The Nixon administration, which had worked to create the conditions for the coup,[5][6][7] promptly recognized the junta government and supported it in consolidating power.

Gustavo Leigh, commander of the Air Force, opposed the consolidation of the legislative and executive branches, but agreed to Pinochet's presidency under pressure from Merino and Mendoza, who warned that the junta would split otherwise if he did not sign on.

Pinochet eventually tired of Leigh's opposition and dismissed him from the regime in 1978, declaring him unfit for office and forcing him into retirement on 24 July 1978, in a very tense moment that almost caused a military insurrection.

[13] The guilty party turned out to be the Carabineros' secret service, and the Caso Degollados ("case of the slit throats") caused General César Mendoza's resignation on 2 August 1985.

[citation needed] He shut down parliament, suffocated political life, banned trade unions, and made Chile his sultanate.

[4] Besides pursuing revolutionary guerilla groups, the junta embarked on a campaign against political opponents and perceived leftists in the country, as well as family members of dissidents.