Enrique Estay

José Enrique Estay Peñaloza (born 30 March 1958) is a Chilean politician who served as deputy.

Early life and family Estay was born on 30 March 1958 in Viña del Mar.

He is married to María Isabel Cuevas Bravo and is the father of five children: María Fernanda, María Alejandra, José Enrique, Bárbara Isabel, and Antonia Catalina.

Professional career He completed his primary and secondary education at The Mackay School in Reñaca. He later entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Chile, where he qualified as a lawyer. He subsequently completed a diploma in Political Science at the University of La Frontera in Temuco and earned a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Chile.

Between 1983 and 1984, he worked as a teacher at the CEPECH pre-university institute in Santiago. In 1985, he served as professor at the Chilean Trade Union School under the Ministry General Secretariat of Government and acted as legal procurator for Consorcio Periodístico S.A. (Copesa).

From 1986 to 1987, he was legal adviser to the Neighborhood Corporation of the Municipality of La Reina. The following year, he served as chief of staff of the Intendancy of the IX Region and, in parallel until 1989, as Regional Ministerial Secretary of Government in the same region.

In 1992, he assumed duties as acting notary public at the Raúl González Becar notary office in Temuco.

Between 1993 and 1995, he taught Professional Ethics and Political Theory in the Law program at the Arturo Prat University. From 1996 onward, he was associated with the Autonomous University of Chile, serving in various academic roles including academic secretary of the Law program, professor of Constitutional Remedies and Political Law, member of the Degree Commission in Legal and Social Sciences (until 1999), and thesis supervisor and examiner until 2002. Between 1998 and 2000, he was head coordinator of the Law program at the Arturo Prat University campus in Victoria.

Between 1988 and 1990, he contributed as a columnist to El Diario Austral.

From 2000 to 2004, he served as legal adviser to the municipalities of Lautaro, Vilcún, Melipeuco, Loncoche, Perquenco, Purén, Cunco, and Gorbea. Concurrently, until 2005, he served as acting mining registrar in Diego de Almagro and as substitute lawyer at the Local Police Court of Lautaro.

Political career He began his political involvement as a leader within the National Secretariat of Youth. He later served as president of the National Action Movement at the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile and was a candidate for president of the Federation of Students of the same university. He subsequently joined the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) as a party member.

In the 1993 and 2001 parliamentary elections, he ran as a candidate for deputy in District No. 49 (La Araucanía Region) but was not elected.