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(ā´´ŧħwär´ŧħō frā mōntäl´vä)
, 1911—82, president of Chile (1964—70). A lawyer and editor, he was a founder (1938) of the National Falange, an independent party based on progressive Christian principles, which in 1957 became the core of the new Christian Democratic party. Frei served as minister of roads and public works (1945—49) and in the senate after 1949. On his second try for the presidency (1964), he won a decisive victory. A popular president, he introduced sweeping social and economic reforms within a democratic framework and secured Chilean control of the copper industry. After turning the presidency over to his elected successor, Salvador Allende Gossens, he remained active as head of the Christian Democratic party.
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