History UsefulNotes / PresidentsOfChile

* '''Carlos Ibáñez del Campo''' (1927-1931): Won the elections by a overwhelming majority (not that difficult, considering that the parties refused to present a candidate and the only other candidate, from the Communist Party, was in jail). He proceeded to rule by decree, essentially becoming a dictator, though not a ruthless one, unified all the police forces into Carabineros de Chile, returned the province of Tacna to Peru and receiving lots of loans with which he could help grow the country. Was nicknamed "Chilean Mussolini", [[BerserkButton which he loathed.]] All this went to hell with the Great Depression, with Chile being the worst country affected in the world; since his enormous public spending didn’t help matters, he chose to exile himself.

* '''Ramón Freire''' (1823-1826): He abolished slavery, making Chile the first country on South America to do it so and opened the country to external market. The independence of the entire territory was finally achieved in his period too (before that, the island of Chiloé remained in Spanish control). However, he found himself in a conflict with the Holy See and his management was not seen as better than O’Higgins, so he was forced to resign too (actually, he was dismissed earlier, while on a campaign, but recovered the power when he came back). As a final note, he was the one who gave the tobacco monopoly to Diego Portales Palazuelos and made him enter into politics.

* '''Gabriel Boric''' (2022-2026): Still president elect. Youngest Chilean president of all time and first president born during Pinochet's dictatorship. Won with the most leftist platform (although he had to moderate over many issues to get the endorsement of centrist figures) since Allende, against José Antonio Kast from the right-wing Republican Party. He was one of the leaders of the students protests of the first government of Piñera, and a congressman since the second government of Bachelet. At congress he was one of the biggest proponents of lowering the salary of congressmen and government authorities. He also pushed heavily for more funding for mental health (being himself diagnosed and treated for OCD) and favored the deal for a new constitution, a controversial move at the time, since the most leftist parts of his coalition saw it as pact with the devil. Although he always had a SeriouslyScruffy image, he started dressing in a more formal way during his presidential campaign, however, he is still almost never seen wearing a tie. His presidential campaign was an uphill fight, struggling at first to get signatures to legally register his candidacy (Many people consider most of the signatures he got at the last minute were mostly to own congresswoman Pamela Jiles who went viral for a LargeHam video making fun of Boric for not being able to get them). Then he beat Communist mayor Daniel Jadue against all expectations, helped mostly by a series of gaffes by Jadue and the support of centrist who saw him as a more moderate candidate.

* '''Michelle Bachelet''' (2014-2018): Socialist. The first female president of Chile, elected for a second term over her fellow female politician Evelyn Matthei. Her second government was tilted more to the left since she included the Communist Party into her government coalition. Since she got one of the most favorable congresses for a president, she could achieve some important reforms in education, eliminate the binominal system used to elect members of congress, and making abortion legal in cases of rape, danger for the mother, or fetus unviability. However, some other key measures could not get implemented because of the opposition and some of the most centrist factions of her own government coalition. Not being able to make significant changes to the pension system and to implement a process to redact a new constitution became important issues for her successor. During her second government, her popularity got damaged by the difficulty of managing a broad coalition of government and corruption scandals involving her son. Her claims about finding out about her son's shady deals on the press reached, and people MemeticMutation, as well as people saying "Do something Madame Bachelet" (in a very colloquial way) for every problem (pretty similar to "Thanks Obama").

* '''Michelle Bachelet''' (2014-2018): Socialist. The first female president of Chile, elected for a second term over her fellow female politician Evelyn Matthei. Her second government was tilted more to the left since she included the Communist Party into her government coalition. Since she got one of the most favorable congresses for a president, she could achieve some important reforms in education, eliminate the binominal system used to elect members of congress, and making abortion legal in cases of rape, danger for the mother, or fetus unviability. However, some other key measures could not get implemented because of the opposition and some of the most centrist factions of her own government coalition. Not being able to make significant changes to the pension system and to implement a process to redact a new constitution became important issues for her successor. During her second government, her popularity got damaged by the difficulty of managing a broad coalition of government and corruption scandals involving her son. Her claims about finding out about her son's shady deals on the press reached, and people MemeticMutation, as well as people saying "Do something Madame Bachelet" (in a very colloquial way) for every problem (Pretty similar to "Thanks Obama").

* '''Manuel Montt''' (1851-1861): An ultra-conservative, [[TheStoic almost emotionless]] ImpoverishedPatrician who advanced in commerce and banking, between other stuff. More German settlers arrived during his period, mainly to the south of the country. His extemely conservative stance brought him MANY enemies, not helped by how many young and cultured upper-class people supported liberal ideas in what was known as "Generation of 1848". To avoid another uprising of the liberals, after his "right hand" Antonio Varas fell out of grace, he supported the candidacy of a more moderate conservative.

* '''Arturo Alessandri Palma''' (1920-1925): Liberal. Half-Chilean, half-Italian, 100% HotBlooded. His was the first massive presidential campaign, with all the [[LargeHam hamminess]] that it brought. He tried to give the presidency more power, but having the minority on the Congress made him uncapable. Part of the army, sick of the political situation, forced his way into the ministries and forced the Congress to pass some of the laws they considered fitting; one of these was the future president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Alessandri, realizing he was being just a puppet for them, resigned, but the Congress instead gave him a temporary leave. In his abscense, a Military Junta was formed, but it quickly devolved into internal bickering. Ibáñez and others mounted a coup and forced the Congress to write a new constitution, giving the president the power needed to govern.

