Fernando Matthei

Fernando Matthei Aubel
Born	(1925-07-11)11 July 1925 Osorno, Chile
Allegiance	Chile
Service/branch	Chilean Air Force
Rank	General
Relations	Evelyn Matthei

Fernando Matthei Aubel (b.Osorno July 11, 1925) is a retired Chilean Air Force General that was part of the military junta that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, replacing the dismissed Gustavo Leigh as Air Force Commander in Chief on July 24, 1978. He was part of the Junta from 1977 to 1990, retiring from the Air Force in July of 1991.

Before he became a junta member, Matthei was Minister of Health of the military government.

In October 1988, Matthei was the first Junta member to publicly admit that the regime had lost the referendum (plebiscite) to elect Pinochet for a new eight-year presidential term. Later the same day the government stated that the referendum result would be respected and that the 1980 Constitution path to democracy would be strictly followed.

In 2003 was published the book Matthei. Mi testimonio, written by the chilean historians Patricia Arancibia and Isabel de la Maza, in which Matthei remembers his public life.

In September, 2005, Matthei admitted in a television program that he "did everything possible so that Argentina would lose" in the 1982 Falklands War with Britain.[1].

Matthei is the father of Chilean senator Evelyn Matthei.

Literature

Arancibia P. y de la Maza I. (2003) Matthei. Mi testimonio. La Tercera/Mondadori, Santiago.

External links

• Allegations of human rights violations (Spanish)

Political offices
Preceded by	Minister of Health 1976-1978	Succeeded by
Preceded by Gustavo Leigh	Member of Government Junta 1978-1990	Succeeded by None
Military offices
Preceded by Gustavo Leigh	Air Force Commander-in-chief 1978-1991	Succeeded by Ramón Vega