Diego Portales

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While deeply unpopular during his lifetime, his murder in 1837, during a mutiny, has been judged a decisive factor during the War of the Confederation. Chilean public opinion shifted to support the war against the Peru–Bolivian Confederation. Many Chileans and historians view him as the power behind the throne of the early republic era, particularly in his shaping the Constitution of 1833. While he never assumed the presidency, his influence permitted him to serve simultaneously as the Minister of War, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Relations. He was an early proponent of Chilean expansionism.

Early life

Diego Portales was born in Santiago, the son of María Encarnación Fernández de Palazuelos y Martínez de Aldunate and José Santiago Portales y Larraín, a superintendent of the royal mint. He did his primary studies at the Colegio de Santiago, and in 1813, attended law classes at the National Institute. As the men of his family had all become successful merchants, Portales also eventually assumed the position of a merchant, taking part in his prosperous and distinguished family's occupation.

On August 15, 1819 he married his cousin, Josefa Portales y Larraín. He had two daughters with her, both of whom died within days of their birth. His wife also died soon after in 1821. He never remarried, but took Constanza Nordenflicht as his mistress, with whom he had three children.

In July 1821, he resigned from his job at the Mint and went into business. He opened a trading house, Portales, Cea and Co., based in Valparaiso with a branch in Lima, Peru. He bid and obtained management of the government monopoly on tobacco, tea, and liquor (known in Spanish as estanco). In exchange for the monopoly, he offered to service in full Chile's foreign debt. Nonetheless, in the anarchy that was regnant in Chile at the time, there was no means of enforcing a monopoly as the government could not regulate sales of tobacco, tea, and liquor, and the company eventually went bankrupt. His contract with the government was voided and the Chilean government was found to owe Portales 87,000 pesos. Out of this unsuccessful business venture, the only remnant was the name eventually applied to his political followers, who in time came to be known as the estanqueros (monopolists.)

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Political career

He allied with the conservatives in the political battles that were engulfed Chile at the time. Portales' business firm acquired control over the government's monopoly of cigarettes, tea, and liquor, as a result of the country's volatile market, but the country's poor conditions soon foiled his lucrative industry. Portales have since entered the political arena, and the conservative leader will emerge very shortly. He helped to reorganize the conservative Party and founded El Hambriento (or The Starveling), a journal that debunks liberal idealists from Portales' party, a.k.a. The pelucones or "big wigs" view. Portales was a satirist who contributed several popular articles to The Starveling. Portales' articles put him in the limelight and opened the way for his political career.

President José Tomás Ovalle y Bezanilla appointed him Minister of Interior and Foreign Affairs on April 6, 1830 remained until May 1831, despite the conservative triumphs in the 1829 Revolution. He was elected by President Fernando Errázuriz Aldunate on July 9, 1831 and remained until August 31, 1831, when he was first introduced by President José Joaqun Prieto from November 9, 1835 to January 1837. He was nominated for minister of war and navy from April 6, 1830 to May 1831, and from September 21, 1835 to September 1836.

Although Portales never officially elected (and in fact, he deliberately avoided this position due to being tied up by factional promises), he did become a tyrant, and he quelled anarchy from this position. Portales developed a civil militia (which was one of Chile's worst times of imperialism); endorsed an oligarchical veto system for landowners, miners, and merchants; and made Catholicism the state religion. As a result of his quest for stability, control, and therefore growth, industry has also improved.

Portales wrote to a friend in 1822, well before his ascension to office: Portalees wrote to a friend: "In 1822, before his ascension to power.

These words are representative of the skepticism in pure democracies that has piqued the interest of many. Portales believed that in order to prevent disaster, it was more important to establish a stable and functioning government rather than one ruled by lofty but ultimately impractical ideals. He believed in a democratic but strong central government, and that, if one of a state or country, citizens must be virtuous and patriotic, and that the constitution should be treated as higher than any leader. Portales had no adherence to these philosophies. Rather, he attempted to rule on a case-by-case basis, enforcing what he considered appropriate in each situation.

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