In 1995, he became the Chilean representative to the APEC forum, conducting trade negotiations on economic cooperation. That same year he was part of a diplomatic team negotiating a free trade agreement between Canada and Chile. Lagoes Weber continued to negotiate trade agreements over the next few years. Since the end of the 1990s, Lagos Weber served as the head of the department of Trade Policy of the World Trade Organization, under the Chilean Foreign Ministry's General Directorate of International Economic Relations. In October, 1999, Lagos Weber left his WTO job to serve a major role in the presidential campaign of his father Ricardo Lagos. In 2000, he traveled with President Lagos to Berlin to act as a panelist at the "Third Way" conference, speaking for Chile and his father's administration. He subsequently became Director of Multilateral Economic Affairs in 2002, heading the General Directorate of International Economic Relations. Lagos Weber served as Chilean high representative for APEC during the summits of 2003 and 2004, and was the "main organizer" of the conference when Chile hosted APEC. To this end, he was also a Senior Official for Chile, and the president of APEC's Senior Officials Meeting II prior to the conference. Lagos Weber was a candidate for the congressional elections in December 2005, but withdrew his candidacy in August based on polls that suggested that, even with a 45% showing, he would not secure a seat under Chile's electoral rules.
Ministership
Lagos Weber was a top campaign strategist in Michelle Bachelet's victorious 2005 presidential campaign. In January, before her own inauguration, President-elect Bachelet sent Lagos Weber as Chile's representative to the inauguration of Evo Morales in Bolivia, signaling an intent to improve the two countries' strained relations. In late January, 2006, Lagos Weber was named Ministry General Secretariat of Government, essentially the presidential spokesman, by President Michelle Bachelet, and he took office on March 11. In 2007, Bachelet announced that any cabinet members seeking to run in the upcoming elections would have to announce their resignation by January, 2008. With the popularity of the Bachelet administration at a low, and the Concertación's support suffering, Lagos Weber announced his resignation on December 6, 2007, to make his candidacy for the Senate of Chile for the district of the Valparaíso Region in the December 2008 election. Seen as a rising star, often aided by his recognizability as the former president's son and a visible spokesman to the current president, the upcoming election takes on increased importance as the Concertación faces the risk of losing its dominant role in the government. He was replaced by Francisco Vidal, who had already served in that post for the administration of Ricardo Lagos Escobar. Lagos Weber is currently considered a frontrunner for the position of president of the PPD, though he has not announced his candidacy in the April election.
