Gonzalo Arenas

Gonzalo Arenas Hodar (born 13 September 1972) is a Chilean politician who served as deputy.

Family and Early Life He was born on 13 December 1972 in Valparaíso (former electoral constituency of El Puerto). He is the son of Juan Arenas, a former military officer, and Pamela Hodar, a television presenter and councilor of Viña del Mar since 2004.

He is married to Carla Kutz and is the father of three children.

Professional Career He completed his primary education at the Instituto Presidente Errázuriz and at the Bernardo O'Higgins Military School, where he received the Lista de Mérito award for outstanding academic performance. He later studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, obtaining his licentiate degree in 1998 and qualifying as a lawyer on 28 March 2001.

In 1997, he received a scholarship to study at the Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C., United States. During his university years, he served as a teaching assistant in Public International Law.

Between 1997 and 1999, he worked as a legislative affairs researcher at the Jaime Guzmán Foundation. From 1999 to 2001, he was Director of Student Affairs at Andrés Bello National University (UNAB). At the same time, between 2000 and 2001, he taught History of Law at the university’s Faculty of Law. Additionally, between 2002 and 2003, he was an adjunct professor of Tax Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of the Andes.

In 2017, he obtained a master’s degree in History from the University of the Andes. He also holds a Ph.D. in Contemporary History from the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.

In the private sector, between 2001 and 2004, he worked as an associate attorney at the law firm Yrarrázaval, Ruiz-Tagle, Goldenberg, Lagos & Silva Abogados.

In June 2024, he assumed the position of Dean of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences at Universidad San Sebastián.

Political career In 1993, he entered politics by joining the youth wing of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI). He later held various positions within the party, including national secretary general (1994–1995), national vice president (1995–1997), and acting president of the UDI Youth.

In the 1997 parliamentary elections, he was a candidate for deputy for the commune of Puente Alto but was not elected.

Between 2004 and 2005, he served as chief of staff to Senator Hernán Larraín Fernández, then President of the Senate.

In the November 2013 parliamentary elections, he ran again as a candidate for deputy for District No. 48, representing the Independent Democratic Union, but was not elected.

He founded and directed the online newspaper El Muro, which closed for economic reasons in May 2018.

After completing his two terms as a deputy of the Republic, he served as adviser to the Cabinet of the Minister of Health (July 2018–July 2019); special adviser on Indigenous Affairs at the Ministry of Social Development and Family (July 2019–July 2020); and adviser to the Ministry of the Interior from August 2020.

He has served as national councillor of the Independent Democratic Union.

In 2021, he was a UDI pre-candidate for Governor of the Araucanía Region but was not elected. That same year, he was a candidate in the election for the Constitutional Convention for District 22, but was likewise unsuccessful.