User:Ryan.eldridgesae

Legacy of Augusto Pinochet

The state of Chile was ruled from 1973 to 1990 by a military junta government with Augusto Pinochet as the army general and dictator of the state. The rule of Augusto Pinochet was characterized by the overthrow of a democratically elected president, economic reforms from the Chicago Boys (that brought modernity to Chile) and human rights abuses enacted against the general population. The legacy of Pinochet is enthralled in these human rights abuses, economic reforms, a coup, and civil society restrictions taken against healthcare access, education access and labor union formation. Augusto Pinochet’s legacy is very much alive in Chile today because of their economic success and competitiveness in the world market that occurred after Chicago Boys economic reforms and the obstacles that many are having to deal with in education, healthcare, and labor due to the 1980 constitution and Pinochet reforms. The problems currently in Chile lie in the past economic reforms of the Pinochet years because he created a highly exclusive economic system that left large portions of those in the lower and middle classes without proper education, healthcare or any ability to form labor unions for the purpose of increasing worker’s benefit. This is the double – edged sword of the Pinochet legacy the exclusivity and crimes that continue to hurt the state, along with the economic success that makes Chile as competitive in the global market as it is today.

Pinochet's Rise to Power

Augusto Pinochet came to power in 1973 after a military coup ousted the democratically – elected president Salvador Allende. The coup that overthrew Salvador Allende from power occurred in the middle of the Cold War period and was supported by the United States because of his socialist tendencies and the fear of communism gaining hold in Latin America. The United States in 1973 “on 15 September President Nixon informed the DCI that an Allende regime in Chile would not be acceptable to the United States. He instructed the CIA to prevent Allende from coming to power or unseat him and authorized $10 million for this purpose.”1 This begins the negative aspects of the Pinochet legacy because he came to power behind a US-backed coup that overthrew a democratically elected president, who was out to help the masses and those in poverty. Then when Augusto Pinochet came to power he would oppress many of these people, especially those that were characterized as left leaning or described as communists or socialists.

Pinochet's Economic Revival

The Pinochet regime focused on economic reform led by the Chicago boys as one of its premier focuses while in office. One of the biggest obstacles between Chile and economic success was rising inflation rates that prevented the general public from supporting the economy and buying goods and services. The inflation rates around 1970 were 20.03% and skyrocketed to 504.73% after 1973, and Pinochet through the use of Chicago boy reforms was able to lower inflation to 9.94% by the end of 1980.2 The model that Pinochet and the Chicago Boys put in place was based upon free market policies. Under Pinochet, “Nationalized companies were returned to their original owners, trade barriers were cut to encourage foreign imports and there was renewed emphasis on exports.”3 The Chilean mission according to Pinochet was “to make Chile not a nation of proletarians, but a nation of entrepreneurs.”4 The legacy of Augusto Pinochet’s economic reforms are seen in the ability to curb hyperinflation, bring Chile into the world economy and make it competitive, and make entrepreneurship and capitalism thrive through privatization of property.

Human Rights Abuses

The Augusto Pinochet regime and its legacy is clouded by these abuses the most out of any action carried out by Pinochet, the government or the military at the time. This idea is described well by the founder of Amnesty International, Peter Benenson who stated, “Torture is banned but in two-thirds of the world’s countries it is still being committed in secret. Too many governments still allow wrongful imprisonment, murder or ‘disappearance’ to be carried bout by their officials with impunity.”5 During the Augusto Pinochet years more than 3,500 were either killed or disappeared due to the military junta’s campaign of cleansing the country of leftist groups and threats to the government. This idea is shocking and characterizes the Pinochet years because “gross human rights violations stemming from dictatorship periods are particularly serious crimes because they are committed by the very officials or institutions whose responsibility it is to enforce the law.6 This issue became even larger in the past few years because cases were opened against Augusto Pinochet for the atrocities committed under his rule trying to hold him accountable. He did die before any charges could be carried out against him, but even at his funeral people were protesting whether he should be given presidential/military honors and protesting the procession itself.

