Patricio Aylwin

Aylwin governed with Pinochet still commanding the army, so he aimed for 'justice in so far as possible'. His Rettig Commission identified more than 2,000 people killed or disappeared by the dictatorship, he apologised on behalf of the state in a televised address, and his government created reparations for victims' families. Prosecutions were blocked for years by the 1978 amnesty law, and torture survivors had to wait for the Valech Commission in 2004. His approach rebuilt civilian authority slowly rather than all at once.