Gabriel González Videla
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- For the Paraguayan footballer (soccer player), see Gabriel González (footballer).
| Gabriel González Videla | |
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25th President of Chile
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| In office November 3, 1946 – November 3, 1952 |
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| Preceded by | Juan Antonio Iribarren |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Ibáñez del Campo |
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| Born | 22 November 1898 La Serena, Chile |
| Died | August 22, 1980 (aged 81) Santiago, Chile |
| Nationality | Chilean |
| Political party | Radical |
| Spouse | Rosa Marckmann Reijer |
Gabriel González Videla (22 November 1898–August 22, 1980) was a Chilean politician. He was a deputy and senator in the Chilean Congress and was President of Chile from 1946 to 1952. He also helped draft the current Chilean constitution.
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[edit] Early life
González was born on the coastal city of La Serena in 22 November 1898, the oldest son of Gabriel González Castillo and Teresa Videla Zepeda. He was the oldest in a family of eighteen children. After graduating from the Liceo de La Serena, González went to study law at the University of Chile. He graduated from the university on 1922, but that same year his father became paralytic. Because of this tragedy, González had to return to La Serena to help his family. He became a freemason in 1924.
During his college years, González entered the Radical Party Youth, was later a member of the Radical Assembly of La Serena. González was involved in protests against the military government established in 1924 by Luis Altamirano. In 1927, made declarations against dictator Carlos Ibáñez and had to go into hiding. Once Ibáñez's government fell in 1931, González was able to resume his political activities and was president of the Radical Party from 1931 to 1937.
González was elected deputy for the district comprised of La Serena, Coquimbo, Elqui, Ovalle, Combarbalá, and Illapel on 1930. However, the coup led by socialist Marmaduque Grove in 1932 dissvoled Congress. González was once again elected deputy for this same area in 1933 and reelected in 1937. In 1939 he resigned because President Pedro Aguirre Cerda named him embassador to Portugal.
In 1942, González, who represented the Radical Party's more leftist faction, unsuccessfully attempted to gain the party's nomination for presidential election. In 1945, he was elected senator for the provinces of Tarapacá and Antofagasta and represented Chile at the United Nations conference in San Francisco.
[edit] 1946 presidential campaign
González Videla won the Radical Party primaries in 1946. He attempted to revive the Democratic Alliance, a left-wing coalition of parties that brought Juan Antonio Ríos to power in 1942. He was unsuccessful in this endeavor, as the Socialist Party refused to join. In the end, González was supported only by his own Radical Party and by the Communist Party. In the presidential elections, González won 40% of the vote, defeating right-wing candidates Eduardo Cruz-Coke and Fernando Alessandri and socialist Bernardo Ibáñez. Since González did not reach the necessary 50%, he had to be confirmed by Congress. He was duly confirmed on October 24 that year.
[edit] Presidency
- Further information: Presidential Republic
Once in the presidency, González had a fallout with the communists. They demanded more cabinet seats, which González refused to grant. The Communist Party then withdrew their support for González. In response, González created the Ley de Defensa de la Democracia (Law for the Defense of Democracy), which banned communist and like-minded parties. He also broke relations with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact counties. Many key communist figures decided to flee the country, including poet Pablo Neruda. The communists that remained were arrested, but were not subjected to torture or execution. A pro-communist miners' strike in Lota was brutally suppressed. Demonstrations against what the communists called la ley maldita ("the damned law") led to the declaration of martial law, but were successfully repressed.
González's new supporters, which approved of his anti-communist stance, were the two right-wing parties, the conservatives and the liberals. He constructed a new cabinet made up of conservatives, liberals, radicals, some socialists, and members of the small Democratic Party. In the parliamentary elections of 1949, the pro-government parties triumphed. However, the unity between right-wing parties and radicals and socialists did not last long. Radicals were unhappy with the economic policies of the right-wing Finance Minister, Jorge Alessandri, no matter how successful they were in controlling inflation. When a protest by government employees broke out in 1950, the radicals immediately declared their support for the protesters' demands. The right-wingers responded by resigning from González's cabinet.
By losing the liberal and conservative support, González lost the pro-government majority in Congress. He was of course unable to archieve much thereafter, but he did manage to do significant improvements for women's rights. González's cabinet had the first woman minister, he appointed the first woman ambassador, and created the Oficina de la Mujer.
During his presidency he became the first chief of state of any nation to visit Antarctica. The Chilean Gonzalez Videla Antarctic Base is named after him.
In 1948, González learned of a plot by some members of the Armed Forces to lead a coup against him and install Carlos Ibáñez as president. He immediately ordered an investigation and the arrest of the coup leaders, including the head of the operation, General Ramón Vergara. Ibáñez, however, was absolved of all responsibility. This plan became known as the Pig trotters' plot (complot de las patitas de chancho), because the coup leaders met in a restaurant which specialized on this Chilean dish.
[edit] Retirement and death
After his term ended in 1952. In 1958, his name was mentioned in the party primaries, but he declared he did not seek the presidency. In 1964, he actively campaigned for radical presidential candidate Julio Durán, who was also anti-communist. González's influence in a now more left-leaning Radical Party was decreasing, and in 1971 he resigned from the party, angered by its support for socialist Salvador Allende. González undertook a significant rôle in the opposition to Allende and supported Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup which deposed Allende.
González was vicepresident of the Council of State which drafted a new Constitution of Chile during Pinochet's presidency. When his work there was finished, González completely retired from politics and died of cardiac arrest in 22 August 1980 in Santiago.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Juan Antonio Iribarren |
President of Chile 1946-1952 |
Succeeded by Carlos Ibáñez del Campo |
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