Read the full essay here.
About the Author
Patricio Aylwin served during 1990–94 as Chile’s first democratically elected president after General Augusto Pinochet’s 16 years of military rule. His remarks were originally presented at a panel on “The Future of Democracy in the Hemisphere” at a conference convened by the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., on 5–6 March 1998 in commemoration of its fiftieth anniversary. The present essay was translated from Spanish by Timothy Goodman.