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While most studies on the foreign policy of South American states focus on the weight of the international system and leaders, this article discusses the importance of the parliament through the case study of Chile. Our objective is to trace the process of the appropriation of the power to control the sending of troops in external operations by the Chilean Senate in a difficult context, long marked by the preservation of a domain reserved for the military institution and the executive on defense matters. After the Pinochet dictatorship, the need to obtain authorization from the legislative power fluctuated according to the interpretation of the constitution and of the law on the employment of the armed forces voted in 1991. On the other hand, the engagement in UN operations in Haiti from 2004 resulted in a mobilization of the Senate which led to a rebalancing of powers between executive and legislative powers.