Two names in Chilean politics will forever be remembered as contributors to the most tumultuous period in Chilean history. Those names are Salvadore Allende and Augusto Pinochet. Both former leaders still have an immense following in their respective country. Allende was elected in the year 1970 and was Chile’s first socialist president. By 1972 Chile was unstable resulting in Pinochet’s 1973 military coup. Allende committed suicide that very same year. Pinochet had been appointed army commander in chief by Allende just 18 days before the coup, his control lasted until 1990. Pinochet is most known for the torture he inflicted upon his opponents. He died in 2006 right before having to stand trial for his human rights abuses (Britannica). What is most interesting about these leaders’ governing years is that despite how controversial they were they still have a large amount of support.
This topic was of interest to me since my family is currently living in Chile. While visiting Chile I was often told that Chilean citizens are divided 50/50, half still supporting Allende and half supporting Pinochet. With this comment in the back of my mind, I was inclined to research further. I discovered that people in Chile are still highly influenced by the Pinochet and Allende legacies and was surprised by how much their opinions varied. There are still right-wing supporters who view Pinochet as a hero which is interesting considering how most countries see him as an abuser of human rights. And there are still left-wing supporters of Allende despite his controversial governing methods which some saw as dictatorial and economy ruining. This rich history and presidential past led me to want to write my research paper on their influence today.
Current Profile on Chile
Though Chile is still recovering from their political past, Chile is now seen as one of the most prosperous and stable nations in Latin America. The country itself spreads across multiple different climates and is home to multiple ethnicities, from European to Indigenous Indian (BBC). The current population is 17.9 million and their main exports include copper, fruit, fish products, paper, and wine. Chile’s main import and export partners are China, the United States, and Japan. Chile has seen a steady increase in their GDP per capita and growth rate in the last few years. It is also rated as a high-income economy by The World Bank (Wikipedia). Their recently elected president is Sebastian Piñera, this is his second term as he was also president between 2010-2014. Piñera’s first presidential term was difficult due to it being followed by two strong earthquake aftershocks. Then in 2011 students began to protest the outdated and underfunded public education system. Following that unrest, cabinet changes were arranged which led to protests from labor groups. As a result, Piñera’s popularity ratings plummeted and his term ended with him being barred from attempting a consecutive term as president. Despite the tension and protests of his first term, one of Piñera’s major successes was managing to create economic growth (Britannica). Now Piñera is seen as the billionaire businessman with a Harvard education, following his election “Local markets soared as hopes of more investor-friendly policies were expected to be introduced by the billionaire conservative,” (BBC). Piñera promised change, a focus on jobs, and said he would tackle poverty and boost the private sector (BBC). The country itself also gets a fair bit of tourism from their Andes Mountains, Atacama Desert, Easter Island, and their active volcanoes. On average the country is quite stable and hopeful in terms of their newly elected president. However what still remains vital to the current political climate is their past.
2. The Allende Legacy
Salvador Allende was born in Chile in 1908 and was one of the founders of the Chilean socialist party. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1937 and served as minister of health. His most notable work there was implementing social reforms such as higher pension, free school lunch and safety regulations for factory workers. He married in 1940 and had three daughters with his wife, Hortensia Bussi. Between the years 1945 to 1969 Allende was elected to the Senate multiple times- he quickly declared his desire to promote a socialist Chile and his support for Marxism. While working in the senate, Allende focused on the conditions for the working class and sided with the Cuban Revolution. Allende actually attempted to run for president on multiple occasions, in 1952, 1958 and 1964, but only succeeded in the 1970 election. His main supporters were leftists and working-class citizens. Unbeknownst at the time, Allende’s government was being opposed by President Nixon with collaboration from the CIA (Britannica).
At the beginning of Allende’s presidential term, Chile was in the midst of an economic crisis, resulting in high unemployment rates and much of the populations’ children were malnourished. His first form of action was to put in place his socialist reforms. He increased wages and froze prices in an attempt to reform the education, health and government systems. In addition to these steps, The Encyclopedia Britannica, explained that “Allende expropriated American-owned copper industries without compensation. This solidified opposition from U.S. President Richard Nixon's administration, which increased support to Allende's political opponents and led efforts to cut off international lines of credit to Chile”. This cut off really damaged the Chilean economy and unfortunately, this was just the beginning for the Allende presidency. Allende’s failed economic planning resulted in tension between Allende and congress. This ultimately led to more economic struggles, as he was also struggling to control the radical left. Despite this tension, Allende still remained popular among the working class, but was not appreciated by the middle. The Economist published an article about Allende’s presidency and specified that “The Allende government did more than wreck the economy. It violated both the letter and the spirit of the constitution (…) The feeling that parliament had been made irrelevant was increased by violence in the streets and by the way the government tolerated the growth of armed groups on the far left that were openly preparing for civil war”. This is what is most often connected to Allende, the possibility that he could have caused a civil war.
