The following lists events that happened during 1978 in Chile.

Incumbents

President of Chile The president of Chile ( es, Presidente de Chile), officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile ( es, Presidente de la República de Chile), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is re ...

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

Events

January

*4 January – Chilean national consultation, 1978 *January 17 - The San Juan Earthquake is felt in the cities of

Chañaral Chañaral is a small coastal city and commune in the Atacama Region, Chile and capital of the Chañaral Province. It is largely unknown by tourists, who generally head straight for towns such as San Pedro de Atacama. The town has no high rise bu ...

Copiapó Copiapó () is a city and commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal town of Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capital of Copiapó Province and Atacama Region. Copiapó lies about 800 km north ...

Vallenar Vallenar is a city and commune in Atacama Region, Chile. It is the capital of the Huasco Province and is located in the valley of the Huasco River. Vallenar has 52,000 inhabitants. Its main activities are farming and mining. It was founded as San ...

, La Serena and

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than ...

. *January 19-

visits Mendoza, where he meets with the Head of State of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla (; ; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator, Commander in Chief of the Army, member of the Military Junta, and ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981. H ...

, to attempt a peaceful solution to the conflict of beagle channel. *January 26 - The

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

Fantasilandia Fantasilandia is a Chilean amusement park. The park opened in 1978 and is located in a corner of the O'Higgins Park in Santiago, Chile. On January 28, 1978 the park opened for first time with only 8 attractions, including the "Galaxy" coaster, " ...

, the largest in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, is inaugurated.

February

*February 2 - The XIX International Song Festival of

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...

is held, its conductors were Antonio Vodanovic and María Graciela Gómez. *February 3 - The American firm Goodyear acquires the National Tire Industry (INSA) for 45 million dollars.

March

*March 10 - The Undersecretary of the Interior, Enrique Montero Marx, announces the end of the state of siege, and replaces it with the state of emergency. *March 17 - The president of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Hugo Banzer Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 in a military dictatorship; and then a ...

, breaks off diplomatic relations with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

after the negotiations between the two countries about Bolivia's landlocked status fail. *March 31 - Line 2 of the Santiago Metro is inaugurated, which included the stations between Los Héroes and Franklin.

April

*April 11 - Color television is introduced,

adopts the US standard NTSC-M and channels 13, 9, UCV and TVN begin broadcasting in full color. *April 15 - Sergio Fernández Fernández is appointed Minister of the Interior to replace Raúl Benavides, who will take over the Defense portfolio. *April 19 - The Government publishes the text of the Amnesty Law, which frees from their responsibilities those guilty of crimes committed between September 11, 1973 and March 10, 1978.

May

*May 21 - The Iquique Municipal Sports Club is founded in

Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191,468 ...

. *May 22 - The third hunger strike of the relatives of the disappeared detainees begins in different parishes of the city of

and at the UNICEF headquarters. Through the church, the government promised to investigate this fact, but nothing is fulfilled.

June

*June 8 - The National Energy Commission is created, whose objective is to take care of all matters related to energy. *June 19 - The DC leader

Bernardo Leighton Bernardo Leighton Guzmán (August 16, 1909, Negrete, Bío Bío Province – January 26, 1995, Santiago) was a Chilean Christian Democratic Party politician and lawyer. He served as minister of state under three presidents over a 36-year care ...

returns to Chile after his exile in Rome.

July

*July 18 - The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera publishes an interview with General

Gustavo Leigh Air General Gustavo Leigh Guzmán (September 19, 1920 – September 29, 1999) was a Chilean general, who represented the Air Force in the 1973 Chilean coup d'état and, for a time, in the ruling junta that followed. Leigh was forced out of th ...

. In it he proposes a political itinerary to return to democracy within 5 years. *July 24 - As a result of the interview delivered to the newspaper Corriere della Sera, the Military Junta dismisses Gustavo Leigh from the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Air Force. He is replaced by the then Minister of Health,

Fernando Matthei Fernando Matthei Aubel (11 July 1925 – 19 November 2017) was a Chilean Air Force general who was part of the military junta that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, replacing the dismissed Gustavo Leigh as commander-in-chief of the Chilean Air F ...