* '''Salvador Allende''' (1970-1973): Socialist (Popular Unity), a physician and ImpoverishedPatrician from Valparaiso. After [[{{Determinator}} three failed attempts]], he finally won the race for presidency. Was thought of being a manipulator and very much a reader into people's souls. Trying to bring socialism to the country (summarized in his motto “The Chilean path to socialism”), he started to nationalize big industries and made the government took full charge of the administration of education and health; he also finished Frei's plan of land seizure. However, his '''horrendous''' economical administration, along with the usual lack of products in the markets (which was NOT helped by the intervention of right-wing groups associated with businessmen) and friendship with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro made him extremely unpopular with the right-wing, the United States and eventually, even the more left-center ones. Fearing another UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, US president UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and his associate Henry Kissinger [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_Chile made everything they could to make the country collapse]]. In 1973, Allende was deposed in a violent coup d'etat (it involved, between other things, bullet exchanges and fighters [[StuffBlowingUp bombing La Moneda]], the palace government) during [[DrivenToSuicide which he took his own life]], presumably [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled as the last laugh to his enemies]]. The irony? He '''was''' toying with the idea of calling a plebiscite to decide if he would continue in the presidency. He was replaced by the infamous [[GeneralRipper General Augusto Pinochet]], who was reported to have been among the closest to him in the military fields. (And few months before the coup... had publically announced to the presses [[HarsherInHindsight that the military would not intervene to take Allende out of power.]]) In 2008, he was elected the Greatest Chilean in history.

Some other stuff that happened during this period included a visit from the Pope (which is seen either as an attempt to congratulate the country with the rest of the world or UsefulNotes/ThePope's genuine attempt to help recover democracy -- and quite recalled by protests following John Paul II almost everywhere), the recovery and then collapse of the economy, the '''horrifying''' repressions of the [[SecretPolice DINA]] headed by [[CoronelKillgore Manuel "Mamo" Contreras]], a new Constitution approved in a very disputed plebiscite (very similar to the Anschluss, actually), the death of former President Frei ''juuuuuuuust'' when he had publically announced [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere that he would withdraw his former support to Pinochet]], and yet ''ANOTHER'' earthquake, this time on the capital itself. Finally, after both internal and external pressure elections were called in 1988 (it's said he has a VillainousBreakdown and actually didn't want to aknowledge his loss), ending the dictatorship and starting the democracy again.

When the plebiscite to return to democracy came, all the political parties allied themselves in two factions; after the plebiscite, they renamed and adapted to the circumstances. The Concertación (Concert of Parties for Democracy) comprises the center-left parties: Christian Democrat Party (DC), Party for Democracy (PPD), Socialist Party (PS) and Social Democrat Radical Party (PRSD). The Coalición por el Cambio (Coalition for Change), on the other hand, comprises the right parties, the main ones are the National Renewal (RN) and Independent Democrat Union (UDI), and minor ones are [=ChileFirst=] ([=CH1=]) and the movements Grand North and Christian Humanism (MHC). There are also other parties, including the Communist Party (PC) and the Regionalist Party of the Independents (PRI), a party that declares itself “outside the political sprectum”. But let’s not focus on them now.

* '''Patricio Aylwin''' (1990-1994): Christian Democrat, one of the founders of the party alongsid Eduardo Frei Sr.. Usually depicted as a soft-spoken, [[PerpetualSmiler always smily]] CoolOldGuy with a cheeky sense of humor acting as a seat-warmer, even though he did stuff to alleviate the inequity of the Chilean society (a problem that subsists even today) and tried to mitigate some of the power Pinochet had left to himself. There are some rumours flying around as to abilities, particularly the way he got to run for president to begin with (repeteadly refusing to take over the candidacy until they ran out of options, then stepping up when nobody else would.)

* '''Ricardo Lagos''' (2000-2006): Socialist. Once the main oppositor of Pinochet’s dictatorship, he had to deal tense relations with the neighbor countries (especially Bolivia), corruption scandals and had to make a decision regarding [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror George W. Bush’s intention of invading Iraq]] (for the record, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he chose not to support him]]). Enjoyed of enormous support back during his term, but at the end was criticized for not doing enough about the inequity problem. Nowadays known as “[[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Captain Planet]]” for his role as Special Envoy on Climate Change, for which he has been criticized, as his presidential actions don't show any concern for the enviroment. The media portrays him as some sort of LargeHam MemeticBadass, based mainly on the occasion when he confronted Pinochet and his desire to remain in power on television, an incident known in Chile as “the finger of Lagos” (he [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger pointed at the camera with his index finger]] while he criticized Pinochet with a [[KubrickStare very menacing look]]).