On September 11, 1973, Pinochet’s military coup took place, overthrowing Allende. Allende barricaded himself in the palace and a number of civilians were either killed, wounded or imprisoned during the siege. Allende died that night, bringing to question whether he committed suicide or if the soldiers that stormed the place killed him. Allende’s body was exhumed in 2011 and cause of death was ruled as a suicide. Later, the CIA announced their support of the coup and their foreknowledge about it- denying any direct involvement. Though Allende’s government was facing inflation and a struggling economy the working class was generally content with their new president’s reforms. Their buying power increased so that they were able to provide for their families more. Allende’s government also sought to build stable homes for the poor and move them out of shanty towns into working-class homes. While the working class was beginning to see benefits from their new president, a crisis began to unfold. Since the military junta is what followed the Allende presidency a lot of news organizations focus on the negative side of what Allende did to lead to such a drastic measure. To see understand why there was still support for Allende, I found an article by The Nation that advocated a pro-Allende stance on his presidency. The Nation explained that “More than economics can explain the strong support Allende received. He opened the doors of government to the participation of the less advantaged groups. They identified with their President and for the first time felt themselves part of the governing process. Allende initiated a vigorously independent foreign policy, one often at odds with Latin America’s patron, the United States”. This article does a relatively accurate job at explaining why Allende continued to be supported by the left. Allende was not only a president whose aim was to help the disadvantage. Allende was someone the people related to and found charismatic.
3. The Pinochet Legacy
Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was born in Valparaiso, Chile in 1915 and died on December 10, 2006. Pinochet graduated from the Santiago military academy which led to his career as a military officer and ultimately to his appointment as army commander and chief in Allende’s government. As explained earlier, he was the leader of the military junta that overthrew President Salvador Allende and his socialist government on September 11, 1973. Pinochet was Chile’s dictator between the years 1974-1990 (Britannica and BBC).
Pinochet led and planned the junta with the intent of eliminating Chile’s liberal and leftist opposition. The first few years of his regime resulted in the arrest of approximately 130,000 people who were also tortured. On June 1974 Pinochet was announced president while the rest of the junta took position as part of his advisory. Pinochet’s main mission was to remove the leftism in Chile and to integrate free-market policies. Despite Pinochet’s human rights violations, his “reversal of Allende’s economic policies resulted in a lower rate of inflation and an economic boom. In 1978 it was announced that 75% of the electorate had endorsed Pinochet’s rule”, despite the abuse under his rule (Britannica). 1981 was the year of a new constitution allowing Pinochet to be president for an eight-year term. After those years a national referendum would decide if he would serve another eight-year term. “Despite Pinochet’s free-market policies leading to low rates of inflation Chile did succumb to a severe recession in 1980–83. Due to Pinochet’s constitutional obligation, a plebiscite took place to see whether the electorate still endorsed his rule” (Britannica). The result was that 55% of the electorate did not endorse his rule. Following this rejection, Pinochet remained in office until free elections installed a new president. That new president would be Patricio Aylwin who was a Christian Democrat.
After stepping down as president, Pinochet became a senator for life. This is a post granted to all former presidents in Chile according to his 1981 constitution. In 1998 the repercussions of Pinochet’s human rights abuses caught up with him while visiting London. He was detained by British authorities due to Spain requesting his extradition in relation to the suspected torture of Spanish citizens. The case caused chaos across the globe and the United States and other countries were forced to release documents relating to Chileans who had “disappeared”. The “disappeared” is a reference to those who were kidnapped and presumably killed by the Pinochet regime but were never found. The newly released information informed the public about Operation Colombo, which caused over 100 Chilean leftists to disappear in 1975. They also learned about Operation Condor, which was a conspiracy in which multiple South American military governments worked together to eliminate their political opponents in the 1970s and ’80s (Britannica).
In January 2000 Pinochet was able to return to Chile after the British court “ruled that he was physically unfit to stand trial” (Britannica). Nevertheless, he continued to face investigations by Chilean authorities. Pinochet was then stripped from his immunity from prosecution to which he was entitled to as former president. This meant he was ordered to stand trial for charges towards his human rights abuses. The charges against Pinochet were eventually dropped after Chile’s Supreme Court ruled that he was mentally incapable of defending himself in court. Following the dropped charges Pinochet resigned from his position as Senator for life (Britannica).
Then in 2004, the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture confirmed that there are more than 35,000 cases of torture that took place during Pinochet’s dictatorship. In 2005 the Chilean Supreme Court voted again to remove Pinochet’s immunity. This time it was for illegal financial dealings and for a case involving the disappearance and execution of at least 119 political dissidents. At this point, he was ruled fit to stand trial for those crimes. However, Pinochet died the following year. He was never tried for his human rights abuses (Britannica).