
Joaquin Jose Lavin Infante (23 October 1953-) was the Chilean UDI Mayor of Las Condes from 26 September 1992 to 11 June 1999 (succeeding Eduardo Jara Miranda and preceding Carlos Larrain) and from 6 December 2016 (succeeding Francisco De la Maza Chadwick) and Mayor of Santiago from 6 December 2000 to 6 December 2004 (succeeding Jaime Ravinet and preceding Raul Alcaino).
Biography[]
Joaquin Jose Lavin Infante was born in Santiago, Chile on 23 October 1953, and he worked as an academic and journalist before entering politics with the conservative UDI party. He served as Mayor of Las Condes from 1992 to 1999, and he ran for President in 1999 with the backing of UDI and National Renweal; however, he lost to PPD candidate Ricardo Lagos by 200,000 votes in the runoff. He went on to serve as Mayor of Santiago from 2000 to 2004, and he again ran for President in 2005, placing in third with 23.23%; he split the vote with another conservative candidate, Sebastian Pinera, who advanced to the runoff with 25.41% of the vote. He served as Pinera's Minister of Education from 2010 to 2011 and Minister of Social Development from 2011 to 2013, and he drew controversy from his own party due to his support for gay rights. He was re-elected as Mayor of Las Condes in 2016, and, by the end of 2019, he was the only Chilean politician with an approval rating exceeding 50%.