* '''Sebastián Piñera''' (2010-2014): National Renewal. After ten years of center-left governments, finally a candidate from the right came out winning; actually, he had been running for the presidency for a couple of elections before. 2010 has been a very crappy year for Chile, considering the earthquake and the mining accident and subsequent rescue; on the other hand, his popularity plummeted systematically after that, due to many social conflicts that he and his ministers were NOT able to resolve (specially in regards to education and public safety) as well as broken election promises. A businessman and one of the richest men in Chile, he has been criticized for not selling his actions in diverse public enterprises, triggering conflicts of interests. The satiric media portrayal of him is represented by [[TheNapoleon a midget]] trying to appeal the masses with populist promises, [[TheKlutz his frequent]] [[MalaProper malapropisms]] (known as the "Piñericosas aka "Piñera Stuff"), [[TheUnSmile his perpetually unnerving]] [[StepfordSmiler smile]], his [[TheJinx bad luck that spreads to others]], and his penchant for acting like Zelig. In his favor, economy improved at a constant, satisfying pace (though the economic inequality didnt really shrink) and a lot of money used in public infrastructure gave Chileans in various cities (specially those hit with the 2010 earthquake) a much-needed facelift and better quality of life. Also you gotta recgonize that he a damn hilarious FountainOfMemes ''and'' he had enough sense of humor [[AscendedMeme to aknowledge them]].
* '''Michelle Bachelet''' (2014-2018): Socialist. The first female president of Chile, elected for a second term over her fellow female politician Evelyn Matthei. Her second goverment was tilted more to the left since she included the Comunist Party into her goverment coalition. Since she got one of the most favorable congresses for a president, she could achieve some important reforms in education, eliminate the binominal system used to elect members of congress, and making abortion legal in cases of rape, danger for the mother,or fetus unviavilty. However, some other key meassures could not get implemented because of the opossition and some of the most centrist factions of her own goverment coalition. Not being able to make significant changes to the pension system and to implement a process to redact a new constitution became important issues for her succesor. During her second goverment, her popularity got damaged by the dificulty of managing a broad coalition of goverment and corruption scandals involving her son. Her claims about finding out about her son's shady deals on the press reached, and people MemeticMutation, as well as people saying "Do something Madame Bachellet" (In a very coloquial way) for every problem (Pretty similar to "Thanks Obama").
* '''Sebastián Piñera''' (2018-2022): Similar to Bachelet, he got elected for a second time, beating senator and former news anchor Alejandro Guillier. His first two years his efforts where mostly aimed to diminish the impact of his predecessor's reforms and trying to lead the international opossition to Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. The popular discontent over politics during the last decades, combined with a series of unfortunate declarations from him or his ministers, and a rise on the Santiago's subway's fare, among other factors, feeded riots that peaked during October 18 2019. On that day, the goverment decided to contain a group of students massively jumping over the subway's turnstiles, by closing its service, forcing many people of Santiago to walk from their jobs to their homes. Subway stations ended up burned while Piñera was seen eating pizza in a restaurant for his grandson's birthday. His posterior speech talking about a war with a powerful enemy that doesn't respect anything or anyone (something many people saw as a war declaration to his own people) made matters even worst. During the next months, massive protests became common over the country and the police and military efforts to contain them ended up with acusations over human rights violations, specialy for the deaths of protesters and lessions that included people who lost an eye (one student los both eyes and a factory worker also ended up blind because of a tear gas bomb that fell over her head while she was waiting for a bus). In an attempt to calm things down, a big seattlement got made in congress, propossing a referendum to have a convention of elected representatives dedicated to write a new constitution (something that Piñera's coalition was always strongly against). The last years of his administration were mostly about managing the COVID pandemic, like all his peers, and the implementation of the process to write the new constitution. His lack of a legacy made him also send to the congress a law to make gay mariage legal (something he and most of his coalition was always against), which ended up being passed by the end of 2021.
* '''Gabriel Boric''' (2022-2026): Still president elect. Youngest chilean president of all time and first president born during Pinochet's dictatorship. Won with the most leftist plataform (although he had to moderate over many issues to get the endorsement of centrist figures) since Allende, against José Antonio Kast from the right-wing Republican Party. He was one of the leaders of the students protests of the first goverment of Piñera, and a congressman since the second goverment of Bachelet. At congress he was one of the biggest proponents of lowering the salary of congressmen and goverment authorities. He also pushed heavily for more funding for mental health (being himself diagnosed and treated for OCD) and favored the deal for a new constitution, a controversial move at the time, since the most leftist parts of his coalition saw it as pact with the devil. Although he always had a SeriouslyScruffy image, he started dressing in a more formal way during his presidential campaign, however, he is still almost never seen wearing a tie. His presidential campaign was an uphil fight, strugling at first to get signatures to legally register his candidacy (Many people consider most of the signatures he got at the last minute were mostly to own congresswoman Pamela Jiles who went viral for a LargeHam video making fun of Boric for not being able to get them). Then he beated comunist mayor Daniel Jadue against all expectations, helped mostly by a series of gaffes by Jadue and the support of centrist who saw him as a more moderate candidate. So there you have it, the presidents of Chile. That’s the reason why the politics in [[WorldOfSnark Chile]] [[DeadpanSnarker are a motive of mockery.]]

* '''Gabriel Boric''' (2022-2026): Still president elect. Youngest chilean president of all time and first president born during Pinochet's dictatorship. Won with the most leftist plataform (although he had to moderate over many issues to get the endorsement of centrist figures) since Allende, against José Antonio Kast from the right-wing Republican Party. He was one of the leaders of the students protests of the first goverment of Piñera, and a congressman since the second goverment of Bachelet. At congress he was one of the biggest proponents of lowering the salary of congressmen and goverment authorities. He also pushed heavily for more funding for mental health (being himself diagnosed and treated for OCD) and favored the deal for a new constitution, a controversial move at the time, since the most leftist parts of his coalition saw it as pact with the devil. Although he always had a SeriouslyScruffy image, he started dressing in a more formal way during his presidential campaign, however, he is still almost never seen wearing a tie.
So there you have it, the presidents of Chile. That’s the reason why the politics in [[WorldOfSnark Chile]] [[DeadpanSnarker are a motive of mockery.]]

