Ricardo Lagos Weber

Ricardo Andrés Lagos Weber (Durham, North Carolina, February 21, 1962) is a Chilean lawyer and politician, member of the Party for Democracy (PPD). He is the son of former President Ricardo Lagos Escobar and Carmen Weber Aliaga. Between March 2006 and December 2007, he served as Minister Secretary General of Government in the first administration of President Michelle Bachelet. Later he was a senator of the Republic for constituency 6 (Valparaíso Costa), between 2010 and 2018, serving as President of the Senate between 2016 and 2017. Since March 2018 he has served as a senator for the reformed constituency 6 of the same region, period 2018- 2026.

Biography

Family and personal life

He was born on February 21, 1962 in Durham, North Carolina, United States, while his father Ricardo Lagos (who was president of Chile between 2000 and 2006), was studying a postgraduate degree at Duke University. His mother is Carmen Weber.

He is a partner of Gloria Peña and has two children.

During the years he lived in Argentina, he played rugby, a sport that allowed him to be selected for the youth national team and for the U21 World Cup.

He has published articles related to employment, poverty, structural adjustment, international finance and international trade, among others.

Studies and working life

Due to the incessant travel that his father's exile entailed during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, he was forced to complete his primary studies in ten different schools in Argentina and the United States, finishing his secondary studies at the Colegio San Agustín, in Santiago.

He completed his higher education, entering the Law School of the University of Chile in 1981, where he took his undergraduate exam in July 1986, obtaining a degree in legal and social sciences in 1987. Between June and December 1986 he completed a diploma course in planning and public policies at CEPAL/ILPES. He qualified as a lawyer on September 5, 2001.

You have recognized that in that then he used marijuana, which is why he currently defends its legalization.

Between 1987 and 1989, he completed a Master's of Philosophy in Economic Development at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, England. His postgraduate thesis dealt with making the labor market more flexible. In 1991, he began a doctorate in economics at the University of Cambridge, with the President of the Republic Scholarship that was awarded while his father was Minister of State. Although he completed all the courses leading to a doctoral degree, he returned to Chile before finishing his doctoral thesis, which he ultimately did not do. When he returned, he began working in the Chilean section of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

At the same time, he was a professor at the Law School of the University of Chile and a consultant to different international organizations such as UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), UNDP (United Nations Development Program), ILO (International Labor Organization) and OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

Political career

Beginnings, governments of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle and Ricardo Lagos

Like his father, he is a member of the Party for Democracy (PPD).

Between 1995 and 1996, during the government of President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, he was an adviser to Finance Minister Eduardo Aninat, also acting as Chilean representative at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), conducting negotiations commercials of economic complementation.

Since 1997, and coinciding with the time when his father took office as President of the Republic, he held the position of head of the Department of Trade Policy of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and director of Multilateral Economic Affairs of the General Directorate of International Economic Relations (Direcon), dependent on the Chilean Foreign Ministry, until 2005. He was part of the negotiating team for free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States, Canada, South Korea, the European Union and Central America.

In 2004, he was also responsible for the APEC-Chile Summit.

During the presidential campaign of December 2005, he participated in the international area of the command of the candidate Michelle Bachelet.

Minister spokesperson for the first government of Michelle Bachelet (2006-2007)

At the end of January 2006, he was appointed Minister Secretary General of the Government by President-elect Bachelet, a position he held when he took office on March 11 of that year until December 6, 2007, when he resigned to focus on his senatorial candidacy project for the electoral constituency of the Valparaíso Region. He was replaced by Francisco Vidal, also PPD, who had already held the post during Ricardo Lagos Escobar's administration, and at the same time also began in party politics, being elected second vice president of the PPD in April 2008.

Senator (2010-2018; 2018-)

In the parliamentary elections of December 2009, he was elected senator, representing his community, for the 6th senatorial constituency, Valparaíso-Costa, for the 2010-2018 legislative period.

He was a member of the Special Mixed Budget Commission, which he has presided over since May 7, 2014. In turn, he was a member of the Permanent Foreign Relations and Finance Commissions, which he chaired since May 19 March 2014 to March 2015. He was also a member of the Special Commission aimed at addressing the catastrophe caused by the fire in Valparaíso, at the party level in June 2014 he became the PPD board of directors as 1st president.

He was elected as president of the Senate of the Republic, serving from March 15, 2016 to March 21, 2017. His board of directors was integrated as vice president of the corporation by senator Jaime Quintana. As his president, he participated in the Second Public Account of the National Congress, on July 20, 2016.

In November 2017, he was re-elected senator, within the La Fuerza de la Mayoría pact, for the new 6th Circumscription, Valparaíso Region, legislative period 2018-2026. He obtained 74,031 votes, equivalent to 11.15% of the total validly cast votes.

Since March 21, 2018, he has chaired the Permanent Commission on Foreign Relations, finishing the presidency of the Commission on March 19, 2019; and member from the first date, of the Permanent Commission of Finance. As of April 11, 2018, he is a member of the Permanent Special Mixed Budget Commission, which he chairs from May 6, 2019 to April 28, 2020. He is also a member of the Special Commission since March 21, 2018. of Extreme Zones and Special Territories Special. Finally, since May 16, 2018, he is a member of the Third Special Mixed Subcommittee on Budgets.

Electoral history

2009 parliamentary elections

• 2009 parliamentary elections, candidate for senator for the Circumscription 6, Valparaíso Costa (Algarrobo, Cartagena, Casablanca, Concón, El Quisco, El Tabo, Isla de Pascua, Juan Fernández, San Antonio, Santo Domingo, Valparaíso and Viña del Mar)

2017 parliamentary elections

• 2017 parliamentary elections for senator for the 6th Circumscription (Region of Valparaiso)