The Government Junta of Chile ( es, Junta Militar de Gobierno) was the

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

established to rule

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

during the military dictatorship that followed the overthrow of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

in the

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...

. The Government Junta was the executive and legislative branch of government until December 17, 1974, when

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

rose was formally declared President of Chile in late 1974. After that date, it functioned strictly as a legislative body until the return to democracy in 1990.

Installation of the regime

On September 11, 1973, the day of the coup, the military officers issued an ''Act of Constitution''. The act established a junta government that immediately suspended the constitution, suspended

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, imposed strict censorship and

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

, proscribed the leftist parties that had constituted

's Popular Unity coalition, and halted all political activity, effectively establishing a

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

., Retrieved 24 October 2006 through Google Books. The judicial branch continued to operate under the Junta, and nominally had jurisdiction over its repressive activities, but rarely interfered. BNC-Junta Militar Chile 1973

The new junta was made up of General

Gustavo Leigh Air General Gustavo Leigh Guzmán (September 19, 1920 – September 29, 1999) was a Chilean general, who represented the Air Force in the 1973 Chilean coup d'état and, for a time, in the ruling junta that followed. Leigh was forced out of th ...

representing the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

, General

representing the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, Admiral José Toribio Merino representing the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

, and General César Mendoza representing the

Carabineros The was an armed carabiniers force of Spain under both the monarchy and the Second Spanish Republic, Second Republic. The formal mission of this paramilitary gendarmerie was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country, operating against ...

(police). The

Nixon administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment because of the Watergate Scanda ...

, which had worked to create the conditions for the coup, promptly recognized the ''junta'' government and supported it in consolidating power.

History and leadership

Once the Junta was in power, General Pinochet soon consolidated his control. Since he was the commander-in-chief of the oldest branch of the military forces (the Army), he was made the head of the

. This position was originally to be rotated among the four branches, but was later made permanent. He began by retaining sole chairmanship of the junta as "Supreme Chief of the Nation" from June 27, 1974 until December 17, 1974, when he was proclaimed President. Gustavo Leigh, commander of the Air Force, opposed the consolidation of the legislative and executive branches, but agreed to Pinochet's presidency under pressure from Merino and Mendoza, who warned that the junta would split otherwise if he did not sign on.Ensalaco, Mark. 2000. Chile Under Pinochet : Recovering the Truth. Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. General Leigh, head of the Air Force, became increasingly opposed to Pinochet's policies and the permanent state of military government. Pinochet eventually tired of Leigh's opposition and dismissed him from the regime in 1978, declaring him unfit for office and forcing him into retirement on July 24, 1978, in a very tense moment that almost caused a military insurrection. Airforce General

Fernando Matthei Fernando Matthei Aubel (11 July 1925 – 19 November 2017) was a Chilean Air Force general who was part of the military junta that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, replacing the dismissed Gustavo Leigh as commander-in-chief of the Chilean Air ...

replaced Leigh as junta member.25 Chilean Soldiers Arrested in Burning of US Resident
/ref> Leigh was replaced by General

. General Pinochet took over as President following a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

that approved a new constitution. On March 11, 1981, he resigned his position in the Junta, and was replaced by the most senior General officer from the Army, who was nominated by himself. After that date, the Junta remained only as a legislative body under the presidency of Admiral

Merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

, until the return to democracy in 1990. In 1985, three communists were found with murdered, with their throats slit, by the side of a road. The guilty party turned out to be the Carabineros' secret service, and the Caso Degollados ("case of the slit throats") caused General César Mendoza's resignation on August 2, 1985. Mendoza was replaced by General

Rodolfo Stange Rodolfo Stange Oelckers (born 30 September 1925) is a Chilean politician who served as a Senator. He was a member of the Government Junta that ruled Chile during the dictatorship period from 1973 to 1990, representing the police force (Carabine ...

. Stange, who had risen through the ranks of the Carabineros to become General Subdirector of the police force in 1982, was appointed to General Director and served ''ex officio'' as a member of the military junta. Stange continued serving as general director after Pinochet's dictatorship ended in 1990. As of 2021, Stange is the military junta's last surviving member; he also served as a senator after the return to democracy.

Political repression and human rights abuses

Immediately after the coup the junta moved to crush their left-wing opposition. Besides pursuing revolutionary guerilla groups, the junta embarked on a campaign against political opponents and perceived leftists in the country, as well as family members of dissidents. According to the Rettig Commission, 2,279 people who disappeared were killed for political reasons or by political violence, and 27,000 incarcerated, most of them for long periods of time, without trials and in special secluded facilities in remote locations. According to the 2004

Valech Report The Valech Report (officially The National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture Report) is a record of abuses committed in Chile between 1973 and 1990 by agents of Augusto Pinochet's military regime. The report was published on November ...

, approximately 32,000 people were tortured, and 1,312 officially exiled. Among the cases of torture were approximately 3,400 cases of sexual abuse of women. Many of the exiled were received abroad, in particular in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

and Sweden, as political refugees; however, they were followed in their exile by the DINA secret police, in the frame of

Operation Condor Operation Condor ( es, link=no, Operación Cóndor, also known as ''Plan Cóndor''; pt, Operação Condor) was a United States–backed campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of op ...

which linked South-American dictatorships together against political opponents. Intelligence agencies including the United States CIA worked to assassinate many of those in exile around the world, including former Chilean ambassador to the United States

Orlando Letelier Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar (13 April 1932 – 21 September 1976) was a Chilean economist, politician and diplomat during the presidency of Salvador Allende. A refugee from the Military government of Chile (1973–1990), military dictato ...

and former Chilean President

Eduardo Frei Montalva Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva (; 16 January 1911 – 22 January 1982) was a Chilean political leader. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party, senator, President of the ...

(1964-70).

Leaders

Members

Notes