* '''Michelle Bachelet''' (2014-2018): Socialist. The first female president of Chile, elected for a second term over her fellow female politician Evelyn Matthei. Her second goverment was tilted more to the left since she included the Comunist Party into her goverment coalition. Since she got one of the most favorable congresses for a president, she could achieve some important reforms in education, eliminate the binominal system used to elect members of congress, and making abortion legal in cases of rape, danger for the mother,or fetus unviavilty. However, some other key meassures could not get implemented because of the opossition and some of the most centrist factions of her own goverment coalition. Not being able to make significant changes to the pension system and to implement a process to redact a new constitution became important issues for her succesor. During her second goverment, her popularity got damaged by the dificulty of managing a broad coalition of goverment and corruption scandals involving her son. Her claims about finding out about her son's shady deals on the press reached MemeticMutation.
* '''Sebastián Piñera''' (2018-2022): Similar to Bachelet, he got elected for a second time, beating senator and former news anchor Alejandro Guillier. His first two years his efforts where mostly aimed to diminish the impact of his predecessor's reforms and trying to lead the international opossition to Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. The popular discontent over politics during the last decades, combined with a series of unfortunate declarations from him or his ministers, and a rise on the Santiago's subway's fare, among other factors, feeded riots that peaked during October 18 2019. On that day, the goverment decided to contain a group of students massively jumping over the subway's turnstiles, by closing its service, forcing many people of Santiago to walk from their jobs to their homes. Subway stations ended up burned while Piñera was seen eating pizza in a restaurant for his grandson's birthday. His posterior speech talking about a war with a powerful enemy that doesn't respect anything made matters even worst. During the next months, massive protests became common over the country and the police and military efforts to contain them ended up with acusations over human rights violations, specialy for the deaths of protesters and lessions that included people who lost an eye (one student los both eyes and a factory worker also ended up blind because of a tear gas bomb that fell over her head while she was waiting for a bus). In an effort to calm things down, a big seattlement got made in congress, propossing a referendum to have a convention of elected representatives dedicated to write a new constitution (something that Piñera's coalition was always strongly against). The last years of his administration were mostly about managing the COVID pandemic, like all his peers, and the implementation of the process to write the new constitution. His lack of a legacy made him also send to the congress a law to make gay mariage legal (something he and most of his coalition was always against), which ended up being passed by the end of 2021.
* '''Gabriel Boric''' (2022-2026): Still president elect. Youngest chilean president of all time and first president born during Pinochet's dictatorship. Won with the most leftist plataform (although he had to moderate over many issues to get the endorsement of centrist figures) since Allende, against José Antonio Kast from the right-wing Republican Party. He was one of the leaders of the students protests of the first goverment of Piñera, and a congressman since the second goverment of Bachelet. Although he always had a SeriouslyScruffy image, he started dressing in a more formal way during his presidential campaign, however, he is still almost never seen wearing a tie.

* '''Michelle Bachelet''' (2014-2018): Socialist. The first female president of Chile, re-elected for a second term over her fellow female politician Evelyn Matthei. Her second goverment was tilted more to the left since she included the Comunist Party into her goverment coalition. Since she got one of the most favorable congresses for a president, she could achieve some important reforms in education, eliminate the binominal system used to elect members of congress, and making abortion legal in cases of rape, danger for the mother,or fetus unviavilty. However, some other key meassures could not get implemented because of the opossition and some of the most centrist factions of her own goverment coalition. Not being able to make significant changes to the pension system and to implement a process to redact a new constitution became important issues for her succesor.
During her second goverment, her popularity got damaged by the dificulty of managing a broad coalition of goverment and corruption scandals involving her son. Her claims about finding out about her son's shady deals on the press reached [[Memetic mutation]].
* '''Sebastián Piñera''' (2018-2022):

* '''Michelle Bachelet''' (2014-2018): Socialist. The first female president of Chile, re-elected for a second term over her fellow female politician Evelyn Matthei. We'll see how she does in her second time as the self-proclaimed Chilean TeamMom.
* '''Sebastián Piñera''' (2018--):

'''''Parliamentary Period:''''' '''We won’t allow you to do anything we don’t want to!''' – Once the civil war ended, the Congress established a parliamentary government… except for one tiny detail: the only thing the republic had of parliamentary now was the fact that the congress was free to remove any minister whenever they wanted. This ridiculous attitude meant that, even though the president was still the man in power and the one who governed, he had to low his head to the congress on ANYTHING, while they didn’t take any responsibilities for any screw-up made by the president’s narrow capability of government. Most of the guys wore a BadassMustache in this era, by the way.

* '''Ricardo Lagos''' (2000-2006): Socialist. Once the main oppositor of Pinochet’s dictatorship, he had to deal tense relations with the neighbor countries (especially Bolivia), corruption scandals and had to make a decision regarding [[TheWarOnTerror George W. Bush’s intention of invading Iraq]] (for the record, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he chose not to support him]]). Enjoyed of enormous support back during his term, but at the end was criticized for not doing enough about the inequity problem. Nowadays known as “[[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Captain Planet]]” for his role as Special Envoy on Climate Change, for which he has been criticized, as his presidential actions don't show any concern for the enviroment. The media portrays him as some sort of LargeHam MemeticBadass, based mainly on the occasion when he confronted Pinochet and his desire to remain in power on television, an incident known in Chile as “the finger of Lagos” (he [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger pointed at the camera with his index finger]] while he criticized Pinochet with a [[KubrickStare very menacing look]]).

