Aylwin Azócar, Patricio

(1918– )

   President of Chile (1990–1994). On 14 December 1989 Aylwin Azócar, representing the Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC, Christian Democratic Party), was elected to the presidency with the help of some 16 left and center parties. When he took office in March 1990, he was charged with managing the country’s return to democracy. He faced opposition from the armed forces, the Chilean court system, and legislators appointed during the regime of Augusto Pinochet Ugarte. Despite these challenges, Aylwin Azócar was able to exert his authority on an issue that concerned the majority of voters—the investigation of human-rights abuses committed by the state under Pinochet Ugarte. Aylwin Azócar appointed the Comisión Nacional de Verdad y Reconciliación (National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation), an apolitical group of investigators with legal and human-rights expertise, and charged it with uncovering the truth. Although the Commission, under the direction of Raúl Rettig, compiled extensive documentation of humanrights abuses, including evidence presented in a lengthy report, it was cut short in its attempts to assign culpability or to seek justice for the victims of state violence.