Diego Lira Vergara

Diego Francisco Lira Vergara (Santiago, 17 April 1906/1908 – Santiago, 11 March 1981) was a Chilean lawyer and politician, and a member of the Agrarian Labor Party (PAL).

He served as Minister of Lands and Colonization in 1954 and as Minister of Mining in 1955, during the second government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.

Biography

Diego Francisco Lira Vergara was born on 17 April 1906 or 1908 in Santiago, the capital of Chile. He was one of the children of Luis Lira and Laura Vergara, both natives of Santiago.

In 1933, he married Alicia Octavia Silva de la Fuente, with whom he had four children: Diego Abdón, Luis Felipe, José Ricardo, and Elena Lira Silva.

He qualified as a lawyer in 1932 and served as an assistant professor of civil law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

A member of the National Socialist Movement of Chile (MNSCh), he stood as a candidate for deputy for Osorno in the 1937 parliamentary election, for the 1937–1941 legislative term, but was not elected.

He participated in the founding of the Agrarian Labor Party (PAL). Following the return of General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo to the presidency in 1952, he held several public offices. On 1 March 1954, he was appointed Minister of Lands and Colonization, serving until 5 June of the same year. Later, on 6 January 1955, he was appointed Minister of Mining, a position he held until 30 May of that year.

Concurrently, he was appointed legal counsel and subsequently vice president of the Corporación Nacional de Inversiones, serving in these capacities between 1953 and 1958. He was also appointed president of the Corporación de Ventas del Salitre.

He died in his native Santiago on 11 March 1981.