* '''Michelle Bachelet''' (2014--): Socialist. The first female president of Chile, re-elected for a second term over her fellow female politician Evelyn Matthei. We'll see how she does in her second time as the self-proclaimed Chilean TeamMom.

* '''Bernardo O’Higgins''' (1817-1823): Even though there were other Supreme Directors before him, he is recognized as the first guy in charge of Chile as a new country, so he’s the first on the list. A redhead born as the HeroicBastard of a former Chilean Governor/Viceroy of Peru, he grew into an independence fighter after quite the BreakTheCutie experiences he had in both Chile and England. O'Higgins was assigned the position when San Martín instead preferred to go on a South American tour fighting for independence of more territories. He made developments in public buildings and agriculture. Fearing another invasion of Spain, he also created the Navy. However, his efforts to abolish the nobility and his clashes with the church, along with a new constitution seen with bad eyes by them alienated him from the upper class, so he was forced to resign. He left for Peru with his family (including his maternal half-sister Rosa, his son Demetrio and others) and lived the rest of his life there. Said to have had ties with Masonry and specially the ''very'' shady "Logia Lautarina" hailing from Argentina.

* '''Gabriel González Videla''' alias "Don Gabito" (1946-1952): Radical. He won the elections only thanks to the support of the Communist Party, but in an incredible example of a ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, he betrayed the communists and made them illegal (While it ''is'' true that the Communists were interfering with several government action, that ''still'' smacks of DisproportionateRetribution). The most important thing in his government was the advancement on women’s rights. Opinions of him were divided, his supporters saw his treason to the communists as a necessary maneuver in the complicated climate of the upcoming UsefulNotes/ColdWar, while others, including poet Creator/PabloNeruda, thought he just sold out to America. Usually caricaturized as a ManChild who did childish stuff on La Moneda (like sliding down the stairs' rail or hang from a lamp).

* '''Ricardo Lagos''' (2000-2006): Socialist. Once the main oppositor of Pinochet’s dictatorship, he had to deal tense relations with the neighbor countries (especially Bolivia), corruption scandals and had to make a decision regarding [[TheWarOnTerror George W. Bush’s intention of invading Iraq]] (for the record, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he chose not to support him]]). Enjoyed of enormous support back during his term, but at the end was criticized for not doing enough about the inequity problem. Nowadays known as “[[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Captain Planet]]” for his role as Special Envoy on Climate Change, for which he has been criticized, as his presidential actions don't show any concern for the enviroment. The media portrays him as some sort of LargeHam MemeticBadass, based mainly on the occasion when he confronted Pinochet and his desire to remain in power on television, an incident known in Chile as “the finger of Lagos” (he [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger pointed at the camera with his index finger]] while [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome he criticized Pinochet]] with a [[KubrickStare very menacing look]]).

* '''Sebastián Piñera''' (2010-2014): National Renewal. After ten years of center-left governments, finally a candidate from the right came out winning; actually, he had been running for the presidency for a couple of elections before. 2010 has been a very crappy year for Chile, considering the earthquake and the mining accident [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming and subsequent rescue]]; on the other hand, his popularity plummeted systematically after that, due to many social conflicts that he and his ministers were NOT able to resolve (specially in regards to education and public safety) as well as broken electionary promises. A businessman and one of the richest men in Chile, he has been criticized for not selling his actions in diverse public enterprises, triggering conflicts of interests. The satiric media portrayal of him is represented by [[TheNapoleon a midget]] trying to appeal the masses with populist promises, [[TheKlutz his frequent]] [[MalaProper malapropisms]] (known as the "Piñericosas aka "Piñera Stuff"), [[TheUnSmile his perpetually unnerving]] [[StepfordSmiler smile]], his [[TheJinx bad luck that spreads to others]], and his penchant for acting like Zelig. In his favor, economy improved at a constant, satisfying pace (though the economic inequality didnt really shrink) and a lot of money used in public infrastructure gave Chileans in various cities (specially those hit with the 2010 earthquake) a much-needed facelift and better quality of life. Also you gotta recgonize that he a damn hilarious FountainOfMemes ''and'' he had enough sense of humor [[AscendedMeme to aknowledge them]].

* '''Salvador Allende''' (1970-1973): Socialist (Popular Unity), a physician and ImpoverishedPatrician from Valparaiso. After [[{{Determinator}} three failed attempts]], he finally won the race for presidency. Was thought of being a ManipulativeBastard and very much a reader into people's souls. Trying to bring socialism to the country (summarized in his motto “The Chilean path to socialism”), he started to nationalize big industries and made the government took full charge of the administration of education and health; he also finished Frei's plan of land seizure. However, his '''horrendous''' economical administration, along with the usual lack of products in the markets (which was NOT helped by the intervention of right-wing groups associated with businessmen) and friendship with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro made him extremely unpopular with the right-wing, the United States and eventually, even the more left-center ones. Fearing another UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, US president UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and his associate Henry Kissinger [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_Chile made everything they could to make the country collapse]]. In 1973, Allende was deposed in a violent coup d'etat (it involved, between other things, bullet exchanges and fighters [[StuffBlowingUp bombing La Moneda]], the palace government) during [[DrivenToSuicide which he took his own life]], presumably [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled as the last laugh to his enemies]]. The irony? He '''was''' toying with the idea of calling a plebiscite to decide if he would continue in the presidency. He was replaced by the infamous [[GeneralRipper General Augusto Pinochet]], who was reported to have been among the closest to him in the military fields. (And few months before the coup... had publically announced to the presses [[HarsherInHindsight that the military would not intervene to take Allende out of power.]]) In 2008, he was elected the Greatest Chilean in history.

