Gonzalo Duarte

Gonzalo Duarte Leiva (born 1 April 1953) is a Chilean politician who served as deputy.

Early life and family He was born on 1 April 1953.

He is married and the father of two children.

Between 1960 and 1961, he completed his primary and secondary education at Liceo Concepción. He later continued his studies in Santiago at Liceo Amunátegui and Liceo No. 7 de Hombres de Ñuñoa, graduating in 1970. He entered the University of Chile, where he studied Pedagogy in History and Geography and later obtained a Licentiate in Sociology. He subsequently completed postgraduate studies in Development Sciences at the Instituto Latinoamericano de Doctrinas y Estudios Sociales (ILADES).

He has worked at Editorial Aconcagua, the Fundación para la Acción Vecinal y Comunitaria (AVEC), the Cooperativa Abierta de Vivienda Cardenal Raúl Silva Henríquez, and the Corporación Municipal de La Florida. He served as president of the board of the Instituto Profesional Carlos Casanueva; member of the Advisory Committee of Local Authorities of UN-Habitat; director of the Programa de Gestión y Estudios para el Desarrollo Regional y Local (CEGADES); and head of the Advisory Committee to the Minister of Housing, Urbanism and National Assets. During the administration of President Ricardo Lagos, he served as national director of the Chile Barrio program.

Political career In 1990, he was appointed mayor of La Florida by President Patricio Aylwin, and was subsequently elected to the position in 1992 and 1996. While serving as mayor, he was president of the Chilean Association of Municipalities; vice president of the World Federation of United Cities (FMCU); president of the Latin American Chapter of the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA); and president of the Latin American Federation of Municipal Associations (FLACMA). In 2000, he ran for re-election as mayor but was not elected; he was elected councilor of the same commune but later resigned.

In December 2005, he was elected deputy for the Metropolitan Region, District No. 26 (La Florida), for the 2006–2010 legislative period. He served on the Permanent Commissions on Housing and Urban Development; and on Interior Government, Regionalization, Planning and Social Development. He was also a member of the Special Commissions on Public Security and on Drugs, as well as investigative commissions on Casinos and on Irregularities in the State Railways. He belonged to the Chilean–German, Chilean–Argentine, Chilean–Chinese, Chilean–Spanish, Chilean–Dutch, and Chilean–Peruvian interparliamentary groups.

On official visits, he joined President Michelle Bachelet on trips to Finland and Switzerland, and visited Italy and France at the invitation of the presidents of their respective chambers of deputies.

In December 2009, he ran as a candidate for deputy for District No. 25 but was not elected.