Background
Provoste was born in Vallenar, north of Chile, to a family of Diaguita descent.
Provoste was born in Vallenar, north of Chile, to a family of Diaguita descent.
Playa Ancha University of Educational Sciences.
Since March 2014 she is a deputy at the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, representing District 6 of the Atacama Region of northern Chile. She is the first minister to be impeached by Congress since democracy returned to Chile in 1990. Provoste majored in physical education at the Playa Ancha University of Educational Sciences in Valparaísouthern
She pursued postgraduate studies in education administration at the same university, and in local government and decentralization in Colombia.
During the Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle administration Provoste was the Atacama Region director of the National Women"s Service (1996-1997) and governor of the Huasco Province (1997–2001). During President Ricardo Lagos"s tenure she was intendant of the Atacama Region (2001-2004), minister of Planning (2004-2006) and, during Michelle Bachelet"s presidency, National Executive Director of Integra Foundation (2006) and minister of Education (2006-2008).
In February 2008, the Office of the General Auditor of the Republic reported that around United States$500 million transferred by the Education Ministry to public and subsidized private schools during 2004–2008 were not properly accounted for and that nearly United States$600K were illegally transferred by an accountant working in the Ministry"s Santiago Regional Office to private school managers and her relatives. There were also reports of financial mismanagement in other areas, as well as duplicate enrollment of thousands of students.
Provoste was accused by the opposition of not correcting these irregularities and was impeached (violation of article 52, number 2, letter b of the Constitution) as minister of Education by the Chamber of Deputies on April 3, 2008 and suspended from her post.
The Senate heard her case on April 15, 2008 and voted to convict her the following day on one out of five counts. She was immediately removed from her job and disqualified from office for the following five years. Shortly after her impeachment Provoste moved to Canada to study.
On October 15, 2008 she filed a suit against the Chilean State before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Provoste returned to Chile in mid-2009, residing in Vallenar. In November 2010 she was elected Atacama Region president of the Christian Democrat Party with 80% of the vote, allowing her to be part of the party"s National Council.
During her university years she was twice president of the student board and was a member of the student"s federation.