Augusto Pinochet - Presidency

Presidency

The junta members originally planned for the presidency to rotate among the commanders-in-chief of the four military branches. However, Pinochet soon consolidated his control, first retaining sole chairmanship of the military junta, and then proclaiming himself "Supreme Chief of the Nation" (de facto provisional president) on 27 June 1974. He officially changed his title to "President" on 17 December 1974. General Leigh, head of the Air Force, became increasingly opposed to Pinochet's policies and was forced into retirement on 24 July 1978, after contradicting Pinochet on that year's plebiscite (officially called Consulta Nacional, or National Consultation, in response to a UN resolution condemning Pinochet's government). He would be replaced by General Fernando Matthei.

Pinochet organized a plebiscite on 11 September 1980. The Chilean people were asked to ratify a new Constitution, replacing the 1925 Constitution drafted during Arturo Alessandri's presidency. The new Constitution, partly drafted by Jaime Guzmán, a close adviser to Pinochet and future founder of the right-wing party Independent Democratic Union (UDI), gave the position of President of the Republic, held by Pinochet, a large amount of power. It created some new institutions, such as the Constitutional Tribunal and the controversial National Security Council (COSENA). It also prescribed an 8-year presidential period, and a single-candidate presidential referendum in 1988, where a candidate nominated by the Junta would be approved or rejected for another 8-year period. The 1980 referendum was approved by 67.04% against 30.19%, although the opposition denounced extensive irregularities. Headed by ex-president Eduardo Frei Montalva, they argued that this result did not tally with electoral records.

One objection was that voters cast their vote using as identification only their own ID cards, without any official records, and were marked only with ink on the thumb, which came off rapidly, making electoral fraud easy. These criticisms were rejected by the Scrutiny Association, and the Constitution was promulgated on 21 October 1980, taking effect on 11 March 1981. Pinochet was replaced as President of the Junta that day by Admiral Merino.

In a massive operation spearheaded by Chilean Army Para-Commandos, some 2,000 security forces troops were deployed in the mountains of Neltume from June to November, where they destroyed two MIR bases, seizing large caches of munitions and killing a number of guerrillas.

In a 1985 report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stated that it hoped that "the case now under way will lead to the identification and punishment of the persons responsible for the execution of so culpable an act." Eventually, six members of the police secret service were given life sentences.

According to a book by Ozren Agnic Krstulovic, weapons including C-4 plastic explosives, RPG-7 and M72 LAW rocket launchers as well as more than three thousand M-16 rifles were smuggled into the country by opponents of the government.

In September, weapons from the same source were used in an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Pinochet by the FPMR. Taken by surprise, five of his military bodyguards were killed. Although Pinochet's Mercedes Benz bulletproof vehicle was struck by a rocket, it did not explode, and Pinochet suffered only minor injuries, managing to escape.