks and 
continue her work clandestinely, leading many of the first feminist 
organizations in Chile. 
 
 
 
¶4.  While a member of the vanguard of the Second Wave feminist 
movement in Chile in the 1980s, Saa worked as the General 
Coordinator of the non-governmental organization Circle of Women's 
Studies.  This organization was instrumental in disseminating, 
analyzing, and producing the literature that served as the basis 
for the women's movement in Chile.  Saa was a member of Women for 
Life (Mujeres por la Vida), a non-violent group composed of human 
rights activists and family members of the disappeared and 
politically imprisoned; it demonstrated against Gen. Pinochet's 
dictatorship.  With this organization, Saa worked with women of a 
variety of political stripes to increase the profile of women's 
issues in Chile and on the agenda of the Pinochet administration 
and to integrate women into the burgeoning pro-democracy movement. 
At this point, Saa's active participation in political 
demonstrations was noticed, and she was first identified by the 
Carabineros (Chilean uniformed police officers) as a principal 
member of the opposition to the military dictatorship. 
 
 
 
¶5.  Saa served as the sole women's representative in the Civilian 
Assembly, an opposition group composed of members of various 
political organizations, and was elected director of the group in 
¶1986.  The Civilian Assembly presented a formal list of demands to 
the military dictatorship, including a petition for the recognition 
of women's issues.  It was during her time in the Civilian Assembly 
that Saa began to feel more acutely the intimidation of the 
Pinochet regime.  She went into hiding briefly before being 
arrested and detained in an annex of the San Miguel Men's Prison 
(La Carcel de Hombres de San Miguel) for three months. 
 
 
 
¶6.  Leading up to the 1988 referendum that resulted in the defeat 
of the Pinochet dictatorship and the return to democracy, Saa 
played an active role in formulating the agenda for the next 
administration and the years of consolidating democracy that 
followed.  As a founding member of Women for Democracy, Saa worked 
feverishly in the months before the referendum to promote three 
goals:  the establishment of a government program dedicated to 
 
 
gender equality; the inclusion of more women in appointed 
positions; and an increase in the number of women in elected 
political offices.   Work by Saa and other coalition members led to 
the creation of a government body dedicated to women's issues, the 
precursor to the current National Service for Women (SERNAM, 
Servicio Nacional de la Mujer) which promotes women's rights, 
campaigns against domestic violence, and collects statistics on 
issues of concern to women.  The coalition's work also laid the 
foundation for cultural re-examination of women's roles in 
politics, which ultimately came to fruition 16 years later with the 
election of Chile's first female president, increased appointments 
of women in government office, and a government policy committing 
to gender equality. 
 
 
 
¶7.  Upon the restoration of democracy in Chile in 1990, President 
Aylwin appointed Saa mayor of Conchali, a lower-income municipality 
of greater Santiago.  During her four year mayoral term, she 
promoted women's rights through a domestic violence conference, a 
series of women's rights workshops, and other events. 
 
 
 
Congressional Leadership:  Legislating for Change 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------------- 
 
 
 
¶8.  Following her tenure as mayor, Saa ran for Congress and was 
elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1994 representing the 
seventeenth district of Conchali, Huerchuraba and Renca.  Women 
account for just 13% of all members of Chile's Congress--the lowest 
rate in South America--and many female officials are elected 
largely on the basis of their relationship to famous men, as the 
wife, widow, or daughter of a prominent male leader.  Thus Saa's 
presence in Congress and her election based solely on her own 
merits is particularly noteworthy.  Saa has successfully campaigned 
for this seat three times since her first election and is currently 
maintaining a comfortable lead for her fifth term from 2010 to 
¶2014. 
 
 
 
¶9.  Just four years after her election to Congress, Saa served as 
the Chairperson of the Committee to Impeach General Augusto 
Pinochet in 1998.  This committee of legislators attempted to 
impeach Pinochet and thereby retroactively eliminate his immunity 
from prosecution on human rights violations.  While the committee 
did not achieve this goal, it did intensify the national debate 
about crimes against humanity and the role of the Pinochet 
administration. 
 
 
 
¶10.  Saa has been a consistent champion for women's and children's 
rights in the Chilean Congress.  Chile's conservative laws often 
favor men in family relationships, including limiting the default 
property and legal rights of married women and stigmatizing 
children born out of wedlock.  Saa co-authored and advocated for a 
bill allowing persons in common-law marriages to have access to 
communal property rights, legislation which became law in 2007. 
She also co-authored and continues to champion pending legislation 
seeking to allow unmarried mothers to cite the name of the father 
on birth certificates and a bill combating domestic violence by 
strengthening the criminal code against "femicide." 
 
 
 
¶11.  Deputy Saa's efforts to strengthen Chile's laws regarding 
trafficking in persons have been particularly noteworthy.  In 
Chile's highly centralized, presidentialist political system, 
members of Congress rely heavily on the executive branch to propose 
and prioritize legislation, although parliamentarians can introduce 
some types of legislation on their own.  Sensing indifference from 
Chile's government ministries, Saa drafted trafficking in persons 
legislation on her own in 2002, convinced her peers in the Congress 
of its importance, and later persuaded the executive branch to 
re-introduce the legislation as a government-backed bill in 2005. 
The legislation was passed by the Chamber of Deputies in 2007 and 
is currently pending in the Senate. 
 
 
 
Bio Data 
 
---------- 
 
 
¶12.  Saa is aware of the nomination and is pleased.  She is 
available to travel to Washington to accept award if chosen. 
 
 
 
Full Name: Maria Antonieta Saa Diaz 
 
Position: Congressional Deputy 
 
Date of Birth: January 8, 1943 
 
Place of Birth: Santiago, Chile 
 
Citizenship: Chilean 
 
Office Phones: (56) (2) 734-5007, (56) (2) 625-9378 
 
Cellular Phone: (56) (9) 874-3950 
 
Email: masaa@congreso.cl 
 
Passport number: D 025202 
 
Languages: Spanish, modest understanding of English and French 
 
 
 
¶13.   Point of Contact:  Grace Choi, Economic/Political Officer, 
Economic/Political Affairs Section, ChoiGH@state.gov, (56) (2) 
330-3032 
SIMONS