Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990) themselves by trying to burn and destroy incriminating evidence. Such actions had the effect of justifying the existence of heavily armed forces in Chile. And by extension, justified the dictatorship's conduct against such "violent" offenders. In the 1970s junta members Gustavo Leigh and Augusto Pinochet clashed on several occasions beginning in the day of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. Leigh criticized Pinochet for having joined the coup very late and then pretending to keep all power for himself. In December 1974 Leigh opposed the proposal to name Pinochet president of Chile. Leigh recalls about that moment that, "Pinochet was furious,
Regions of Chile Regions of Chile Chile is divided into 16 regions (in Spanish, "regiones"; singular "región"), which are the country's first-level administrative division. Each region is headed by an intendant ("intendente)", appointed by the President of Chile, and a directly-elected regional board ("consejo regional"). The regions are divided into provinces (the second-level administrative division), each headed by a governor ("gobernador") appointed by the President. There are 56 provinces in total. Provinces are divided into communes (the third and lowest level administrative division), which are governed by municipal councils. Each region is given a Roman numeral, followed by a name (e.g. "IV Región