Grillina pinochet biography
Augusto Pinochet
Dictator of Chile from to
"Pinochet" redirects here. For other people, see Pinochet (surname).
In this Chilean name, the first or paternal surname is Pinochet and the second or maternal family name is Ugarte.
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte[A] (25 November – 10 December ) was a Chilean military officer who was the dictator of Chile from to From to , he was the leader of the military junta, which in declared him President of the Republic and thus the dictator of Chile;[4][5][6] in , a&#;referendum approved a&#;new constitution confirming him in the office, after which he served as de&#;jure president from to [7] His time in office remains the longest of any Chilean ruler.[8][B]
Augusto Pinochet rose through the ranks of the Chilean Army to become General Chief of Staff in early before being appointed its Commander-in-Chief on 23 August by President Salvador Allende.[7] On 11 September , Pinochet seized power in Chile in a military coup, with the support of the United States,[9][10][11][C] that toppled Allende's democratically elected left-wing Unidad Popular government and ended civilian rule.
In December , the ruling military junta appointed Pinochet Supreme Head of the nation by joint decree, although without the support of one of the coup's instigators, Air Force General Gustavo Leigh.[12]
After his rise to power, Pinochet persecuted leftists, socialists, and political critics, resulting in the executions of 1, to 3, people,[13] the internment of as many as 80, people, and the torture of tens of thousands.[14][15][16] According to the Chilean government, the number of executions and forced disappearances was at least 3,[17]Operation Condor, a U.S.-supported terror operation focusing on South America, was founded at the behest of the Pinochet regime in late November [18]
Under the influence of the free market–oriented "Chicago Boys", Pinochet's military government implemented economic liberalization following neoliberalism, including currency stabilization, removed tariff protections for local industry, banned trade unions, and privatized social security and hundreds of state-owned enterprises.
Some of the government properties were sold below market price to politically connected buyers, including Pinochet's son-in-law Julio Ponce Lerou.[19] The regime used censorship of entertainment as a way to reward supporters of the regime and punish opponents.[20] These policies produced high economic growth and dramatically increased economic inequality.
Departing from these policies, Pinochet's government also caused the monetary crisis, and thus produced its devastating effects on the Chilean economy.[21][22] Pinochet's wealth grew considerably during his years in power through dozens of bank accounts secretly held abroad and holdings in real estate.
He was later prosecuted for embezzlement, tax fraud, and kickbacks on arms deals.[23][24]
Pinochet's year rule was given a legal framework through a controversial plebiscite, which approved a new constitution drafted by a government-appointed commission. In a plebiscite, 56% voted against Pinochet's continuing as president, which led to democratic elections for the presidency and Congress.
After stepping down in , Pinochet continued to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army until 10 March , when he retired and became a senator-for-life in accordance with his Constitution. However, while in London in Pinochet was arrested under an international arrest warrant in connection with numerous human rights violations.
Following a legal battle, he was released on grounds of ill-health and returned to Chile on 3 March In , Chilean Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia ruled that Pinochet was medically fit to stand trial and placed him under house arrest.[7] By the time of his death on 10 December , about criminal charges were still pending against him in Chile for numerous human rights violations during his year rule, as well as tax evasion and embezzlement during and after his rule.[25] He was also accused of having corruptly amassed at least US$28 million.[26]
Early life and education
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte was born in Valparaíso on 25 November He was the son and namesake of Augusto Pinochet Vera (–), a descendant of an 18th-century French Breton immigrant from Lamballe and Avelina Ugarte Martínez (–), a woman of Basque heritage.
Pinochet went to primary and secondary school at the San Rafael Seminary of Valparaíso, the Rafael Ariztía Institute (Marist Brothers) in Quillota, the French Fathers' School of Valparaíso, and then to the Military School in Santiago, which he entered in His school records show him to have been an average student, excelling in some topics and only just passing others.[27] In , after four years studying military geography, he graduated with the rank of alférez (Second Lieutenant) in the infantry.
