Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez was a brilliant Chilean civil engineer and teacher who served as the Chilean presidency. He graduated with the best average from the University of Chile and stood out for his skills for administration and business management. He came to occupy important positions in private business and prominent public positions.
He was a deputy, senator and minister. He obtained the majority of votes to exercise the presidency of his country, as did his father, who was also the first president of Chile. Before history, he appears as an independent politician. However, his actions, the measures taken by him and his political alliances place him on the side of the moderate right.
However, in his first presidential candidacy he was supported by opposite parties: the conservative and the liberal. He was recognized as one of the leaders who carried out important public works and laws that had a positive impact on the Chilean people.
Alessandri was characterized personally for being very serious, lonely, austere and without vices; simple both in the private and public sphere. He kept aside the lavishness and ostentation, characteristic of his political investiture.
They used to see him walking the streets, as he liked to walk - without escorts - from his home to his presidential office in the Palacio de La Moneda.
Biography
Jorge Alessandri was part of one of the most notable families in Chile. His ancestor Pedro Alessandri Farri was the first to arrive in Chilean lands from Italy.
Once established, it gave roots to a family whose members came to occupy distinguished positions in Chilean intellectual and social political life.
Engineers, lawyers, businessmen, writers and intellectuals have been the recurring professions among the Alessandri.
Also among this family are numerous public officials who exercised in the highest spheres of power as senators, mayors, deputies, councilors, ministers and up to two presidencies of the republic.
He was born in the capital, Santiago, on May 19, 1896. Jorge Alessandri had former Chilean President Arturo Alessandri Palma and First Lady Rosa Rodríguez as parents. This couple had 8 children, of which Jorge was the second.
Studies
His initial and secondary training was at the prestigious General José Miguel Carrera National Institute, a distinguished institution of public education in Chile and from where many renowned figures graduated, such as former president Salvador Allende.
Later, he studied at the University of Chile, the oldest university in the country and whose founder was the notable Venezuelan humanist Andrés Bello.
From there, Jorge Alessandri graduated as a civil engineer with the highest average in the entire university. Some time later he returned to become a teacher in the Department of Materials.
Jorge Alessandri was very good at politics, even though he didn't like it. Having already held various positions in the public administration as Senator and Minister of Finance, he achieved a solid reputation.
Due to the good results obtained in his positions, they began to ask him to run as a presidential candidate. After so much insistence and in a somewhat forced way, he accepted. He ran for office as an independent piece and won the 1958 elections.
Characteristics of his government
Jorge Alessandri ruled Chile from 1958 to 1964. Alessandri trusted in the application of administrative principles as the panacea to get out of Third Worldism.
For this reason, it was proposed to carry out its governmental management as if it were a private company. He surrounded himself with a multidisciplinary team (specialists in law, engineering and medicine) to carry out his neoliberal guidelines.
Crisis of '61
In 1960 Alessandri created a new currency called «Escudo». Due to an imbalance in the national economy, the newly created currency fell into dizzying devaluation.
This showed how wrong the policies were implemented. As if this were not enough, a natural tragedy occurred in 1960.
In the mid-1960s an intense earthquake shook the coast of Chile, followed by a terrible tsunami. This completely destroyed the southern part of the country and caused all efforts to focus on rebuilding the affected provinces.
The natural disaster gave space for the accumulated discontent to begin to sprout. Workers dissatisfied with the freezing of their income, the decrease in their purchasing power and the deterioration of their quality of life started outbreaks of social outbreak.
To appease the spirits, the president sought financial aid in the United States of America, but the support imposed conditions that would deepen the discomfort of the citizens and loss of national sovereignty.
An event that was celebrated by all Chileans during this period was the start of television broadcasts in the country, debuting with the 1962 Soccer World Cup. At the end of his term, Jorge Alessandri handed power over to his successor, Frei Montalva.
Presidential candidacy
Jorge Alessandri ran again for the presidential elections corresponding to the period 1970-1976. On that occasion he was openly supported by the right, although he continued to be an independent candidate. His main contender was Salvador Isabelino Allende Gossens, who defeated him.
In the last years of his life, he actively participated with the dictatorial regime of Augusto Pinochet. This was the military man who, with the help of the United States, overthrew the government of Salvador Allende. Alessandri was part of the Council of State that drew up the new Constitution of the dictatorial regime.
Alessandri exhales his last breath, due to an acute infection, on August 31, 1986, in his hometown. A statue in her honor is erected in the Plaza de la Constitución.
Plays
- Have sincere and controlled public spending.
- He managed to reduce and control inflation rates.
- Promoted the execution of state works, such as paved roads, irrigation canals, health centers, educational institutions and airport facilities.
- Generated the creation of affordable housing, accessible to the popular and middle classes.
- The denomination of the currency changed, from being called “peso” to being “shield”.
- Promoted the fishing industry and its derivatives.
References
- Alternative history (2018) Jorge Alessandri (Chile Non Socialista). Recovered from: es.althistory.wikia.com
- Copesa Group (2018). Government of Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez (1958-1964). Recovered in: icarito.cl
- González, R (2008) El Paleta after 50 years. Recovered in: elpaleta.blogspot.com
- González, L (2018) Miguel Henriquez Study Center. Chile's history. Important milestones 1936 - 1990. Recovered at: archivoschile.com
- Topaze Magazine (2018). Characters. Recovered at: topaze.wordpress.com