Joaquín José Lavín Infante (born 23 October 1953) is a
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
an
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
of the
Independent Democratic Union (UDI) party and former mayor of
Las Condes, in the
northeastern zone of Santiago. Formerly Lavín has also been mayor of
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
,
Minister of Education and Minister of Social Development. He ran for president twice in
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
and
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, losing both times. In 2021 he tried to run again, but this time he was defeated in a primary election by
Sebastián Sichel. Besides his political involvement Lavín has been active in education in the
University for Development, of which he was one of the founders and original owners, and as editor of the economics section in ''
El Mercurio''.
His wife,
son and
daughter-in-law have also been elected politicians.
Early life and career
Lavin was born on 23 October 1953 in
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
to Joaquín Lavín Pradenas and Carmen Infante Vial. Lavin's father is believed to have owned over 500
hectares of land. Lavin studied
economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, where he studied under
Milton Friedman, one of many "
Chicago Boys" to influence Chilean politics.
Lavin is married to María Estela León Ruíz, and the couple have 7 children, including federal deputy
Joaquín Lavín León.
Career
Lavín was present in the
Acto de Chacarillas in 1977,
a ritualized pro-Pinochet act reminiscent of
Francoist Spain.
In the period of 1979–1981 at the age of 26 he was appointed as a Dean of Economic Department at Concepción University. From 1981 until 1986 Lavin was a desk-editor of ''Economics and Business'' in the newspaper ''
El Mercurio''. In 1990 he founded with other partners the private
Universidad del Desarrollo.
His professional life was always connected with politics and the first step toward this was done when he became a mayor of Las Condes in 1992.
He wrote a book, ''Una revolución silenciosa'' ("A Quiet Revolution"), in support of General
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
's economic policies. Afterwards, in 1992, Lavín was elected mayor of
Las Condes, a stronghold of the right, with 31% of the vote and reelected in 1997 with 78% of the vote.
Lavín was the presidential candidate for the UDI-
National Renewal coalition
Alliance for Chile in the
1999 election. He eventually lost to
PS/
PPD candidate
Ricardo Lagos in a runoff by 200,000 votes. Lavín again represented UDI in the
2005 presidential election, but ended in third place with 23.23% of the vote, due to the presence of another right-wing candidate in the race,
Sebastián Piñera, who made it to the runoff election with 25.41% of the vote.
Lavín was narrowly defeated in his bid for a
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
seat in the
general election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
held in December 2009, but on 10 February 2010, President-elect
Sebastián Piñera named him Secretary of Education.
In July 2011, President Piñera replaced Lavín as Minister of Education by
Felipe Bulnes as a response to the
months of student protest and appointed him as Minister of Social Development (2011-2013).
[http://www.latercera.com/noticia/politica/2011/07/674-380393-9-pinera-opta-por-mantener-a-hinzpeter-incorporar-a-longueira-y-cambiar-de.shtml Canales, Javier. La Tercera 18 July 2011. Access date 18 July 2011]
In 2016 he was elected mayor of Las Condes again getting 78% of the vote.
He is now Dean of the Business School of the Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD).
Lavín is a devout
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
and also a
supernumerary member of the Prealature of
Opus Dei.
On 16 July 2017, Lavín garnered controversy after he hung a
rainbow flag over the town hall.
This prompted criticism from former presidential candidate
José Antonio Kast, himself a former UDI member, who said that there was a "gay dictatorship" in Chile that "corners certain politicians who do not have the courage to say things as they believe them". Lavín had also refused to allow the anti-transgender Bus of Freedom, a bus created by the
CitizenGo initiative HazteOir, to pass through Las Condes.
Lavín had claimed that his refusal to allow the bus to pass through was related to a timing issue. On 20 July, he had expressed openness to same-sex adoption.
During his campaigning to run for the Chilean presidency a noticeable effort was made by his parti UDI to put him at the forefront of all public television channels. He was frequently invited as a guest in morning shows, where he talked about politics and also did some more casual and relaxed appearances. The public nevertheless noticed that he was constantly invited to these TV shows as means of political strategy to make people feel that he is a relatable figure. Due to the constant mocking and comments in social media about the exacerbated appearances he gradually stopped appearing on TV.
References
External links
Joaquín Lavín - Senador Quinta Costa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavin, Joaquin
1953 births
Living people
Chilean Roman Catholics
Chilean people of Spanish descent
Independent Democratic Union politicians
Ministers of education of Chile
Candidates for President of Chile
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni
University of Chicago alumni
Opus Dei members
Mayors of Santiago, Chile
Mayors of Las Condes
Academic staff of the University for Development