Gastón Frez

Gastón Frez Arancibia was a Chilean Army general and state official who, during the military regime of Augusto Pinochet, held senior positions in Chile’s state mining and planning institutions.

He served as President-Executive of the state copper company Codelco from 1976 to 1981 and briefly as Minister-Director of the Office of National Planning (ODEPLAN) in 1982. Frez’s legacy is mainly associated with the consolidation of Chile’s state-owned copper sector during the Pinochet era.

Some analysts describe him as part of the «military-bureaucratic» current within the dictatorship that sought to preserve strategic public enterprises while the broader economy moved toward liberalization.

Early life and career

Frez trained as an officer in the Chilean Army, ultimately reaching the rank of general.

He emerged in senior state roles during the 1970s, coinciding with the consolidation of the military government.

Role at Codelco

In 1976, Frez was appointed President-Executive of Codelco, the National Copper Corporation created earlier that year after the nationalization of copper.

According to Chilean media and academic analyses, Frez defended the state-owned character of Codelco against pressures to privatize the mining industry.

His tenure coincided with the first signs of economic slowdown that preceded the 1982–1983 crisis.

Planning office and later career

In 1982, Frez was appointed Minister-Director of the ODEPLAN, a key institution for coordinating development policy under the regime.

His appointment reflected the military government’s strategy of combining technocratic economists with senior officers in leadership roles.