Military career
In September , Pinochet was assigned to the "Chacabuco" Regiment, in Concepción. Two years later, in , then with the rank of Sub-lieutenant, he moved to the "Maipo" Regiment, garrisoned in Valparaíso. He returned to Infantry School in
By late , Pinochet had been assigned to the "Carampangue" Regiment in the northern city of Iquique.
Three years later, he entered the Chilean War Academy but had to postpone his studies because, being the youngest officer, he had to carry out a service mission in the coal zone of Lota.
The following year, he returned to his studies in the academy. After obtaining the title of Officer Chief of Staff, in , he returned to teach at the Military School.
At the same time, he worked as a teachers' aide at the War Academy, assisting with military geography and geopolitics classes. He was also the editor of the institutional magazine Cien Águilas ('One Hundred Eagles'). At the beginning of , with the rank of major, he was sent for two years to the "Rancagua" Regiment in Arica.
While there, he was appointed professor of the Chilean War Academy, and returned to Santiago to take up his new position.[7]
In , Pinochet and a group of young officers were chosen to collaborate in the organization of the War Academy of Ecuador in Quito. He remained with the Quito mission for four-and-a-half years, during which time he studied geopolitics, military geography and military intelligence.
Augusto pinochet biography Archived from the original on 5 February After obtaining the title of Officer Chief of Staff, in , he returned to teach at the Military School. The Globe and Mail. But in September , President Allende discovered how wrong he had been.At the end of , he returned to Chile and was sent to General Headquarters of the 1st Army Division, based in Antofagasta. The following year, he was appointed commander of the "Esmeralda" Regiment. Due to his success in this position, he was appointed sub-director of the War Academy in In , he was named Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army Division, based in Santiago, and at the end of that year, he was promoted to brigadier general and Commander in Chief of the 6th Division, garrisoned in Iquique.
In his new function, he was also appointed Intendent of the Tarapacá Province.
In January , Pinochet was promoted to division general and was named General Commander of the Santiago Army Garrison. On 8 June , following the assassination of Edmundo Perez Zujovic by left-wing radicals, Allende appointed Pinochet a supreme authority of Santiago province, imposing a military curfew in the process,[28] which was later lifted.
However, on 2 December , following a series of peaceful protests against economic policies of Allende, the curfew was re-installed, all protests prohibited, with Pinochet leading the crackdown on anti-Allende protests.[29] At the beginning of , he was appointed General Chief of Staff of the Army.
With rising domestic strife in Chile, after General Prats resigned his position, Pinochet was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army on 23 August by President Salvador Allende just one day after the Chamber of Deputies of Chile approved a resolution asserting that the government was not respecting the Constitution.
Less than a month later, the Chilean military deposed Allende.
Military coup of
Main article: Chilean coup d'état
On 11 September , the combined Chilean Armed Forces (the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Carabineros) overthrew Allende's government in a coup, during which the presidential palace, La Moneda, was shelled.
That is where Allende was said to have committed suicide.[30] While the military claimed that he had committed suicide, controversy surrounded Allende's death, with many commentators claiming that he had been assassinated, a theory denied by the Chilean Supreme Court in [31]
In his book about the coup, The Decisive Day (El día decisivo, 11 de septiembre de ), Pinochet said that he was the leading plotter of the coup and had used his position as commander-in-chief of the Army to coordinate a far-reaching scheme with the other two branches of the military and the national police.[32] In later years, however, high military officials from the time, such as Gustavo Leigh, commander-in-chief of the air force, have said that Pinochet reluctantly became involved only a few days before the coup was scheduled to occur, and followed the lead of the other branches (especially the Navy, under Admiral Merino) as they executed the coup.[33]
The new government rounded up thousands of people and held them in the national stadium, where many were killed.
This was followed by brutal repression during Pinochet's rule, during which approximately 3, people were killed, while more than 1, are still missing.[34]
In the months that followed the coup, the junta published a book with text written by historian Gonzalo Vial and admiral Patricio Carvajal, titled El Libro Blanco del cambio de gobierno en Chile ('The White Book on the Change of Government in Chile'), commonly known as El Libro Blanco, in which they said that they were in fact anticipating a self-coup (the alleged Plan Zeta, or Plan Z) that Allende's government or its associates were purportedly preparing.