August

*August 1 - The Amanecer Building is inaugurated, the tallest building in Greater Concepción for 30 years, with 77 meters and 22 floors.

September

October

*October 12 - The Edmundo Pérez Zujovic Tower is inaugurated, the tallest building in

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...

to date, 92 meters high. *October 17 - The economic newspaper Strategy is founded, edited in

. *October 31 - General

asks the Council of State to study the draft of the new Political Constitution of the Republic proposed by the study commission led by Enrique Ortúzar, minister of state of the former president

Jorge Alessandri Jorge Eduardo Alessandri Rodríguez (; 19 May 1896 – 31 August 1986) was the 27th President of Chile from 1958 to 1964, and was the candidate of the Chilean right in the crucial presidential election of 1970, which he lost to Salvador All ...

November

December

*December 1 - In Lonquén, the first remains of disappeared detainees are discovered. They were all peasants from Isla de Maipo arrested in 1973. *December 2 - The OTI Festival is held at the Municipal Theater of Santiago. *8–9 December – 1978 Chilean telethon *December 21 - The extension of Line 2 of the Santiago Metro is inaugurated, which included the stations between Franklin and Lo Ovalle. *22 December –

Operation Soberanía Operación Soberanía (Operation Sovereignty) was a planned Argentine military invasion of Chile due to the Beagle conflict. The invasion was initiated on 22 December 1978 but was halted after a few hours and Argentine forces retreated from the con ...

Births

*9 February –

Mark Tullo Mark Tullo (born 9 February 1978) is a Chilean professional golfer. Tullo was born in Santiago. He attended North Carolina State University in the United States on a golf scholarship, graduating with a degree in Business Management, and turned pr ...

*12 March – Joel Estay *30 March –

Mauricio Rojas Toro Mauricio Javier Rojas Toro (born 30 March 1978) is a Chilean former football midfielder, who also can played as a defender. International career He was a member of the bronze winning Chile national football team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in ...

*9 April – Patricio Acevedo *10 May –

Reinaldo Navia Reinaldo Marcelino Navia Amador (born 10 May 1978) is a retired Chilean footballer. Navia was a member of the Chile national squad that competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney, making an offensive duo with the historic Chilean striker I ...

*25 May –

Adrián García Adrián Alonso García Sobarzo (born May 25, 1978) is a former professional from Chile. Born in Concepción, Chile, García achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 103 in September 2004. His best achievement in singles was reachi ...

*1 September –

Arturo Corvalán Arturo Corvalán Galaz (born September 1, 1978) is a retired male road racing cyclist from Chile. Career ;2000 :1st in Stage 2 Vuelta Ciclista de Chile, Viña del Mar (CHI) :3rd in Stage 5 Vuelta Ciclista de Chile, Talca (CHI) ;2001 :1st in ...

*11 September –

Pablo Contreras Pablo Andrés Contreras Fica (; born 11 September 1978) is a Chilean retired footballer who last played for Melbourne Victory and the Chile national football team as a centre back or even as a right back. Contreras began his career at Colo-Colo ...

*17 September –

Sergio Valdés Sergio Valdés (born 17 September 1978) is a Chilean rugby union footballer. He plays as a lock. He moved to France, where he has been playing for Stade Aurillacois, Racing Métro 92 (2005-2007), FC Auch (2007-2011), Section Paloise (2011-2013) a ...

*19 October –

Nicolás Peric Nicolás Miroslav Peric Villarreal (born 19 October 1978) is a Chilean former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He is nicknamed ''Loco'' (Madman). Club career Born in Tal ...

*21 November – Richard Rodríguez *29 November –

Benjamín Vicuña Benjamín Vicuña Luco (born 29 November 1978) is a Chilean actor and entrepreneur. Biography Vicuña was born November 29, 1978 to father Juan Pablo Vicuña Parot and mother Isabel Luco Morandé. He is a descendant of Benjamín Vicuña Macke ...

*24 December –

Marianne Berndt Marianne Berndt (born December 24, 1978) is a female shot putter and discus thrower from Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the ...

Deaths

*21 May – Enrique Gebhard (b. 1909)

References

{{South America topic, 1978 in Years of the 20th century in Chile