Laura Soto

Laura Filomena Soto González (born 15 December 1931) is a Chilean politician who served as Senator and Deputy in his country.

Biography Family and youth She was born in Santiago on 15 December 1931. She was the daughter of Humberto Soto Cáceres and Juana González Larraín. She married Enrique Paniagua Jegó and was the mother of two daughters. One of them, Marisol Paniagua Soto, served as a municipal councillor of Valparaíso between 2004 and 2008.

Professional career She completed her primary education at School No. 10 of Valparaíso and her secondary education at Girls’ High School No. 2 of the same city. In 1950, she entered the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile (Valparaíso campus), obtaining a degree in Legal and Social Sciences with the thesis “Law of the Sea: Maritime Sovereignty of the State”. She was admitted to the bar before the Supreme Court of Chile. She was subsequently appointed national councillor of the Human Rights Commission, eventually assuming its vice-presidency.

With the founding of the Party for Democracy in late 1987, she became one of the party’s founders in the Valparaíso Region, serving as its Regional President.

During the government of President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, she was appointed Ambassador of Chile to Nicaragua, a position she held between 1994 and 2000.