RIGHT-WING PARAMILITARY GROUPS IN CHILE, 1900-1950 Vol. 8, No. 3, Autumn 1999, 68-84 Carlos Maldonado Paramilitary Militia, an Ignored Political Actor The goal of the present article is to trace one of the least known and least studied topics in modern Chilean history: the existence of right-wing paramilitary groups during the 20th century. Until 1973 Chile was generally considered by scholars and political leaders as a model republic in Latin America, characterized by an exemplary institutional stability and a dynamic democratic life. However, both the experience of a seventeen-year long military dictatorship and its social, cultural and economic consequences, along with the beginning of a process of democratic transition, a transition limited by laws and a Constitution which present real obstacles for the development of a full democracy, a heritage of General Pinochet's regime, have challenged this conception and demanded proof of its validity. Despite Chile's long and effective democratic tradition, evidence also confirms the existence and permanence of another political tradition, a stream of conservative, nationalistic and counterrevolutionary [ 1] thought and practice. This tradition produced and encouraged the emergence of paramilitary groups, civilian patrols and armed militia, especially in times of political