Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle

Eduardo Frei Ruiz - Tagle (* June 24, 1942 in Santiago de Chile) is a Chilean politician. He belongs to the Christian Democratic Party of Chile and from 1994 to 2000, President of Chile and was the candidate of the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia for the presidential election on December 13, 2009.

Life

Frei was born as the fourth of seven children of Eduardo Frei Montalva, who was from 1964 to 1970 president of his country. His ancestors came from the Swiss Nesslau in the Canton of St. Gallen. He has, besides its Chilean and Swiss citizenship. He completed a course of study as a hydraulic engineer at the Universidad de Chile from, then studied in Italy and worked from 1969 to 1988 in an engineering office.

In 1958, he joined the Christian Democratic Party of Chile, who was also his father, whose presidential campaign he supported in 1964. During the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet ( as of 11 September 1973) was one of the founders of the free opposition alliance, which operated the popular vote in 1988 and allowed the victory to the surprise resignation of Pinochet and Chile's transition to democracy.

After the death of his father in 1982 founded free the political foundation Fundación Eduardo Frei Montalva, which he became Chairman until 1993. In the congressional elections of December 1989 he was elected to the Senate; In 1991 he received the chair of the Christian Democratic Party. In the primaries of 1993, he reached a clear majority Concertación de Partidos the candidacy of the por la Democracia, a broad coalition of center-left parties in the presidential election.

In the presidential elections of December 11, 1993 was 57.9 % free of votes; his conservative rival candidate Arturo Alessandri Besa ( whose uncle Jorge Alessandri was also a former Chilean president) was defeated with 24.3 % of votes. On 11 March 1994, Eduardo Frei, was sworn in as successor of Patricio Aylwin as president.

During his tenure, sat free continuing domestic policy of his predecessor, and tried to balance between the warring camps in the country. At the same legal treatment of human rights violations and crimes began during the Pinochet dictatorship. His economic policy was to achieve a balance of the foreign trade balance and a reduction in inflation and the budget deficit.

Foreign policy, sought to free the international recognition of the Chilean democratization and an integration of his country into the international trade organizations, such as a cooperative venture in Chile with the countries of the Mercosur.

In October 1998, Chile's government was put to the test with the arrest of Pinochet in London: should allow the extradition of Pinochet's Chile, who enjoyed a life senator in Chile broad immunity? Eduardo Frei had to create a balancing act: on the one hand, he did not threaten Chile's efforts to rule of law, the legal treatment of the dictatorship in the country and also the reputation and the integration of Chile into the Western community. On the other hand, he was allowed the reactionary forces - especially the army and the powerful supporters of Pinochet in Chile - not too provocative. This threatened to put an end to the pursuit of a return to democracy and the rule of law. Eduardo Frei refused - in line with the Chilean Congress - ultimately extradition of Pinochet to the Spanish and British judicial authorities from and demanded that the ex-general was to return to Chile to be put on trial.

2000 ended the tenure of leisure. As successors of the socialist Ricardo Lagos was elected president of Chile.

Thereafter, he served under the Chilean constitution as a senator for life. After the Congress had abolished the lifelong senators in a constitutional reform, free ran again as a senator. He was elected on 14 December 2005 into Parliament. On 11 March 2006 he was elected president of the Senate. On 12 March 2008 he was succeeded by Adolfo Zaldívar in this office.

Frei was 2009/2010 nominated by the Concertación for the presidential elections in Chile, because the popular President Michelle Bachelet according to the electoral law was not allowed to compete again. In the first round of voting on 13 December 2009, he reached the second place among four candidates. However, since all four of the absolute majority failed, it came on 17 January 2010 entered into between free and the candidate of the conservative Coalition por el Cambio, Sebastián Piñera, a runoff election that Piñera was able to win.

Honors

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