Pinto Garmendia, Aníbal (1825–1884)

Aníbal Pinto Garmendia (b. 15 March 1825; d. 9 June 1884), president of Chile (1876–1881). The son of former president Francisco Antonio Pinto Díaz, diplomat and university professor, Pinto served in the Chamber of Deputies, in the Senate, and as minister of war before being elected president in 1876.

Misfortune marked Pinto's tenure in office. Chile's mining economy suffered catastrophic losses because of falling silver and copper prices; alternating drought and floods devastated agriculture; and an overexpansion of credit left all but one of the nation's banks without funds and the country without specie. After traditional methods of resolving the economic crisis proved unsuccessful, Pinto imposed direct taxes on income, gifts, and estates, and changed the tariff law to stimulate the creation of domestic industries.

Economic woes constituted only part of his problems: political infighting as well as conflicts with the Roman Catholic church undermined Pinto's authority. Worse still, in early 1879 a border dispute with Bolivia that was thought to have been settled led to Chile's involvement in the War of the Pacific. Happily, by the time Pinto retired in 1881, the war had turned in Chile's favor. Almost penniless, Pinto spent his last years living on a fundo (farm) purchased by public subscription.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cristián A. Zegers, Aníbal Pinto, historia política de su gobierno (1969).

William F. Sater, The Heroic Image in Chile: Arturo Prat, Secular Saint (1973).

Additional Bibliography

Castillo Fadic, Gabriel. Las estéticas nocturnas: Ensayo republicano y representación cultural en Chile e Iberoamérica. Santiago, Chile: Instituto de Estética, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2003.

Muñoz Salas, Javier R. Un monstruo de cien cabezas: La imagen del liberalismo desde al diario El Estandarte Católico, durnate el gobierno de Aníbal Pinto Garmendia (1876–1881). Ph.D. Thesis. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2004.

William F. Sater