Gabriel González Videla
Gabriel Enrique González Videla (Latin American Spanish: [ɡaˈβɾjel ɣonˈsales βiˈðela]; 22 November 1898 – 22 August 1980) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as the 24th president of Chile from 1946 to 1952. He had previously been a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1930 to 1941 and senator for Tarapacá and Antofagasta from 1945 to 1946. A long-time member and leader in the Radical Party, he left the party in 1971 over its support for socialist president Salvador Allende. From 1973 until his death in 1980 he became an active collaborator and participant in the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, acting as vice president of the Council of State from 1976 onwards. As vice president of the council, he helped draft the current Chilean constitution of 1980.
For other people named Gabriel González, see Gabriel González (disambiguation).
Gabriel González Videla
Leonardo Guzmán Cortés
Ángel Custodio Vásquez
First Provincial Group (Tarapacá and Antofagasta)
22 August 1980 (aged 81)
Santiago, Chile
Municipal Cemetery of La Serena
La Serena, Chile
Radical (until 1971)
- Silvia
- Rosita
- Gabriel
Gabriel González Castillo
Teresa Videla Zepeda
Coco Legrand (nephew)
- Politician
- lawyer
- Military Order of Christ, Grand Cross (Portugal)
- Legion of Honour, Commander (France)
Retirement and death[edit]
After his term ended in 1952, his name was mentioned in the party primaries in 1958, though he announced he would 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 role in the opposition to Allende and supported Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup which deposed Allende.
González was vice president 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 on 22 August 1980, in Santiago.