The National Falange
History
In 1935 a group of younger social-Christians split from the Conservative Party to form the National Falange. Despite its name this group was largely made up of progressive and
reform movement Catholics, and bore little resemblance to Spanish
Falangism. In its early years it imitated elements of fascist movements with some of its members wearing uniforms and undergoing paramilitary training.
With its progressive economic program (creating an alternative to capitalism, "redeeming" the
proletariat) it was in open conflict with the Catholic high clergy
who accused it of disrespecting the Church's leadership and siding with communists.
Despite its aim to be a centrist alternative to the left and the right, and relatively great public attention, it never received more than 4 percent of the votes.
Later it supported the administration of Juan Antonio Ríos (1942–46) and in 1957 merged with the Social Christian Conservative Party into the Christian Democratic Party.
[A. Hennessy, 'Fascism and Populism in Latin America', W. Laqueur, Fascism: A Reader's Guide, Harmondsworth: Pelican, 1979, p. 288] One of its former members, Eduardo Frei Montalva, became President of Chile in 1964. Other notable members include
Radomiro Tomic and Bernardo Leighton.
Presidential candidates
The following is a list of the presidential candidates supported by the National Falange. (Information gathered from the
Archive of Chilean Elections).
-
1942: Juan Antonio Ríos (won)
-
1946: Eduardo Cruz-Coke (lost)
-
1952: Pedro Alfonso (lost)