United States intelligence agencies believed the plan to be untrue propaganda.[35] Although later discredited and officially recognized as the product of political propaganda,[36]Gonzalo Vial Correa insists in the similarities between the alleged Plan Z and other existing paramilitary plans of the Popular Unity parties in support of its legitimacy.[37] Pinochet was also trained by the School of the Americas (SOA) where it is likely he first encountered the ideals of the coup.[38]
Canadian reporter Jean Charpentier of Télévision de Radio-Canada was the first foreign journalist to interview General Pinochet following the coup.[39] After Allende's final radio address, he shot himself rather than becoming a prisoner.[40]
U.S.
backing of the coup
Further information: United States intervention in Chile
The Church Report investigating the fallout of the Watergate scandal stated that while the U.S. tacitly supported the Pinochet government after the coup, there was "no evidence" that the US was directly involved in it.[41] This view has been contradicted by several academics, such as Peter Winn, who writes that the role of the CIA was crucial to the consolidation of power after the coup; the CIA helped fabricate a conspiracy against the Allende government, which Pinochet was then portrayed as preventing.
He stated that the coup itself was possible only through a three-year covert operation mounted by the United States. Winn also points out that the US imposed an "invisible blockade" that was designed to disrupt the economy under Allende, and contributed to the destabilization of the regime.[9] Author Peter Kornbluh argues in The Pinochet File that the US was extensively involved and actively "fomented" the coup.[42] Authors Tim Weiner (Legacy of Ashes)[43] and Christopher Hitchens (The Trial of Henry Kissinger)[44] similarly argue the case that US covert actions actively destabilized Allende's government and set the stage for the coup.
Despite denial of countless American agencies, current declassified documentation has proven the American involvement. Nixon and Kissinger, along with both private and public intelligence agencies were "apprised of, and even enmeshed in, the planning and executing of the military takeover."[38] Along with this, CIA operatives directly involved, such as Jack Devine, have also come out and declared their involvement in the coup.
Devine stating, "I sent CIA headquarters a special type of top-secret cable known as a CRITIC, which goes directly to the highest levels of government."[45]
The US provided material support to the military government after the coup, although criticizing it in public. A document released by the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in , titled "CIA Activities in Chile", revealed that the CIA actively supported the military junta after the overthrow of Allende, and that it made many of Pinochet's officers into paid contacts of the CIA or U.S. military, even though some were known to be involved in human rights abuses.[46] The CIA also maintained contacts in the Chilean DINA intelligence service.
DINA led the multinational campaign known as Operation Condor, which amongst other activities carried out assassinations of prominent politicians in various Latin American countries, in Washington, D.C., and in Europe, and kidnapped, tortured and executed activists holding left-wing views, which culminated in the deaths of roughly 60, people.[47][48] The United States provided key organizational, financial and technical assistance to the operation.[49][50][51] CIA contact with DINA head Manuel Contreras was established in soon after the coup, during the Junta period prior to official transfer of Presidential powers to Pinochet; in , the CIA reviewed a warning that keeping Contreras as an asset might threaten human rights in the region.
The CIA chose to keep him as an asset, and at one point even paid him.
In addition to the CIA's maintaining of assets in DINA beginning soon after the coup, several CIA assets, such as CORUCuban exile militants Orlando Bosch and Guillermo Novo, collaborated in DINA operations under Operation Condor in the early years of Pinochet's presidency.
Military junta
Main article: Government Junta of Chile ()
A military junta was established immediately following the coup, made up of General Pinochet representing the Army, Admiral José Toribio Merino representing the Navy, General Gustavo Leigh representing the Air Force, and General César Mendoza representing the Carabineros (national police).
As established, the junta exercised both executive and legislative functions of the government, suspended the Constitution and the Congress, imposed strict censorship and curfew, banned all parties and halted all political and perceived subversive activities. This military junta held the executive role until 17 December , after which it remained strictly as a legislative body, the executive powers being transferred to Pinochet with the title of President.
