This article analyzes the military dictatorship led by Chilean General Augusto Pinochet, characterized by its personal as well as institutional aspects. It seeks to explain his emergence as leader and the explanation of the civilian-military pro-Pinochet apparatus which enabled the projection of his power beyond his upset in the 1988 plebiscite. The hypothesis is that General Pinochet's leadership hinged on three processes: a) the country's rapid international isolation, which encouraged the cohesion of its armed forces; b) his absence from the conspiracy that prepared the coup, which forced him to design strategies to bolster his position and seek the support of civilians who could offer him a project; c) the political thinking of the armed forces, which encouraged the formation of social support networks. These three factors allowed him to associate the regime with his own person, and thus prolong his hold on national power