* '''Ramón Freire''' (1823-1826): He abolished slavery, making Chile the first country on South America to do it so and opened the country to external market. The independence of the entire territory was finally achieved in his period too (before that, the island of Chiloé remained in Spanish control). However, he found himself in a conflict with the Holy See and his management was not seen as better than O’Higgins, so he was forced to resign too (actually, he was dismissed earlier, while on a campaign, but recovered the power when he came back). As a final note, he was the one who gave the tobacco monopoly to [[MagnificentBastard Diego Portales Palazuelos]] and made him enter into politics.

* '''Francisco Ruiz-Tagle''' (1830): The fact that he removed the army elements of the losing side made the hostilies begin again. Portales, showing his MagnificentBastard abilities, managed to made that PowersThatBe removed him.

* '''Patricio Aylwin''' (1990-1994): Christian Democrat, one of the founders of the party alongsid Eduardo Frei Sr.. Usually depicted as a soft-spoken, [[PerpetualSmiler always smily]] CoolOldGuy with a cheeky sense of humor acting as a seat-warmer, even though he did stuff to alleviate the inequity of the Chilean society (a problem that subsists even today) and tried to mitigate some of the power Pinochet had left to himself. There are some rumours flying around as to MagnificentBastard abilities, particularly the way he got to run for president to begin with (repeteadly refusing to take over the candidacy until they ran out of options, then stepping up when nobody else would.)

* '''José Joaquín Prieto''' (1831-1841): The first president to have a ten-year period (actually five, reelected a second time, according to the new constitution) and the first president to complete his period without resigning or being removed. But he was actually little more than a puppet of Portales who was TheManBehindTheMan (and painfully aware of it) and the main component of his cabinet under the fanciful title of Universal Minister. His government (actually, Portales’) returned the stability to the country and passed a new constitution. However, Portales’ ruthless and dictatorial ways alienated the army and ended up being killed by them. The WarOfTheConfederation happened here as well. The vicepresidential seat was abolished, and considering all the problems it had given, it was probably for the best.

* '''Aníbal Pinto''' (1876-1881): An economic crisis, an earthquake in Iquique and the start of the WarOfThePacific; that’s all you need to know. Gave up almost all the Patagonia to Argentina to ensure their neutrality on the conflict.

* '''Bernardo O’Higgins''' (1817-1823): Even though there were other Supreme Directors before him, he is recognized as the first guy in charge of Chile as a new country, so he’s the first on the list. A redHead born as the HeroicBastard of a former Chilean Governor/Viceroy of Peru, he grew into an independence fighter after quite the BreakTheCutie experiences he had in both Chile and England. O'Higgins was assigned the position when San Martín instead preferred to go on a South American tour fighting for independence of more territories. He made developments in public buildings and agriculture. Fearing another invasion of Spain, he also created the Navy. However, his efforts to abolish the nobility and his clashes with the church, along with a new constitution seen with bad eyes by them alienated him from the upper class, so he was forced to resign. He left for Peru with his family (including his maternal half-sister Rosa, his son Demetrio and others) and lived the rest of his life there. Said to have had ties with Masonry and specially the ''very'' shady "Logia Lautarina" hailing from Argentina.

* '''Bernardo O’Higgins''' (1817-1823): Even though there were other Supreme Directors before him, he is recognized as the first guy in charge of Chile as a new country, so he’s the first on the list. A RedHeadedHero born as the HeroicBastard of a former Chilean Governor/Viceroy of Peru, he grew into an independence fighter after quite the BreakTheCutie experiences he had in both Chile and England. O'Higgins was assigned the position when San Martín instead preferred to go on a South American tour fighting for independence of more territories. He made developments in public buildings and agriculture. Fearing another invasion of Spain, he also created the Navy. However, his efforts to abolish the nobility and his clashes with the church, along with a new constitution seen with bad eyes by them alienated him from the upper class, so he was forced to resign. He left for Peru with his family (including his maternal half-sister Rosa, his son Demetrio and others) and lived the rest of his life there. Said to have had ties with Masonry and specially the ''very'' shady "Logia Lautarina" hailing from Argentina.

Even though the Pinochet regime is now mostly condemned, [[BaseBreaker he still is a very controversial person in Chile]]. A wise person should try to not bring the topic if he/she doesn’t know his/her audience. His depiction in the media is usually as a Darth Vader-like figure during his regime (the cape and glasses he usually wore certainly helped form the image) [[EvilIsHammy shouting things to make them clear]], and as a [[RetiredMonster senile forgetful relic]] in his later years. When his accounts on Riggs Bank were founded, proving false his claims that he didn’t take advantage of his ruling to make money, his portrayal was changed to a senile forgetful thief relic. After all, his nickname was [[MeaningfulName Pinocho (Pinocchio)]].

