Gabriel Enrique González Videla (Latin American Spanish: [ɡaˈβɾjel ɣonˈsales βiˈðela]; 22 November 1898 – 22 August 1980) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as the 24th president of Chile from 1946 to 1952.

From 1973 until his death in 1980 he became an active participant in the government of Augusto Pinochet, acting as vice president of the Council of State from 1976 onwards.

González was elected deputy for the district comprising La Serena, Coquimbo, Elqui, Ovalle, Combarbalá, and Illapel in 1930.

In 1941, due to his rapidly escalating illness, President Aguirre Cerda appointed his minister of the Interior, Jerónimo Méndez as vice-president and died soon after, on 25 November 1941.

The results were too close to call, so a tribunal of honor (electoral commission) was constituted, and Juan Antonio Ríos was finally proclaimed the candidate of the left-wing coalition.

In 1945, González Videla was elected senator for the provinces of Tarapacá and Antofagasta and represented Chile at the United Nations conference in San Francisco.

In the presidential elections, González won 40% of the vote, defeating right-wing candidates Eduardo Cruz-Coke and Fernando Alessandri and socialist Bernardo Ibáñez.

Chile quickly became enmeshed in the Cold War, as Moscow and especially[tone] Washington meddled in its affairs[clarification needed].

The Socialists were now opposed to the Communists and aligned with the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) having grown closer to United States labor interests during World War II.

Many key communist figures decided to flee the country, including poet Pablo Neruda, who had decried González Videla on the Senate Floor for "selling out to the United States."

In 1948, González Videla also learned of a plot by some members of the Armed Forces to lead a coup against him and install Carlos Ibáñez as president.

He immediately ordered an investigation and the arrest of the coup leaders, including the head of the operation, General Ramón Vergara.

According to González Videla and his sympathizers, the repression of the Communists was necessary to thwart their plots against his government, but no evidence has been found to substantiate that claim.

According to the Communists and other critics of González Videla, he acted under pressure from the United States and out of a desire to forge closer economic and military bonds with the dominant superpower.

He also wanted to weaken the labor movement in a time of economic uncertainties, slow growth, and rising inflation while the PCCh was promoting strikes.

González Videla's banning of the Communists coincided with his movement away from social reform in favor of the promotion of industrial growth.

Radicals were unhappy with the economic policies of the right-wing Finance Minister, Jorge Alessandri, no matter how successful they were in controlling inflation.