Darío Paya
Darío Paya | |
|---|---|
| Ambassador of Chile at the Organization of American States | |
| In office 17 March 2010 – 11 March 2014 | |
| President | Sebastián Piñera |
| Preceded by | Adolfo Carafí |
| Succeeded by | Juan Lira Bianchi |
| Secretary General of the Independent Democratic Union | |
| In office 1 July 2006 – 5 July 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Juan Antonio Coloma Correa |
| Succeeded by | Víctor Pérez Varela |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 11 March 1994 – 11 March 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Mario Palestro |
| Succeeded by | Pedro Browne |
| Constituency | 28th District |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 July 1964 |
| Party | Independent Democratic Union (UDI) |
| Spouse | Bettina Horst |
| Children | Four |
| Parent(s) | Rubén Paya Elizabeth Mira |
| Alma mater | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (LL.B) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Darío Guillermo Paya Mira (born 20 July 1964) is a Chilean politician who served as deputy.[1]
Early life and family
Paya was born on 20 July 1964 in Santiago, Chile.[2] He is the son of Rubén Paya Vega and Elizabeth Mira Mellado.[2] He is married to economist Bettina Horst and is the father of four children.[2]
He completed his primary education at Subercaseaux College in San Miguel, Santiago, and his secondary education at Instituto Miguel León Prado and Loch Raven Senior High School in Baltimore, United States.[2] In 1983, he entered the Faculty of Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he obtained his law degree.[2] He was sworn in as an attorney before the Supreme Court of Chile on 21 December 1992.[2]
During his university years, he served as a teaching assistant to former senator Jaime Guzmán.[2] After qualifying as a lawyer, he undertook specialization courses in Japan, Spain, and the United States.[2]
Professionally, he worked as a research attorney at the Libertad y Desarrollo Institute and provided advisory services to members of Congress.[2]
Political career
He began his political career as president of the Student Center of the School of Law at his university.[2] From 1992 to 1994, he served as president of the youth wing of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI).[2]
In the 1993 parliamentary elections, he was elected as a deputy for District No. 28 (Lo Espejo, Pedro Aguirre Cerda, and San Miguel) in the Santiago Metropolitan Region for the 1994–1998 term.[2] He obtained 41,029 votes (22.41%).[2] In December 1997, he was re-elected for the 1998–2002 term with 34,325 votes (22.90%).[2]
In the December 2001 elections, he retained his seat for the 2002–2006 term, obtaining the highest vote share in the district with 47,756 votes (32.23%).[2] In December 2005, he secured a fourth re-election for the 2006–2010 term with 31,691 votes (20.85%).[2] In the 2009 parliamentary elections, he chose not to seek re-election.[2]
From 2006 to 2008, he served as secretary general of the National Board of the UDI, under the presidency of Senator Hernán Larraín.[2]
In February 2010, President Sebastián Piñera appointed him director of the Government’s Secretariat of Communications (Secom), a position he did not assume.[2] In March 2010, he was appointed Ambassador of Chile to the Organization of American States (OAS), serving until the end of the administration.[2]
In August 2017, his resignation from the UDI was made public, ending more than 34 years of party membership.[2]
In April 2020, he was appointed by President Sebastián Piñera as a member of the Foreign Policy Council of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[2]