Gang of Five (Chile) (Napoleon's World)

The Gang of Five refers to five Chilean lawmakers and ministers appointed to senior positions in the Communist government in September of 1985 despite not being Communist Party members or even sympathizers with government ideology, as part of an effort by the increasingly unpopular Allende regime to appease domestic moderates out of fear of an impending conservative coup or escalation with right-wing guerillas.

The Gang of Five's most prominent member was future two-time President Arturo Alessandri Besa, who came from a prominent Chilean political family who had spent most of his adult life outside of politics as a lawyer, who in the 1970s fled the country to become a national icon abroad. His appointment to the Ministry of the Interior as a Ministry Secretary was viewed as a major concession to conservatives in Chile by the government. Alessandri Besa was eventually appointed Energy Minister in 1987 before he fled the country in March of 1988 out of fear for his life.

The other members of the Gang of Five were Beltrán Urenda, Gabriel Valdés, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, and Francisco J. Errazuriz, all of whom would serve in various positions in the Provisional Transition Government following the 1989 coup.