Rodrigo González Torres

Rodrigo René González Torres (26 September 1941 – 4 September 2022) was a Chilean politician. He served as Second Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile^[1] and as a member of the Chamber of Deputies representing District 7 of the Valparaíso Region.^[2] He previously served twice as mayor of Viña del Mar.

González was born in Viña del Mar, Chile, on September 26, 1941. He is the son of Luis González Grendi and Aída Torres Balbo.^[3] He was married to Ingrid Karelovic Ríos.^[3]

González studied at Colegio de los Sagrados Corazones of Valparaíso. He later entered the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, where he earned a degree in Philosophy and Education in 1963, with a thesis titled Apuntes sobre la libertad en el pensamiento de Tomás Aquino.^[3]

Between 1963 and 1968, he pursued advanced studies at universities in Paris, Berlin, and Frankfurt. He obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Paris (Sorbonne), presenting the dissertations Le problème de la personne et son évolution chez Max Scheler and Les niveaux de la perception esthétique.^[3]

Between 1969 and 1973, González served as an academic at the University of Chile, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso.^[3]

In 1983, he joined the Programa Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones en Educación (PIIE) as a researcher.^[3]

In 1968, while pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of Paris, González participated in the May 13 demonstrations in Paris, serving as coordinator of one of the Action Committees.^[3]

Upon returning to Chile in 1969, he took part in the founding of the Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU). In 1973, he served as the party's national vice president.^[3]

In 1972, he was a candidate for rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. Following the military coup of September 11, 1973, he was politically dismissed from the university. In 1977, he was detained and subsequently went into exile, residing in Luxembourg and Italy. That same year and until 1983, he worked at the European Parliament, was affiliated with the Italian Confederation of Free Trade Unions (CISL), and served as a professor at the University of Luxembourg.^[3]

In 1983, following the first political opening of the military regime to exiles, he returned to Chile.^[3]

He actively participated in the process of democratic recovery through the Democratic Alliance. In 1987, he was among the founders of the Concert of Parties for Democracy and the Party for Democracy (PPD), and was elected a member of the party's first executive board.^[3]

In 1988, he served as head of the No campaign in the Valparaíso Region. The following year, he led the first senatorial campaign of candidate Laura Soto in the same region.^[3]

Between 1990 and 1992, González served as Regional Ministerial Secretary (Seremi) of Education in the Valparaíso Region.^[3]

In the 1992 municipal elections, he ran for mayor of Viña del Mar and was elected, resigning from his ministerial post to assume office for the 1992–1996 term. On October 11, 1994, he was removed from office by the Electoral Qualification Court of Chile (Tricel). Despite this, he was re-elected in 1996 for the 1996–2000 term and simultaneously served as vice president of the Chilean Association of Municipalities.^[3]

In the parliamentary elections of November 2017, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of Chile representing the Party for Democracy for the 7th electoral district of the Valparaíso Region, serving for the 2018–2022 term. He obtained 16,849 votes, equivalent to 4.68% of the total valid votes.^[3]

He did not seek re-election in the 2021 parliamentary elections. Law No. 21,238 of 2020 established that deputies may be re-elected consecutively for up to two terms.^[3]

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