The Chilean statesman Diego José Víctor Portales Plazazuelos (1793-1837) laid the foundations, after the anarchy of the postindependence years, of orderly government, respect for law, financial probity, and a strong sense of Chilean nationhood.

Diego Portales was born in Santiago of a good family. He played no part in the wars of independence against Spain but entered commerce and became drawn into politics through operating the tobacco monopoly, the proceeds from which were intended to amortize the Chilean foreign debt. Though a pragmatist rather than an orthodox party man, he championed the conservative side against the democratic liberalism which had animated the founders of independence but had led to anarchy and factionalism in political life. He was particularly opposed to the cult of the caudillo, or personal leader, which he strove to replace by a respect for law, constitutional processes, and the office, rather than...