Military dictatorship (–)
Main article: Military dictatorship of Chile
The junta members originally planned that the presidency would be held for a year by the commanders-in-chief of each of the four military branches in turn. However, Pinochet soon consolidated his control, first retaining sole chairmanship of the military junta, and then was proclaimed "Supreme Chief of the Nation" ("Jefe Supremo de la Nación"), the de facto provisional president, on 17 June by Decree Law No.
[52] He was officially titled "President of the Republic" on 17 December [53] General Leigh, head of the Air Force, became increasingly opposed to Pinochet's policies and was forced into retirement on 24 July , after contradicting Pinochet on that year's plebiscite (officially called Consulta Nacional, or National Consultation, in response to a UN resolution condemning Pinochet's government).
He was replaced by General Fernando Matthei.
Pinochet organized a plebiscite on 11 September to ratify a new constitution, replacing the Constitution drafted during Arturo Alessandri's presidency. The new Constitution, partly drafted by Jaime Guzmán, a close adviser to Pinochet who later founded the right-wing party Independent Democratic Union (UDI), gave a lot of power to the President of the Republic—Pinochet.
It created some new institutions, such as the Constitutional Tribunal and the controversial National Security Council (COSENA). It also prescribed an 8-year presidential period, and a single-candidate presidential referendum in , where a candidate nominated by the Junta would be approved or rejected for another 8-year period. The new constitution was approved by a margin of % to % according to official figures;[54] the opposition, headed by ex-president Eduardo Frei Montalva (who had supported Pinochet's coup), denounced extensive irregularities such as the lack of an electoral register, which facilitated multiple voting, and said that the total number of votes reported to have been cast was very much larger than would be expected from the size of the electorate and turnout in previous elections.
Interviews after Pinochet's departure with people involved with the referendum confirmed that fraud had, indeed, been widespread.[55] The Constitution was promulgated on 21 October , taking effect on 11 March Pinochet was replaced as President of the Junta that day by Admiral Merino. During Pinochet's reign it is estimated that some one million people had been forced to flee the country.[38]
Armed opposition to the Pinochet rule continued in remote parts of the country.
In a massive operation spearheaded by Chilean Army para-commandos, some 2, security forces troops[56] were deployed in the mountains of Neltume from June to November ,[57] where they destroyed two MIR bases, seizing large caches of munitions and killing a number of guerrillas.
According to author Ozren Agnic Krstulovic, weapons including C-4 plastic explosives, RPG-7 and M72 LAW rocket launchers, as well as more than 3, M rifles, were smuggled into the country by opponents of the government.[58]
In September , weapons from the same source were used in an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Pinochet by the FPMR.
His military bodyguard was taken by surprise, and five members were killed. Pinochet's bulletproof Mercedes Benz vehicle was struck by a rocket, but it failed to explode and Pinochet suffered only minor injuries.[59]
Suppression of opposition
Further information: Operation Condor and Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet
He shut down parliament, suffocated political life, banned trade unions, and made Chile his sultanate.
His government disappeared 3, opponents, arrested 30, (torturing thousands of them)&#; Pinochet's name will forever be linked to the Desaparecidos, the Caravan of Death, and the institutionalized torture that took place in the Villa Grimaldi complex.
—&#;Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation, National Review[60]
Almost immediately after the military's seizure of power, the junta banned all the leftist parties that had constituted Allende's UP coalition.[61] All other parties were placed in "indefinite recess" and were later banned outright.
The government's violence was directed not only against dissidents but also against their families and other civilians.[61]
The Rettig Report concluded that 2, people who disappeared during the military government were killed for political reasons or as a result of political violence. According to the later Valech Report, 31, were tortured and 1, exiled.
The exiles were pursued all over the world by the intelligence agencies. In Latin America, this was carried out under Operation Condor, a cooperation plan between the various intelligence agencies of South American countries, assisted by a United States CIA communication base in Panama. Pinochet believed these operations were necessary in order to "save the country from communism".[62] In , the commission identified an additional 9, victims of political repression during Pinochet's rule, increasing the total number of victims to approximately 40,, including 3, killed.[63]
Some political scientists have ascribed the relative bloodiness of the coup to the stability of the existing democratic system, which required extreme action to overturn.
