Aylwin, (Azòcar) Patricio (1919- )

Chilean lawyer and politician who, as leader of the opposition coalition, triggered the national plebiscite of October 1989 that brought down General Pinochet in the 1988 elections. Power was formally transferred from the military regime to Aylwin in 1990, but his inability to secure the two-thirds majority in Congress necessary to amend the 1980 constitution allowed the outgoing junta to nominate almost one-fifth of the Senate's membership and thus to thwart Aylwin's efforts to lift press censorship and abolish the death penalty.

Continuing revelations about the previous regime's record on human rights triggered violent demonstrations, but Pinochet still resisted attempts to remove him as military commander-in-chief.

Aylwin was born in Santiago. After a successful legal career, he was elected president of the Christian Democratic Party in 1973.