Francisco Encina

He completed his primary education at Colegio Padres Franceses in Concepción and his secondary education at Colegio San Agustín in Santiago.^[3] He later enrolled in the School of Sociology at the University of Chile, where he obtained his degree.^[3] He subsequently earned a Master’s degree in Economic Development from the University of Vienna in Austria.^[3]

Between 1968 and 1973, he served as an academic at the University of Chile and at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso.^[3] Concurrently, from 1970 to 1973, he was Director of National Programs at the National Institute for Professional Training (INACAP).^[3]

After the military coup of 11 September 1973, he lived in Austria, where he studied and worked as a researcher at the Institute for Advanced University Studies (1975–1979) and as a consultant to the Austrian Institute of International Politics (1980–1986).^[3]

In 1986, he was authorized to return to Chile and, from that year until 1990, served as a regional leader of his party in the Coquimbo Region.^[3] From 1992 onward, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Party of Chile.^[3]

Between 1990 and 1993, he was appointed Regional Ministerial Secretary of Economy for the Coquimbo Region and simultaneously taught at the University of La Serena.^[3]

In 1966, during his university years, he began his political career as a student leader in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Chile, a position he held until 1969.^[3] The following year, he joined the Socialist Party of Chile (PS), serving on its Professional and Technical Commission.^[3]

In 1993, he was elected deputy for the Socialist Party representing District No. 8 (Coquimbo, Ovalle, and Río Hurtado), Coquimbo Region, for the 1994–1998 legislative period, obtaining 13,360 votes (13.64% of the valid votes cast).^[3] He was re-elected for the same district in December 1997 (1998–2002), with 22,301 votes (25.81%); in December 2001 (2002–2006), with 19,544 votes (20.37%); and in December 2005 (2006–2010), with 15,511 votes (14.99%).^[3] Alongside his list partner from the Christian Democratic Party (Chile), first Jorge Pizarro Soto and later Patricio Walker, he achieved the electoral "doubling" (doblaje) in District No. 8.^[3]

For the December 2009 elections, he decided not to seek re-election to the Chamber of Deputies for District No. 8.^[3]