Some of the worst cases of human rights violations occurred during the early period: in October , at least 70 people were killed throughout the country by the Caravan of Death. Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, both U.S. journalists, "disappeared",[64][65] as did Víctor Olea Alegría, a member of the Socialist Party, and many others, in British priest Michael Woodward, who vanished within 10 days of the coup, was tortured and beaten to death aboard the Chilean naval ship Esmeralda.[66][67]
Many other important officials of Allende's government were tracked down by DINA under the auspices of Operation Condor.
General Carlos Prats, Pinochet's predecessor and army commander under Allende, who had resigned rather than support the moves against Allende's government, was assassinated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in A year later, the murder of opponents abroad was disguised as an internal conflict.
Grillina pinochet biography husband Pinochet admired Napoleon as the greatest among the French and had a framed picture of him. Chilean Army. Documents were released in that alleged Pinochet ordered Letelier's assassination, [ 68 ] though Michael Townley , a US citizen who worked for DINA and had organized Letelier's assassination and directly carried it out, implied otherwise in letters. September 3rd ".DINA set up a propaganda campaign to support this idea, (Operation Colombo), a campaign publicised by the leading newspaper in Chile, El Mercurio.
Other victims included Carmelo Soria, a UN diplomat working for CEPAL, assassinated in July ; and Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean ambassador to the United States and minister in Allende's cabinet, assassinated in exile in Washington, D.C.
by a car bomb on 21 September , after his release from internment. Documents were released in that alleged Pinochet ordered Letelier's assassination,[68] though Michael Townley, a US citizen who worked for DINA and had organized Letelier's assassination and directly carried it out, implied otherwise in letters.[69][70] This led to strained relations with the US and to the extradition of Townley.
Other erstwhile victims included Christian Democrat Bernardo Leighton, who escaped an assassination attempt in Rome in by the Italian terrorist Stefano delle Chiaie; Carlos Altamirano, the leader of the Chilean Socialist Party, targeted for murder in by Pinochet, along with Volodia Teitelboim, member of the Communist Party; Pascal Allende, the nephew of Salvador Allende and president of the MIR, who escaped an assassination attempt in Costa Rica in March ; and US Congressman Edward Koch, who became aware in of relations between death threats and his denunciation of Operation Condor.
Furthermore, according to later investigations, Eduardo Frei Montalva, the Christian Democratic President of Chile from to , may have been poisoned in with toxins produced by DINA biochemist Eugenio Berrios.[71] Though this accusation would eventually result in convictions, it was determined by that Frei was in fact not a homicide victim.[72][73]
Despite having Pinochet as its highest commander, a "confession" by Michael Townley in described Gen.
Manuel Contreras as the one who oversaw and ordered DINA's missions, even noting that Townley carried out numerous Operation Condor missions in Europe and the Letelier-Moffitt assassination "following orders from Gen. Contreras".[69][70] In a letter Townley personally sent to Contreras after he was implicated in the U.S.
and Chilean press as the lead suspect in the Letelier-Montiff assassination, Townley, using the alias J. Andreas Wilson, indicated his belief that Contreras had not “let his Excellency [Pinochet] know the truth about this case.”[74][70] Nevertheless, it was also acknowledged that the Pinochet regime made a major push cover up its role in the assassination.[75] The extensive cover-up efforts were codenamed “Operación Mascarada.”[75] It was also revealed that Townley, who was expelled from Chile to the United States in April ,[76] believed that Contreras and General Pedro Espinoza&#;[es] of DINA were actually more likely to make an attempt on his life than Pinochet.[75]
Protests continued, however, during the s, leading to several scandals.
