Cecilia Rovaretti

Cecilia Adriana Rovaretti (born June 29, 1957) is an Argentine-born journalist and radio host who has lived and worked in Chile since the early 1990s. At Radio Cooperativa she moderates the political discussion program El Primer Café and co-hosts the morning show Una Nueva Mañana with Sebastián Esnaola.

After beginning her career in France, Rovaretti moved to Santiago with her husband, the journalist Ricarte Soto. Following his death from lung cancer in 2013, she took over leadership of the Marcha de los Enfermos ("March of the Sick"), a movement he had started to demand state financing of very expensive treatments for rare and complex diseases. The campaign contributed to the passage of the Ricarte Soto Law in 2015. Rovaretti has received several journalism and public-service awards in Chile.

Early life and education

Rovaretti was born in Córdoba, Argentina, the youngest of four children and the only daughter of a family of merchants. She moved to France as a young woman and lived there for many years; she has described it as the period in which she studied and grew into adulthood.

Career

France and early years in Chile

Rovaretti began her journalism career in France at Radio France Internationale (RFI), where she met the Chilean journalist Ricarte Soto. The couple moved to Santiago in March 1991.

Radio Cooperativa

Rovaretti joined Radio Cooperativa in July 1993 and worked there until July 2005, when she left the station by her own decision. During her time away she served as current affairs editor of the magazine Caras and was an entertainment commentator on the Canal 13 morning show Viva la Mañana.

She returned to Cooperativa in 2007 to host Una Nueva Mañana, which replaced Entre Nueve y Una, a program then hosted by Felipe Castro and Carolina Jiménez.

Rovaretti hosts two consecutive weekday programs on Radio Cooperativa. From 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. she moderates El Primer Café, a political discussion program, on her own. Its panel of commentators, drawn from different political leanings, changes from day to day, but each weekday has a largely consistent set of regulars. They debate the main national and international news of the day. From 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. she co-hosts Una Nueva Mañana with Sebastián Esnaola, a program that combines music, interviews, reports and news. She is also the general editor of Una Nueva Mañana.

Council of Observers

In 2015 Rovaretti was named to the Council of Observers for Chile's constituent process, alongside footballer Jean Beausejour, Roberto Fantuzzi, musician Juanita Parra and other public figures. She resigned in April 2016, citing health problems.

Health advocacy

Marcha de los Enfermos

In 2010 Ricarte Soto was diagnosed with lung cancer. During his treatment he began a social movement, the Marcha de los Enfermos ("March of the Sick"), which demanded that the Chilean state pay for all or part of the treatment of complex and rare diseases. The first march, held in 2013 under the slogan "Los enfermos también marchan" ("The sick also march"), drew a large turnout. Health Minister Jaime Mañalich quickly responded by announcing a national medicines fund, which was later named the Ricarte Soto Law in Soto's honor.

Soto died on September 20, 2013. Rovaretti then became the movement's organizer and public representative. On April 12, 2014, in a second march that she led, more than 10,000 people walked along José María Caro Avenue in Santiago.

Ricarte Soto Law

President Michelle Bachelet signed the Ricarte Soto Law (Law No. 20,850) at La Moneda Palace on June 1, 2015, thanking Rovaretti, Soto's widow, for continuing the movement. The law was published on June 6, 2015. It created a universal financial protection system for high-cost diagnoses and treatments, and it also pays posthumous tribute to Soto. The system is guaranteed by FONASA to all beneficiaries of Chile's public and private health insurance schemes and covers the full cost of the treatments listed for each condition in the relevant decree.

Rovaretti called Congress's final approval of the bill "historic" and said Soto would have been happy, but added that it was "a first step" on which more remained to be built. A World Bank study of the law's financing likewise credits the work of patient associations and, later, of Soto and Rovaretti with driving the initiative.

Personal life

Rovaretti met the Chilean journalist Ricarte Soto in Paris. They married in 2003 and remained together until his death in 2013.

Awards and honors

• 2011 – Energía de Mujer ("Woman's Energy") award, given by the electric utility Chilectra.
• 2012 – Mujer Influyente ("Influential Woman") award from Terra, in recognition of her influence on public opinion as a Radio Cooperativa host.
• 2013 – Figura Radial del Año ("Radio Figure of the Year"), from the Association of Broadcasters of Chile (ARCHI).
• 2013 – Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga Journalism Prize, from the Club de la Prensa.
• 2014 – Association of Entertainment Journalists (APES) Award for hosting a radio debate program.
• 2016 – Elena Caffarena Prize (Santiago Metropolitan Region) in the mass media category, awarded around International Women's Day in tribute to the lawyer and feminist Elena Caffarena.

External links

• Una Nueva Mañana at Cooperativa.cl
• Cecilia Rovaretti on Twitter