Ricardo Lagos

President of Chile

2 March 1938 Santiago, Chile

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11 March 2000 – 11 March 2006

Chilean politicianThis article is about the former president of Chile. For his son, a former minister, see Ricardo Lagos Weber. In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Lagos and the second or maternal family name is Escobar. His Excellency Ricardo Lagos OMCh CYC GColIH OMRI32nd President of ChileIn office 11 March 2000 – 11 March 2006Preceded by Eduardo Frei Ruiz-TagleSucceeded by Michelle BacheletMinister of Public WorksIn office 11 March 1994 – 1 August 1998PresidentEduardo Frei Ruiz-TaglePreceded by Carlos Hurtado Ruiz-TagleSucceeded by Jaime ToháMinister of EducationIn office 11 March 1990 – 28 September 1992PresidentPatricio AylwinPreceded by René Salamé MartínSucceeded by Jorge Arrate Personal detailsBorn (1938-03-02 ) 2 March 1938 (age 83) Santiago, ChilePolitical partyParty for Democracy (1987–present)Other political affiliationsRadical Party (1959–1961) Socialist Party of Chile (1961–1987)Spouse(s)Carmen Weber ​ ​(m. 1961; annulled 1969)​ Luisa Durán ​(m. 1971)​ChildrenRicardoXimenaHernán (stepson)FranciscaAlejandro (stepson)Alma materUniversity of Chile Duke UniversityOccupationLawyerEconomistSignature Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar GColIH OMRI (Spanish pronunciation:  ; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as President of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was well-known for his opposition to the Chilean military dictatorship, and astounded contemporaries by calling out dictator Augusto Pinochet on live TV. He won the 1999-2000 presidential election by a narrow margin in a runoff over Independent Democrat Union (UDI) candidate Joaquín Lavín. Lagos was the third president from the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy to have ruled Chile since 1990. He was succeeded on March 11, 2006 by Socialist Michelle Bachelet, from the same coalition. From 2007 to 2010 he served as a Special Envoy on Climate Change for the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Lagos made an unsuccessful bid to run for president in the 2017 Chilean general election.