Grillina pinochet biography wikipedia ISBN In March , Congress approved a constitutional amendment creating the status of "ex-president", which granted its holder immunity from prosecution and a financial allowance; this replaced Pinochet's senatorship-for-life. He was replaced by General Fernando Matthei. Archived from the original on 18 FebruaryIn March , the murder of three Communist Party members led to the resignation of César Mendoza, head of the Carabineros and member of the junta since its formation. During a protest against Pinochet, year-old American photographer Rodrigo Rojas DeNegri and year-old student Carmen Gloria Quintana were burnt alive, with only Quintana surviving.
In August , Marcelo Barrios Andres, a year-old member of the FPMR (the armed wing of the PCC, created in , which had attempted to assassinate Pinochet on 7 September ), was murdered by a group of military personnel who were supposed to arrest him on orders of Valparaíso's public prosecutor. This case was included in the Rettig Report.[77] Among the killed and disappeared during the military junta were MIR guerrillas.[78] In December , three former DINA agents were sentenced to ten years in prison for the murder of a year-old theology student and activist, German Rodriguez Cortes, in [citation needed] The same month, year-old Guillermo Reyes Rammsy, a former Chilean soldier during the Pinochet years, was arrested and charged with murder for boasting of participating in 18 executions during a live phone-in to the Chilean radio show "Chacotero Sentimental".[79]
On 2 June , Chilean judge Hernan Cristoso sentenced former Chilean intelligence officials to between days and 20 years in prison for their role in the kidnapping and murder of 16 left-wing activists in and [80]
Economic policy
The first country in the world to make that momentous break with the past—away from socialism and extreme state capitalism toward more market-oriented structures and policies—was not Deng Xiaoping's China or Margaret Thatcher's Britain in the late s, Ronald Reagan's United States in , or any other country in Latin America or elsewhere.
It was Pinochet's Chile in
—&#;Robert Packenham & William Ratliff, Hoover Institution[81]
In , the Chilean economy was deeply depressed for several reasons. Allende's government had expropriated many Chilean and foreign businesses, including all copper mines, and had controlled prices.
Inflation had reached %,[82][83] income per capita had contracted by % in alone[83] and 30% compared to ,[84] GDP had contracted by 5% in ,[85] and public spending rose from % to % of GDP between and , creating a deficit equal to 25% of GDP.[84] While some authors like Peter Kornbluh also argue that economic sanctions by the Nixon administration helped to create the economic crisis,[86] others like Paul Sigmund and Mark Falcoff argue there was no blockade[87][88] because aid and credit still existed (albeit in smaller quantities), and no formal trade embargo had been declared.
By mid, after two years of Keynesianism, the government set forth an economic policy of free-market reforms that attempted to stop inflation and collapse. Pinochet declared that he wanted "to make Chile not a nation of proletarians, but a nation of proprietors".[89] To formulate the economic rescue, the government relied on the so-called Chicago Boys and a text called El ladrillo, and although Chile grew very quickly between and , at an average of %,[90] it had a large amount of debt which made Chile the most affected nation by the Latin American debt crisis.
In sharp contrast to the privatization done in other areas, Chile's nationalized main copper mines remained in government hands, with the Constitution later declaring the mines "inalienable".[91] In the State-owned enterprise Codelco was established to exploit them; a new law in opened new mineral deposits to private investment.[92] In November , the pension system was restructured from a PAYGO-system to a fully funded capitalization system run by private sector pension funds.[93] Healthcare and education were likewise privatized, and private hospitals and private schools existed alongside free State-run hospitals and schools.
This "dual system" also extended to insurance and social security services, as State-owned FONASA (National Healthcare Fund) was created in [94] and the private and paid ISAPRES (Institutions of Previsional Health) were created in [95]
Wages decreased by 8%.[96] Family allowances in were 28% of what they had been in and the budgets for education, health and housing had dropped by over 20% on average.[96] The junta relied on the middle class, the oligarchy, foreign corporations, and foreign loans to maintain itself.[97] Businesses recovered most of their lost industrial and agricultural holdings, for the junta returned properties to original owners who had lost them during expropriations, and sold other industries expropriated by Allende's Popular Unity government to private buyers.
