Carlos Larraín

Carlos Aníbal Larraín Peña (Santiago, 18 November 1942) is a Chilean lawyer and politician, member of National Renewal (RN).

Known for his conservative profile, Larraín served for eight years as president of RN, from 2006 to 2014. His political career has also been marked by controversial or ironic statements that have led to him being parodied.

From 2011 to 2014, he served as a senator of the Republic (appointed as Andrés Allamand's substitute) for the then Constituency No. 16 of the Los Ríos Region.

Biography He was born on 18 November 1942, in Santiago, the son of Fernando Larraín Vial and María Peña Claro. He ended his term in December 2000, handing over the position to Francisco de la Maza, the newly elected mayor.

During his parliamentary tenure he sat on the standing committees of Agriculture, from 8 March 2011 to 12 March 2012; and of Constitution, Legislation, Justice and Regulations, from 20 March 2012 to 10 March 2014.

Post-parliamentary period In 2014 he left the RN presidency after eight years in office by not running for re-election. He was succeeded by fellow lawyer Cristián Monckeberg.

In 2020, Larraín was the party's leading figure in favor of the "Reject" option for a new constitution, which put him at odds with the emerging leadership of Mario Desbordes, who sought to reconcile the demands of the social uprising. Despite Larraín's heavy defeat in the October national plebiscite (22%−78%), two years later he would regain ground against Desbordes, who ended up coinciding with Larraín in rejecting the 2022 draft constitution, which prevailed with 62% against "Approve" (38%).

During 2023, he made headlines for his strident statements against the government of Gabriel Boric. He also drew attention for his attempt to lead RN together with María José Gatica and Francisco Orrego, an emerging television figure who has often been associated as a kind of "protégé" of Larraín.

In popular culture In 2013, Carlos Larraín was impersonated and portrayed by the comedian Stefan Kramer in his film El ciudadano Kramer (lit. The citizen Kramer''). In it, Larraín became associated with the phrase «la chupilca del diablo».