Patricio Aylwin

Patricio Aylwin Azócar (born November 26, 1918) was the president of Chile after its return to democratic rule in 1990, following the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

Political career

Patricio Aylwin?s involvement in politics started in 1945, when he joined the Falange Nacional. Later on he was elected president of the Falange and when that party became the Christian Democrats, he served seven terms as its president between 1958 and 1989.

Related Topics:
1945 - Christian Democrats - 1958 - 1989

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In 1965 he was elected to the National Congress as senator. In 1971, he became the president of the Senate. During the government of Popular Unity, headed by Salvador Allende, he was also the president of his party, and he led the democratic opposition to Allende within and without Congress. He is credited, in some measure, with trying to find a peaceful solution to the country?s political crisis. Nonetheless, in 1973, only a week before the Chilean coup of 1973, he signed a congressional act asking the military to "help reestablish the rule of law". This document, little noticed at the time, was later used as the main excuse for the upraising of the normally apolitical Chilean military.

Related Topics:
1965 - Senator - Popular Unity - Salvador Allende - 1973 - Chilean coup of 1973

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Patricio Aylwin, was president of the Christian Democrats until 1976, and after the death of the natural leader of the party, Eduardo Frei Montalva, in 1982, he led his party during one of the most difficult eras in Chilean history. Later he helped establish the "Constitutional Studies Group of 24" to reunite the country?s democratic sectors against the dictatorship. In 1979 he served as a spokesman in the group that opposed the plebiscite that approved a new constitution.

Related Topics:
Christian Democrats - 1976 - Eduardo Frei Montalva - 1982 - 1979

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In 1982 Patricio Aylwin was elected vice president of the Christian Democrats. He was among the first to advocate acceptance of the constitution as a reality in order to facilitate the return to democracy. The opposition eventually met the legal standards imposed by the Pinochet regime and participated in the 1988 plebiscite.

Related Topics:
1982 - Christian Democrats - 1988

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In October 1988, Chileans voted in a presidential referendum to end General Pinochet's bid for 8 more years as president. Patricio Aylwin was at the center of the movement that defeated General Pinochet.

Related Topics:
October - 1988

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After the plebiscite, he participated in negotiations that led the government and the opposition to agree on 54 constitutional reforms, thereby making possible a peaceful transition from 16 years of dictatorship to democracy.

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