* '''Ricardo Lagos''' (2000-2006): Socialist. Once the main oppositor of Pinochet’s dictatorship, he had to deal tense relations with the neighbor countries (especially Bolivia), corruption scandals and had to make a decision regarding [[TheWarOnTerror George W. Bush’s intention of invading Iraq]] (for the record, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he chose not to support him]]). Enjoyed of enormous support back during his term, but at the end was criticized for not doing enough about the inequity problem. Nowadays known as “[[CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Captain Planet]]” for his role as Special Envoy on Climate Change, for which he has been criticized, as his presidential actions don't show any concern for the enviroment. The media portrays him as some sort of LargeHam MemeticBadass, based mainly on the occasion when he confronted Pinochet and his desire to remain in power on television, an incident known in Chile as “the finger of Lagos” (he [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger pointed at the camera with his index finger]] while [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome he criticized Pinochet]] with a [[KubrickStare very menacing look]]).

* '''Salvador Allende''' (1970-1973): Socialist (Popular Unity), a physician and ImpoverishedPatrician from Valparaiso. After [[{{Determinator}} three failed attempts]], he finally won the race for presidency. Was thought of being a ManipulativeBastard and very much a reader into people's souls. Trying to bring socialism to the country (summarized in his motto “The Chilean path to socialism”), he started to nationalize big industries and made the government took full charge of the administration of education and health; he also finished Frei's plan of land seizure. However, his '''horrendous''' economical administration, along with the usual lack of products in the markets (which was NOT helped by the intervention of right-wing groups associated with bussinessmen) and friendship with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro made him extremely unpopular with the right-wing, the United States and eventually, even the more left-center ones. Fearing another UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, US president RichardNixon and his associate Henry Kissinger [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_Chile made everything they could to make the country collapse]]. In 1973, Allende was deposed in a violent coup d'etat (it involved, between other things, bullet exchanges and fighters [[StuffBlowingUp bombing La Moneda]], the palace government) during [[DrivenToSuicide which he took his own life]], presumably [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled as the last laugh to his enemies]]. The irony? He '''was''' toying with the idea of calling a plebiscite to decide if he would continue in the presidency. He was replaced by the infamous [[GeneralRipper General Augusto Pinochet]], who was reported to have been among the closest to him in the military fields. (And few months before the coup... had publically announced to the presses [[HarsherInHindsight that the military would not intervene to take Allende out of power.]]) In 2008, he was elected the Greatest Chilean in history.

Some other stuff that happened during this period included a visit from the Pope (which is seen either as an attempt to congratulate the country with the rest of the world or ThePope's genuine attempt to help recover democracy -- and quite recalled by protests following John Paul II almost everywhere), the recovery and then collapse of the economy, the '''horrifying''' repressions of the [[SecretPolice DINA]] headed by [[CoronelKillgore Manuel "Mamo" Contreras]], a new Constitution approved in a very disputed plebiscite (very similar to the Anschluss, actually), the death of former President Frei ''juuuuuuuust'' when he had publically announced [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere that he would withdraw his former support to Pinochet]], and yet ''ANOTHER'' earthquake, this time on the capital itself. Finally, after both internal and external pressure elections were called in 1988 (it's said he has a VillainousBreakdown and actually didn't want to aknowledge his loss), ending the dictatorship and starting the democracy again.

'''''Pinochet Dictatorship (1973-1990):''''' '''DINA, Desaparecidos, Repression, Chicago Boys… am I forgetting something? Oh yeah, [[RunningGag another earthquake]]''' - Until the end of the Cold War, Augusto Pinochet would keep control of the country through a [[BananaRepublic dictatorship]]. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_dictatorship_of_Chile_(1973–90)#Suppression_of_political_activity Opponents would be persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, raped, forcefully disappeared, relegated to small villages or exiled]] and, thanks to the network known as Operación Cóndor (Operation Condor), they were not safe even in other countries (as people like ex-Commander-in-Chief Carlos Prats and ex-Minister Orlando Letelier sadly found out). His regime would be pretty infamous for its '''very''' poor human rights register, which would eventually alienate even the people that supported him at the beginning - whether outside or inside the country.

* '''Salvador Allende''' (1970-1973): Socialist (Popular Unity), a physician and ImpoverishedPatrician from Valparaiso. After [[{{Determinator}} three failed attempts]], he finally won the race for presidency. Was thought of being a ManipulativeBastard and very much a reader into people's souls. Trying to bring socialism to the country (summarized in his motto “The Chilean path to socialism”), he started to nationalize big industries and made the government took full charge of the administration of education and health; he also finished Frei's plan of land seizure. However, his '''horrendous''' economical administration, along with the usual lack of products in the markets (which was NOT helped by the intervention of right-wing groups associated with bussinessmen) and friendship with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro made him extremely unpopular with the right-wing, the United States and eventually, even the more left-center ones. Fearing another UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, US president RichardNixon and his associate Henry Kissinger [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_Chile made everything they could to make the country collapse]]. In 1973, Allende was deposed in a violent coup d'etat (it involved, between other things, bullet exchanges and fighters [[StuffBlowingUp bombing La Moneda]], the palace government) during [[DrivenToSuicide which he took his own life]], presumably as [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled as the last laugh to his enemies]]. The irony? He '''was''' toying with the idea of calling a plebiscite to decide if he would continue in the presidency. He was replaced by the infamous [[GeneralRipper General Augusto Pinochet]], who was reported to have been among the closest to him in the military fields. (And few months before the coup... had publically announced to the presses [[HarsherInHindsight that the military would not intervene to take Allende out of power.]]) In 2008, he was elected the Greatest Chilean in history.

