Twice faced with coup: Who is Arturo Alessandri?

(1868 – 1950) Chilean politician. He was president twice. He was born near Linares. He is the son of an Italian immigrant. He graduated from the University of Chile Law Department in 1893. He was elected to the House of Representatives the same year. During his parliamentary membership until 1915, he served as minister of industry and finance many times.

Before the 1920 elections, there were about twenty-five parties active in Chile. About fifteen of these, under the presidency of Arturo Alessandri, merged into the Liberal Alliance; Conservative parties formed an alliance called the National Union.

Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to 1938.

Alessandri was proposing radical changes. The program envisioned increasing the power of the head of state, separating the state from the church, and granting universal suffrage with a new constitution. It aimed to transfer resources from the oligarchy and to increase social welfare by imposing an income tax and increasing the land tax.

Alessandri won the election by a narrow margin, but the structure of Congress was very fragile. The Liberal Alliance was in the majority in the House of Representatives and the Conservatives in the Senate. Therefore, in three years, he was able to keep his promise to impose an only income tax. With many reforms pending, a group from the military occupied the assembly when a bill was passed to increase congressional salaries. They dispersed Congress after putting pressure on the House, getting thirteen reforms passed in one sitting. Alessandri, who resigned after the military intervention, went to Italy. In 1925, on the grounds that the military administration was ineffective, Colonel Carlos Ibanez del Campo and Colonel Marmaduque Grove overthrew the junta in a bloodless coup. Alessandri was called to duty. By convening a congress, he prepared the constitution he promised before the 1920 elections. The constitution gave special importance to the state over private entrepreneurship.

While Alessandri was waiting for support after the constitution was prepared, Ibanez, who was the Minister of War, appeared before him as a candidate for the presidency. At the end of the conflict between them, Alessandri was forced to leave the country and went to Italy again. Twenty-one cabinets changed in Chile during the dictatorship of 1927-1931. Alessandri was re-elected as the head of state in the elections held at the end of this period of turmoil until the overthrow of Ibanez. The fall in demand for Chilean copper due to the 1930s World Depression dragged the economy into a severe recession. Alessandri took various measures to revive the country's economy. He implemented an economic policy that increased mining production and encouraged industry. In order to create employment, he raised public expenditures and accelerated the construction of schools and housing. He won the support of the middle classes and workers with his policy. The political structure also came to order.

In 1936, a major railroad strike began across the country. In order to suppress the strike, Alessandri had the labor leaders arrested and handed over the operation of the railways to the army. Thereupon, the left-wing withdrew its support from Alessandri and established the People's Union. Arturo Alessandri was re-elected to the Senate in 1944 after completing his six-year term as president in 1938. He continued this duty until his death.

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His son also assumed the post of president of Chile:

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