Ximena Vidal

Ximena Leonor Vidal Lázaro (born 1 January 1955) is a Chilean actress and politician of the Party for Democracy.

She has had an extensive career in theater and television, and also worked in various cultural management positions. She was a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the 25th District – comprising the communes of La Granja, Macul, and San Joaquín – for three consecutive legislative terms, from 2002 to 2014. During that period, she participated in the permanent commissions on family; work and social security; education, culture, and sports; and human rights, nationality and citizenship.

Since 2014, she has held the position of cultural attaché at the Chilean embassy in Mexico.

Biography
Ximena Vidal was born in the port of San Antonio on 1 January 1955, the daughter of Spanish immigrants Antonio Vidal and Libertad Lázaro. She married film and television director José Caviedes, with whom she had two children. They subsequently divorced, and Vidal was in a romantic relationship with politician Ramón Farías from 1986 to 2008.

She completed her secondary studies at the Ñuñoa Girls' High School No. 9, and studied sociology at the University of Chile. Later, she graduated as an actress from the Pontifical Catholic University. From 2006 to 2007, she completed a specialization course in economic, social, and cultural rights, and public policies.

In the late 1980s, she worked at the Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, where she managed and produced concerts, cultural meetings, plays, and seminars. She was also director of the Tourism Office of the Municipality of Santiago. Since 2014, she has resumed her work as a cultural manager and executive director of her film and television production company, Cuatro Caminos, which is dedicated to the production of digital animation, commercials, documentaries, and events.

In 1992, together with Farías, then mayor of San Joaquín, she participated in social work in that commune. From 1998 to 2001, she was director of the San Joaquín Solidarity Office. She joined the Party for Democracy, and has held the position of national councillor.

Political career
In December 2001, Vidal was elected national deputy for the term 2002–2006, representing her party for the 25th District. She was a member of the permanent family commission, and presided over commissions for work and social security, and education, culture, and sports. Likewise, she participated in special commissions for the development of tourism, on citizen security, and in the investigative commission on the rights of workers.

In December 2005, she was reelected for the term 2006–2010. She was a member of the permanent commissions for work and social security, education, sports, and recreation, and human rights, nationality and citizenship. In addition, she participated in special commissions on electoral intervention, freedom of expression and the media, and tourism. She was a member of commissions of the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) on science, technology and communication, and the Chilean-Ecuadorian and Chilean-Bulgarian inter-parliamentary groups, presiding over the latter.

In December 2009, Vidal was reelected again for the term 2010–2014. She was a member of the permanent commissions for culture and the arts, and labor and human rights. She participated in the Chilean-Spanish interparliamentary group and, in addition, was a representative of her party before the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat). She decided not to run for a fourth term in November 2013.

Artistic career
In the 1970s and 1980s, Vidal devoted herself to acting, on stage and on television. At age 9, she made her debut on the Canal 13 series Esta es mi familia. Subsequently, she appeared in various shows on that channel, and on Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN). In theater, she acted in the comedies Juani se Casa, Sainetes, Cosa de dos, and Cuéntale que lo hiciste conmigo. She has also worked in commercial cinema, radio drama, dubbing, and in commercials, both for radio and television in Chile and Ecuador.