The National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, the eight member committee that later wrote the Rettig Report was set up shortly after Patricio Aylwin, Chile's first democratically elected president since Salvador Allende, took office following the 1989 election. In addition to the eight members, the committee was chaired by Raúl Rettig, a former Chilean senator and ambassador to Brazil under Allende. In order to show impartiality, the commission contained four members each from camps of supporters of the Pinochet regime, and opponents of it.