Exclusivity of Civil Society

One of the largest problems created by the Pinochet years through economic reform and the constitution of 1980 was that it made social services harder to obtain and civil society more exclusive. Chile’s “prosperity means it is held up as a poster child of neoliberalism … but Chile’s runaway growth belies a country of deep inequality.”7 Some many even say that Pinochet prepared Chile for democracy, but the other side of the coin shows that he created hurdles to achieving democracy in Chile because these exclusive practices in society make it harder for an egalitarian society to emerge in Chile, which is a tenant of democracy. These neoliberal reforms “encourage[d] free trade, reduced government spending, and privatized government run corporations.”8 The most notable of these reforms was the reduction in government spending because it affects public entities like hospitals and schools because of funding and their ability to help the public. Not to mention that the privatization of government run corporations spelled the privatization of education and healthcare, which made these two social services harder for the general population to obtain. This often resulted in poor education for those individuals that came from lower and middle classes, and also individuals being denied healthcare because of the exclusivity of the healthcare system at the time. These reforms and practices still lurk within the Chilean civil society and are problematic for success towards becoming a full – fledged democracy.

Educational System

The legacy of Augusto Pinochet is alive and still impacts the Chilean education system today. One of the most vocal groups to emerge recently is the Chilean youth who have been fighting for equal education and funding for public education, essentially reversing many of the past neoliberal barriers that have been placed on it. The youth of Chile are fighting for equal education rights and to essentially wipe the legacy of Augusto Pinochet’s reforms from the current education system in Chile. One telling statistic, “before the Pinochet dictatorship that began in the early 1970s, as much as 90% of university budgets came from the state. Now that figure is around 10 percent”9 When Pinochet left office he “bequeathed private, for-profit universities that make Chile’s education system one of the most expensive in the world – university fees come in at $3,400 per year in a country where the average yearly wage is $8,500”10 These exclusionary reforms of Augusto Pinochet have shown to limit the ability of many in the lower and middle classes to obtain more than a mediocre to satisfactory education. One reporter even stated, “They are asking for a more just society, a more egalitarian society,” which are both prerequisites for a true democracy to be able to flourish in Chile (18 on paper). The students have even proposed solutions to provide more funding for public education such as nationalizing Chile’s copper mines, cutting military spending and enacting radical tax reform.11

Healthcare in Chile

The legacy of Augusto Pinochet is also prevalent in the healthcare system of Chile today because of the privatization and large costs created by the Pinochet regime. In Chile the private sector-dominated health care system is among one of the most expensive in the world.12 Their healthcare system is also among one of the top six most expensive ones in the world. Chile has 9.3 Physicians per 10,000 population while their neighbor Argentina has 32.1 based on a 2004 study, this shows a large discrepancy and that many individuals that go to be treated are either denied or not given great healthcare because of the inability to have time for doctors to spend on patients. The shadow of the Pinochet regime is still clouded over healthcare in Chile today because it is still an institution of the wealthy like under the Pinochet regime. This is problematic especially for the emerging democracy of Chile because they are unable to become an egalitarian society if people are being denied healthcare and if not all individuals are given the same level of care and treatment in society.

Labor Unions in Chile

In some ways the labor unions of Chile have still not recovered to their levels that they were at before the coup of 1973, and this can be ascribed to Pinochet’s legacy of activities carried out against these groups and members of them. In Chile labor unions experienced their largest drop in labor unions under military rule where it declined by more than half.13 This same article stated, “however, the trend toward deunionization continued after the return of democracy in 1990: between 1991 and 2007, union density dropped by a third.”14 The decline of labor unions in Chile shows that they were unable to reform after the period of the Pinochet military rule which shows that his legacy lives still in Chile because of the inability for labor unions to form and protect workers rights. The decline has been contributed to “increasing union fragmentation and job precariousness, in the long run, the 1980s reforms weakened union capacity to recruit members.”15