This period saw the expansion of business and widespread speculation.
Financial conglomerates became major beneficiaries of the liberalized economy and the flood of foreign bank loans. Large foreign banks reinstated the credit cycle, as debt obligations, such as resuming payment of principal and interest installments, were honored.
International lending organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Inter-American Development Bank lent vast sums anew.[96] Many foreign multinational corporations such as International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), Dow Chemical, and Firestone, all expropriated by Allende, returned to Chile.[96] Pinochet's policies eventually led to substantial GDP growth, in contrast to the negative growth seen in the early years of his administration,[85] while public debt also was kept high mostly to finance public spending which even after the privatization of services was kept at high rates (though far less than before privatization), for example, in after one year of post-Pinochet democracy debt was still at % of the GDP.[98]
The Pinochet government implemented an economic model that had three main objectives: economic liberalization, privatization of state-owned companies, and stabilization of inflation.
In , the government initiated a second round of privatization, revising previously introduced tariff increases and creating a greater supervisory role for the Central Bank. Pinochet's market liberalizations have continued after his death, led by Patricio Aylwin.[99] According to a study in the Journal of Economic History, Pinochet sold firms at below-market prices to politically connected buyers.[19]
Critics argue the neoliberal economic policies of the Pinochet regime resulted in widening inequality and deepening poverty as they negatively impacted the wages, benefits and working conditions of Chile's working class.[][] According to Chilean economist Alejandro Foxley, by the end of Pinochet's reign around 44% of Chilean families were living below the poverty line.[] According to The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, by the late s, the economy had stabilized and was growing, but around 45% of the population had fallen into poverty while the wealthiest 10% saw their incomes rise by 83%.[] But others disagree, Chilean economist José Piñera argues that 2 years after Pinochet took power, poverty was still at 50% and the liberal reforms reduced it to % in [] as well as income per capita rising from US$ in to US$ in ,[] supporters of the reforms also argue that when Pinochet left power in poverty had fallen to 38%[] and some claim that since the consolidation of the neoliberal system inequality has been reducing.[][][] Others disagree, as protests erupted in late in response to growing inequality in the country which can be traced back to the neoliberal policies of the Pinochet dictatorship.[][]
American scholar Nancy MacLean wrote that the concentration of money in the hands of the very rich and the perversion of democracy through the privatization of government was always the goal.
She contends this was the effective meaning of the theoretical model known as public choice, whose architect, James M. Buchanan, traveled to Chile and worked closely with the Pinochet regime.[] MacLean's account, however, has come under scrutiny.
Grillina pinochet biography Almost immediately after the military's seizure of power, the junta banned all the leftist parties that had constituted Allende's UP coalition. It also prescribed an 8-year presidential period, and a single-candidate presidential referendum in , where a candidate nominated by the Junta would be approved or rejected for another 8-year period. On 5 October , the "NO" option won with Main article: Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet.Economist Andrew Farrant examined the Chilean constitutional clauses that MacLean attributes to Buchanan and discovered that they pre-dated his visit. He concludes that "evidence suggests that Buchanan's May visit did not particularly influence the subsequent drafting of the Chilean Constitution" and "there is no evidence to suggest that Buchanan had any kind of audience with Pinochet or corresponded with the Chilean dictator."[]
referendum, attempt to stay in power and transition to democracy
Further information: Chilean transition to democracy
According to the transitional provisions of the Constitution, a referendum was scheduled for 5 October , to vote on a new eight-year presidential term for Pinochet.
Confronted with increasing opposition, notably at the international level, Pinochet legalized political parties in and called for a vote to determine whether or not he would remain in power until If the "YES" won, Pinochet would have to implement the dispositions of the Constitution, mainly the call for general elections, while he would himself remain in power as president.
If the "NO" won, Pinochet would remain President for another year, and a joint Presidential and legislative election would be held.
Another reason for Pinochet's decision to call for elections was the April visit of Pope John Paul II to Chile. According to the US Catholic author George Weigel, he held a meeting with Pinochet during which they discussed a return to democracy.