* '''Salvador Allende''' (1970-1973): Socialist (Popular Unity), a physician and ImpoverishedPatrician from Valparaiso. After [[{{Determinator}} three failed attemps]], he finally won the race for presidency. Was thought of being a ManipulativeBastard and very much a reader into people's souls. Trying to bring socialism to the country (summarized in his motto “The Chilean path to socialism”), he started to nationalize big industries and made the government took full charge of the administration of education and health; he also finished Frei's plan of land seizure. However, his '''horrendous''' economical administration, along with the usual lack of products in the markets (which was NOT helped by the intervention of right-wing groups associated with bussinessmen) and friendship with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro made him extremely unpopular with the right-wing, the United States and eventually, even the more left-center ones. Fearing another UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, US president RichardNixon and his associate Henry Kissinger [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_Chile made everything they could to make the country collapse]]. In 1973, Allende was deposed in a violent coup d'etat (it involved, between other things, bullet exchanges and fighters [[StuffBlowingUp bombing La Moneda]], the palace government) during [[DrivenToSuicide which he took his own life]], presumably as [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled as the last laugh to his enemies]]. The irony? He '''was''' toying with the idea of calling a plebiscite to decide if he would continue in the presidency. He was replaced by the infamous [[GeneralRipper General Augusto Pinochet]], who was reported to have been among the closest to him in the military fields. (And few months before the coup... had publically announced to the presses [[HarsherInHindsight that the military would not intervene to take Allende out of power.]]) In 2008, he was elected the Greatest Chilean in history.

* '''José Joaquín Pérez''' (1861-1871): A lot less conservative than his predecessor, his government saw the creation of the Fire Corps, the ChinchaIslandsWar and the population of the center-south region of the country.

So there you have it, the presidents of Chile. That’s the reason why the politics in [[WorldOfSnark Chile]] [[DeadpanSnarker are a motive of mockery.]]

* '''Ramón Barros Luco''' (1910-1915): Liberal. The man who had a (rather yummy) sandwich and a public hospital named after him, he was elected president mainly for being the most innocuous politician as well as very old when chosen. He had a very… lax attitude towards governing, giving rise to the meme “99% of problems solve themselves, and the remaining 1% have no solution”. He also joined the nation to the ABC Powers. When WorldWarI broke, the country declared neutrality, something that would be beneficial in the short run, but almost catastrophic some years later.

* '''Pedro Aguirre Cerda''' (1938-1941): Radical. From a middle-class family, he was both a lawyer and a schoolteacher. He was the author of a MemeticMutation, “to govern is to educate”, so he dedicated himself to improve the schools and education in general; though he also had to deal with another earthquake in 1939. (He actually managed to checkmate the right-wing via compromising one of his most ambitious projects, the CORFO, in the reconstruction of the damaged cities). He was deathly ill with tuberculosis when he took the charge, so he traveled a lot trying to extend his life a little more; the satirical papers, not knowing it, modified his meme to “to govern is to travel”. WorldWarII arrived and he, despite the pressure from the National Socialist Party, declared the country neutral. He died before his term could end, leading to ''massive'' mourning among Chileans. He kind of looked like Cantinflas, actually, with his notorious mustache. Quite popular compared to other presidents, his FanNickname is "Don Tinto" (Mr. Red Wine) due to owning wine plantations.

* '''Gabriel González Videla''' alias "Don Gabito" (1946-1952): Radical. He won the elections only thanks to the support of the Communist Party, but in an incredible example of a ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, he betrayed the communists and made them illegal (While it ''is'' true that the Communists were interfering with several government action, that ''still'' smacks of DisproportionateRetribution). The most important thing in his government was the advancement on women’s rights. Opinions of him were divided, his supporters saw his treason to the communists as a necessary maneuver in the complicated climate of the upcoming ColdWar, while others, including poet Creator/PabloNeruda, thought he just sold out to America. Usually caricaturized as a ManChild who did childish stuff on La Moneda (like sliding down the stairs' rail or hang from a lamp).

* '''Salvador Allende''' (1970-1973): Socialist (Popular Unity), a physician and ImpoverishedPatrician from Valparaiso. After [[{{Determinator}} three failed attemps]], he finally won the race for presidency. Was thought of being a ManipulativeBastard and very much a reader into people's souls. Trying to bring socialism to the country (summarized in his motto “The Chilean path to socialism”), he started to nationalize big industries and made the government took full charge of the administration of education and health; he also finished Frei's plan of land seizure. However, his '''horrendous''' economical administration, along with the usual lack of products in the markets (which was NOT helped by the intervention of right-wing groups associated with bussinessmen) and friendship with FidelCastro made him extremely unpopular with the right-wing, the United States and eventually, even the more left-center ones. Fearing another UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, US president RichardNixon and his associate Henry Kissinger [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_Chile made everything they could to make the country collapse]]. In 1973, Allende was deposed in a violent coup d'etat (it involved, between other things, bullet exchanges and fighters [[StuffBlowingUp bombing La Moneda]], the palace government) during [[DrivenToSuicide which he took his own life]], presumably as [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled as the last laugh to his enemies]]. The irony? He '''was''' toying with the idea of calling a plebiscite to decide if he would continue in the presidency. He was replaced by the infamous [[GeneralRipper General Augusto Pinochet]], who was reported to have been among the closest to him in the military fields. (And few months before the coup... had publically announced to the presses [[HarsherInHindsight that the military would not intervene to take Allende out of power.]]) In 2008, he was elected the Greatest Chilean in history.

A sad ending for a period plagued by economical turnarounds and the climate of the ColdWar during its second half. The next period would be even more depressing, however, and with only one head of government.