Eduardo Frei Montalva member of political party Christian Democratic Party
Political career
He began his political career in the Conservative Party, but was among a group of young men who founded their own party in 1938: the Falange Nacional. He was minister of Public Works in 1945, and in 1949, Frei was elected senator for Atacama and Coquimbo. The same year he published “Historia de los Partidos Políticos Chilenos” (“History of Chilean Political Parties”) in collaboration with Albert Edwards Vives. In 1950, he traveled to New York as a UN delegate. In 1952, at 41 years of age, Frei Montalva announced his first candidacy in the presidential elections.
The 1952 election was won by Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Later, President Ibañez requested Frei to organize an executive committee. However, this never came to be. In 1954, the UN appointed him President of the Commission in charge of elaborating the report of the Conference of Chancellors held in Rio de Janeiro. Some of its members were: Carlos Lleras Restrepo, former President of Colombia, and Raúl Prebisch director of ECLAC. The report served as a basis for subsequent studies on economic development and the integration of Latin America. In 1956 he was elected Senator in Santiago by first majority.
On 27 July 1957, the Falange Nacional became the Christian Democratic Party of Chile, and he became the undisputed leader. Frei Montalva was offered once more the candidacy for president of the Republic in the 1958 elections. Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez was elected president while Eduardo Frei Montalva took only third place.
During these years he published three more books: “Sentido y Forma de una Política” (“Meaning and Shape of Politics”), “La Verdad Tiene Su Hora” (“Truth Has Its Time”), and “Pensamiento y Acción” (“Thought and Action”). In 1960, he lectured at conference “The Mission of Universities in Latin America” in Montevideo; a widely promoted conference at that time. In 1961, he was elected President of the First World Christian Democratic Party Congress, held in Santiago, Chile. The congress was attended by delegations from throughout Latin America, European, North American, and African countries. That year he was invited as special guest to a seminar on the problems of Developing Nations, held at Oxford University. The seminar was attended by delegates from all over the world.Between 1960 and 1962, he lectured at Columbia University on problems in Latin America. In 1962, he gave a conference at Notre Dame University on the development and the integration of Latin American countries. He ran for president again in 1964. Declassified documents show that from 1962 through 1964, the CIA spent a total of $2.6 million to finance his presidential campaign and spent $3 million in anti-Allende propaganda "to scare voters away from Allende's FRAP coalition". The CIA considered its role in the victory of Frei a great success.That year he was elected with his "Revolución en Libertad" ("Revolution in Liberty") slogan by a large margin (56%), defeating Socialist candidate Salvador Allende who only received 39% of the vote, but who subsequently won the 1970 Chilean presidential election.Support of the coup d'etat against Allende
After Allende's 1970 victory, Frei became convinced of what he called a "totalitarian project" to impose a Communist tyranny. In 1971, he gave conferences at universities in Dayton, Ohio, Boston, and the Council of the Americas in New York, denouncing in all of them the actions of the Allende government that were allegedly violating the Constitution and the laws of Chile.In the March 1973 parliamentary elections he was elected Senator for Santiago by a first majority. He was afterwards elected President of the Senate and became the leader of the opposition to Allende. On 6 July 1973, he met with the executive directors of the industrialists’ association (SOFOFA). They told Frei that the country was disintegrating and that if urgent measures were not taken, Chile would fall under a bloody Cuban-style Marxist dictatorship. Frei responded: "There is nothing that can be done by myself, by the Congress, or by any civilian. Unfortunately, this problem can only be fixed with guns." Instead of going to the Congress, we should go to the regiments. "I fully share your apprehensions, and I advise you to state them plainly to commanders-in-chief of the Armed Forces, hopefully today."On 11 September 1973, during the coup d’etát President Allende died by suicide in the presidential palace, La Moneda, as the Armed Forces seized power. His Christian Democratic Party supported the Armed Forces intervention to remove Allende from office in 1973, after the Chamber of Deputies, on 22 August 1973, accused Allende of violating the Constitution.In November 1973 Frei wrote a historic letter to Mariano Rumor, President of the International Christian Democrats, endorsing the Armed Forces intervention and denouncing what he alleged was an attempt by Allende to impose a Communist dictatorship in Chile.Between 1973 and 1977, Frei Montalva was invited to different countries and participated in conferences, such as the Atlantic Conference in 1976. In 1975 he published his book El Mandato de la Historia y las Exigencias del Porvenir (“The Mandate of History and Demands of the Future“), and in 1977 his quintessential book América Latina: Opción y Esperanza (“Latin America: Option and Hope”) which has been translated into several languages.In the period between 1977 and 1982, he was invited to participate in the Brandt Commission, led by Willy Brandt. As a member, he attended meetings held in Germany, Switzerland, Mali, United States, Malaysia, France, Austria, Belgium, and Great Britain. As a Brandt Commission delegate he engaged with important executives from IDB, OAS, and ECLAC.In 1980, he participated in the Meeting of Former Democrat Presidents of Latin America held in Caracas, Venezuela. In 1981, he was invited to the Club of Rome International Conference on the “Alternatives for Humanity: Latin America Mission” also held in Caracas. His last book El Mensaje Humanista (“The Humanist Message”) was published.Later, Frei became an opponent of Pinochet's military government. He opposed the extension of Pinochet's presidency in 1981, leading a rally against it.
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