Luis Danús

Luis Francisco Danús Covián was a Chilean public accountant, army officer and politician affiliated with the Independent Democratic Union. During the military government he served on the presidential advisory committee in the 1970s, and later held senior posts including Vice President-Executive of CORFO, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Minister-Director of the National Planning Office and Minister of Economy.
In June 1983, as Minister of Economy, he appeared on national television to announce the end of the fixed exchange rate of 39 pesos per U.S. dollar, revalued to 46. He later served as Intendant of the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region from 18 December 1984 to 19 December 1986.

Family and education

He was the son of Francisco Danús and Rita Covián. He married Tamara Patricia Chirighin Chamorro, with whom he had five children: Alejandro, Luis Patricio, Rita Verónica, Luz María and Francisco Javier.
After joining the Chilean Army, he attended the School of the Americas in 1959 and later became deputy director of the Escuela Militar del Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins.

Political career

Following the return to democracy, Danús ran for the Senate representing the Magallanes Region for the 1990–1994 legislative period. He obtained 19,230 votes but was not elected.
Later, as a member of the Corporación 11 de Septiembre, he criticized as “undue harassment” the human-rights cases brought against more than 240 servicemen, arguing that “terrorists have been granted pardons or commutations.”
He also chaired the National Association of Retired Armed Forces and Carabineros. In the 2009 Chilean presidential election he supported Sebastián Piñera. Danús died in Santiago on 10 September 2013 from cancer, aged 83; his funeral mass was held at the Military Cathedral of Chile.