 Portales also achieved his objectives by wielding dictatorial powers, censoring the press, and manipulating elections.For the next forty years, Chile's armed forces would be distracted from meddling in politics by skirmishes and defensive operations on the southern frontier, although some units got embroiled in domestic conflicts in 1851 and 1859.The Portalian president was General Joaquín Prieto, who served two terms (1831–1836, 1836–1841).