Luis Pareto González

Luis Pareto González (29 August 1928 – 7 January 2022) was a Chilean politician. A member of the Christian Democrat Party of Chile, Pareto served as a deputy, and in that role, he became the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile from 23 May 1973 until the coup d'état on 11 September of that year, and between March 2001 and March 2002.

He also served as the Intendant of the Santiago Metropolitan Region during the presidency of Patricio Aylwin, the first of the Chilean transition to democracy (1990–1994). He died on 7 January 2022, at the age of 93.

Biography

He was born in Santiago on 29 August 1925, the son of Emilio Segundo Pareto Favillini and Luisa González Soto. He married Carolina Vergara Ayares, and they had four children, including former mayor of Estación Central and former deputy Cristian Pareto Vergara.

He completed his studies at Instituto Zambrano and later at the Liceo de Aplicación in Santiago, finishing at the Escuela Militar. He also attended Law courses as an auditor at the University of Chile. Professionally, he worked in the industrial and transportation sectors.

Political career In 1948, he joined the Partido Agrario Laborista. During the 1950s, he was a member of the Partido Nacional Popular (1958) and the Partido Democrático Nacional (1960). In 1964, he joined the Christian Democratic Party (DC).

Within the DC, he served for 25 years as national councillor and as delegate to the party's National Board for several terms. Between 1965 and 1967, he was national treasurer. He later became president of the party's Supreme Tribunal, resigning from that post in November 2002. He also presided over the International Parliamentary Assembly for Democracy during its four years of operation.

In 1945, he was director of the magazine Estrella, the youth publication of the 4th commune of Santiago. In 1953, he was elected councilor (regidor) for Santiago, serving until 1956, and was re-elected for the 1956–1959 term. As councilor, he chaired the Culture and Finance Committee of the Municipality of Santiago and served as representative to the Municipal Employees’ Fund. In 1957, he was councillor of the Social Security Service and was appointed director and president of Laboratorio Chile. In 1969, he served as national president of his party's municipal campaign.

He served as deputy between 1957 and 1973. At the time of the 11 September 1973 coup d’état, he was President of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile. During the military regime of Augusto Pinochet, he presided over the Chamber of Former Parliamentarians from 1973 to 1990.

In 1990, during the presidency of Patricio Aylwin, he was appointed Intendant of the Metropolitan Region, serving until 1994. Between 1998 and 2002, he again served as deputy. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, he ran as candidate for District No. 20 (Estación Central, Maipú, and Cerrillos) but was not elected.

In 2016, he became a member of the Elections Qualification Court (TRICEL), serving until his resignation in 2019.