Ricardo Lagos
Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (Spanish pronunciation: [riˈkaɾðo fɾojˈlan ˈlaɣos eskoˈβaɾ]; born 2 March 1938)[1] is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military dictatorship and astounded contemporaries in 1988 by openly denouncing dictator Augusto Pinochet on live television. He served as Minister of Education from 1990 to 1992 and Minister of Public Works from 1994 to 1998 under President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle before narrowly winning the 1999–2000 presidential election in a runoff against Independent Democrat Union (UDI) candidate Joaquín Lavín. Lagos was the third president from the centre-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy to have governed Chile since 1990. He was succeeded on 11 March 2006 by Socialist Michelle Bachelet, from the same coalition. From 2007 to 2010 he served as a Special Envoy on Climate Change for the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.[2][3] Lagos made an unsuccessful bid to run for president in the 2017 Chilean general election.[4][5]
This article is about the former president of Chile. For his son, a former minister, see Ricardo Lagos Weber.
Ricardo Lagos
René Salamé Martín
2 March 1938
Santiago, Chile
Party for Democracy
(1987–present)
Radical Party
(1959–1961)
Socialist Party of Chile
(1961–1987)
- Ricardo
- Ximena
- Hernán (stepson)
- Francisca
- Alejandro (stepson)
Early years[edit]
Lagos was born in Santiago, Chile. He was the only child of Froilán Lagos Sepúlveda (a farmer who died when his son was eight years old) and Emma Escobar Morales (who died in 2005). He attended primary school at Liceo Experimental Manuel de Salas and high school at the prestigious Instituto Nacional.[6]
In 1961, Lagos married Carmen Weber, with whom he had two children, Ricardo and Ximena. In 1969, he met Luisa Durán and they married in 1971. The couple shared the parenting of the children of Lagos' first marriage, the children of Durán's first marriage, Hernán and Alejandro, and their only child together, Francisca.
While in university, Lagos attended the lectures of historian Jaime Eyzaguirre whom he held in high esteem.[7]
Post-presidential career[edit]
Political[edit]
On 24 March 2006, Lagos inaugurated his own foundation called Democracia y Desarrollo ("Democracy and Development") in Santiago. Three days later he began a two-year term as President of the Club de Madrid—an exclusive organization of former presidents created by a Spanish philanthropist to promote democracy across the world. He also assumed co-chairmanship of the Inter-American Dialogue's Board of Directors.
On 2 May 2007 Lagos, along with Gro Harlem Brundtland and Han Seung-soo, was named by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a Special Envoy on Climate Change. His appointment was and still is very controversial among Chilean environmental groups who questioned his track record on the matter, claiming that he 'showed an utter lack of consideration for the environment, promoted policies against environmental sustainability and favoured the interests of big economic groups, even defending crimes against nature internationally', favouring large corporations every single time there was a clash between local communities, environmental concerns and perceived economic benefits.[15][16]
On 14 January 2017, Lagos accepted the Party for Democracy's nomination to run for president in 2017.[17] However, he withdrew soon after the Party for Democracy publicly backed Alejandro Guillier. Following this he announced his retirement.
Publishing[edit]
In early 2007, Lagos became a member of the editorial board of Americas Quarterly, a policy publication focused on relations and development in the Western Hemisphere. Lagos contributes regularly.[18][19]
Academic[edit]
After abandoning power, Lagos taught a one-month special seminar at UC Berkeley's Center for Latin American Studies, called "Democracy and Development in Latin America".
In May 2007, Brown University announced that Lagos would take a teaching position at the Watson Institute for International Studies for a period of five years, starting on 1 July 2007.[20]
In 2013, Lagos was a visiting professor at the University of São Paulo assuming the "José Bonifácio Cátedra".[21]