John Paul II allegedly pushed Pinochet to accept a democratic opening of his government, and even called for his resignation.[]
Political advertising was legalized on 5 September , as a necessary element for the campaign for the "NO" to the referendum, which countered the official campaign, which presaged a return to a Popular Unity government in case of a defeat of Pinochet.
The Opposition, gathered into the Concertación de Partidos por el NO ("Coalition of Parties for NO"), organized a colorful and cheerful campaign under the slogan La alegría ya viene ("Joy is coming"). It was formed by the Christian Democracy, the Socialist Party and the Radical Party, gathered in the Alianza Democrática (Democratic Alliance).
In , several more parties, including the Humanist Party, the Ecologist Party, the Social Democrats, and several Socialist Party splinter groups added their support.
On 5 October , the "NO" option won with %[] of the votes, against % of "YES" votes. In the wake of his electoral defeat, Pinochet attempted to implement a plan for an auto-coup.
He attempted to implement efforts to orchestrate chaos and violence in the streets to justify his power grab, however, the Carabinero police refused an order to lift the cordon against street demonstrations in the capital, according to a CIA informant. In his final move, Pinochet convened a meeting of his junta at La Moneda, in which he requested that they give him extraordinary powers to have the military seize the capital.
Air Force General Fernando Matthei refused, saying that he would not agree to such a thing under any circumstances, and the rest of the junta followed this stance, on grounds that Pinochet already had his turn and lost.[] Matthei would become the first member of the junta to publicly admit that Pinochet had lost the plebiscite.
Without any support from the junta, Pinochet was forced to accept the result. The ensuing constitutional process led to presidential and legislative elections the following year.
The Coalition changed its name to Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Coalition of Parties for Democracy) and put forward Patricio Aylwin, a Christian Democrat who had opposed Allende, as presidential candidate, and also proposed a list of candidates for the parliamentary elections.
The opposition and the Pinochet government made several negotiations to amend the Constitution and agreed to 54 modifications. These amendments changed the way the Constitution would be modified in the future, added restrictions to state of emergency dispositions, the affirmation of political pluralism, and enhanced constitutional rights as well as the democratic principle and participation to political life.
In July , a referendum on the proposed changes took place, supported by all the parties except the right-wing Southern Party and the Chilean Socialist Party.[] The Constitutional changes were approved by % of the voters.
Thereafter, Aylwin won the December presidential election with 55% of the votes,[] against less than 30% for the right-wing candidate, Hernán Büchi, who had been Pinochet's Minister of Finances since (there was also a third-party candidate, Francisco Javier Errázuriz, a wealthy aristocrat representing the extreme economic right, who garnered the remaining 15%[]).
Pinochet: The Journal of Economic History. Early life and education [ edit ]. La Tercera. National Security Archives.
Pinochet thus left the presidency on 11 March and transferred power to the new democratically elected president.
The Concertación also won the majority of votes for the Parliament. However, due to the "binomial" representation system included in the constitution, the elected senators did not achieve a complete majority in Parliament, a situation that would last for over 15 years.
This forced them to negotiate all law projects with the Alliance for Chile (originally called "Democracy and Progress" and then "Union for Chile"), a center-right coalition involving the Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI) and Renovación Nacional (RN), parties composed mainly of Pinochet's supporters.
Due to the transitional provisions of the constitution, Pinochet remained as Commander-in-Chief of the Army until March He was then sworn in as a senator-for-life, a privilege granted by the constitution to former presidents with at least six years in office.
His senatorship and consequent immunity from prosecution protected him from legal action. These were possible in Chile only after Pinochet was arrested in in the United Kingdom, on an extradition request issued by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón. Allegations of abuses had been made numerous times before his arrest, but never acted upon.[] The extradition attempt was dramatised in the BBC television docudrama Pinochet in Suburbia, with Pinochet played by Derek Jacobi.
Shortly before giving up power, on September 15, , Pinochet prohibited all forms of abortion, previously authorized in case of rape or risk to the life of the mother.[] Pinochet argued that due to advances in medicine, abortion was "no longer justifiable".[