Chile

FOR OVER 100 years (from the mid-1800s to 1966), the Conservative and Liberal parties represented the right in Chile. The Conservative Party formed in 1857, primarily to defend the Catholic Church from anticlerical attacks by the liberals. It remained a staunch supporter of the church and Spanish traditions, as well as the political expression of the large landowners who dominated agricultural production in Chile's Central Valley. The Liberal Party drew on key tenets of British liberal philosophy; it sought to modernize Chile by undermining the power and moral authority of the church and by promoting democratic freedoms and civil liberties.

Since the Liberal Party reflected the political perspective and economic demands of both urban industrialists and the commercial sector, it did not apply these liberal ideals to the majority of Chileans, many of whom were peasants or workers. During the 1870s and 1880s, the Liberal Party, along with the equally anticlerical Radical Party, controlled the government. They passed a series of laws that limited the church's power, such as making civil marriage compulsory. The Chilean right has proven itself to be an astute political actor; it simultaneously projects itself as upholding tradition and is adept at adopting innovative ideas and practices.

From the 1920s through the 1950s, the growing middle class and an increasingly assertive working class [Page 580]challenged the dominance of these two parties. Although the rightist parties failed to elect their candidates to the presidency, during the 1940s and 1950s they managed to maintain a plurality in Congress. The fact that the landowners controlled the votes of the inquilinos (tenant laborers) who worked for them and depended on them for a living is one reason why the right was able to obtain so many votes. However, the Chilean Congress passed laws in 1958 and 1962 that introduced secret balloting and ended the practice of purchasing votes, two measures that undercut the strength of the right.

The 1960s saw further challenges to the right. The Catholic Church switched its allegiance from the Conservative Party to the Christian Democratic Party and the left gained increased popularity. Fearing the electoral victory of Salvador Allende, in 1964 the right failed to field its own candidate, instead giving its support to Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei. Reeling from a substantial decline in their political support and realizing the need to project a less outmoded image, the two parties dissolved in 1966 and formed the National Party.

In 1970, Allende, a socialist, won the presidency and the National Party went into action against him. It mounted an ongoing and increasingly antagonistic campaign against the Allende government that ranged from fielding opposition candidates, to supporting damaging strikes, to sabotaging production, to promoting the overthrow of the democratically elected government. When the Chilean armed forces overthrew the Allende government on September 11, 1973, the National Party supported their takeover and the subsequent disbanding of Congress and the ending of political life.