CHILE
OVERVIEW:
§ In 1973, the
military government headed by Pinochet overthrew the democratic government,
which was led by freely elected Salvador Allende (Brown 41)
§ The goal of
the new economic policy was to encourage the free flow of imports, but the true
effects were decreased wages for domestic workers, broken unions, and an
inability of domestic businesses to compete (Brown 41)
§ Along with the
economic devastation, Chileans were denied political freedoms, arrested,
tortured, and disappeared (Brown 41)
§ In the 1980’s,
the Reagan administration explained to the overthrow of Allende as simply a
part of a long history in Chile of swings between “’military dictatorships and
constitutionalism’”; ultimately, the U.S. refused to hold any people or actions
accountable in the overthrow of an elected official in Chile (Brown 43-44)
§ However, the
Pinochet regime was actually a new type of government for Chile: “a national
security state, with a systematic program for dismantling democratic
institutions” [A national security state basically asserts that liberal
democracy is over and done with, that political parties encourage division,
free speech allows for “’alien principles,’” and sees the goals of courts,
schools, media, and other institutions as the same as the military (Brown 46)]
(Brown 44)
o
Before
this particular dictatorship, Chile was quite a stable democracy with only one
brief dictatorship by Ibanez from 1927 to 1931 in 150 years (Brown 44)
o
Elections
were almost always honest, and Chileans had available outlets for voicing their
concerns—political parties, trade union, student organizations and the like
(Brown 45)
o
For
nearly twenty years before the Pinochet coup, the Marxist party had been freely
active and competing in elections since 1938 (Brown 45)
§ The Pinochet
coup and dictatorship was also made possible by the United States’ involvement
in Chile’s political and economic arenas (Brown 44)
§ When Allende,
a Socialist, made a strong showing in the 1958 election, the CIA spent
approximately 4 million dollars to oppose and discredit him in the 1964
election; despite this, Allende had an even stronger that year (Brown 45)
§ Allende won
the 1970 election, despite U.S.’s “disinformation campaigns” and support of
opponents (Brown 45)
§ In 1973,
Pinochet and the military overthrew Allende
§ After the
overthrow, between 5,000 and 30,000 Chileans were murdered for their beliefs,
and by 1975, over 45,000 Chileans had been “politically detained for periods
longer than 24 hours,” while more than 140,000 others had been held for briefer
periods of time for the purpose of intimidation (Brown 54)
§ It was also
during this early period that many Chileans “disappeared” after being detained
by DINA, a secret police organization (Brown 54)
§ The only
institution that was to some degree remain independent of military control was
the Church, though some priests and affiliates were murdered or detained (Brown
56)
TIMELINE
YEAR |
Events |
Stage of Control |
1970 |
The Popular Unity coalition nominated Salvador Allende Gossens
as their canidate for the 1970 presidential election (“Chile”) After receiving more than 37% of popular votes and
Congressional backing, Allende took office (“Chile”) |
|
1973 |
The Pinochet regime overthrows freely elected Allende The regime immediately begins altering laws to make actions
“legal” (Brown 49) |
Open assault on all Allende supporters,
including assassinations, tortures, and mass detentions (Brown 47) |
1976 |
Most of the “adversaries” are dead or otherwise out of the way
(in excile, disappeared, etc.), all democratic organizations are banned
(Brown 47) Orlando Letelier, the former Chilean ambassador to the U.S.
and defense minister under Allende is assassinated in Washington, D.C. (Brown
65) |
Regime begins “monetarist economic policies” that
encourage a free market, importing, etc., and that also results in decreased
wages for domestic workers, destruction of labor unions, and an inability of
domestic business to compete (Brown 44, 47-48) |
1978 |
In April, regime announces move to “’new institutionality’”
and extends an amnesty to all of those who had committed criminal offenses
between 9/11/73 and 3/10/78 under the regime’s state of siege ---- this
amnesty, however, pardons both “perpetrators” and “victims” (Brown 49-50) |
|
1979 |
In April, the regime passes an antiterrorism law that makes
punishable “’an attack on the social order, morality, persons, or property’”
and that increases punishments for possession of arms and “’illicit
association’”---- this assisted the regime by forcing courts to side with the
regime (Brown 50) |
|
1980 |
Chile adopted a new constitution, whose “only claim to
legitimacy is its approval by popular vote,” which was highly controversial
because of intimidation of the public (Brown 48, 53) |
|
1981 |
Chile enacts the new constitution and returns to a “state of
law” (Brown 48) Pinochet adds 29 transitory articles to the constitution that
expand presidential power (Brown 51) One of these, article 24, allowed: “persons to be held in
their homes or places other than jails for up to twenty days; rights of
assembly and free information may be restricted; political opponents of the
regime may be expelled or excluded from Chile; and persons may be banished,
summarily, for three months or internal exile” (Brown 51) The Chilean government did leave certain ineffective
organizations such as student federations in place, as well appoint their
officials to lead labor unions to assist in the appearance of having a
democratic government (Brown 55) Violent abused by the military government begin to again
increase (Brown 56) |
The Pinochet regime began its “transition to democracy”;
an attempt to appear democratic (Brown 48) |
1983 |
National protest movement began, which, though stemming from
different groups and organizations, shared a desire for democracy, the
dismissal of Pinochet and a new constitution (Brown 48) |
|
1984 |
The Pinochet regime abandoned attempts to appear democratic
and declared a state of siege (Brown 48) The Pinochet regime approved an anti-terrorist law that
allowed anyone associated with what seemed like a terrorist act to be
punished (Brown 52) |
|
1989 |
In Chile’s first presidential election in 19 years, voters
elect Christian Democratic Patricio Aylwin (“Chile”) |
The End of the Official Pinochet Regime |
1990 |
Pinochet announces his decision to remain commander in chief
of the military until 1997 (“Chile) |
|
1993 |
The former head of Chile’s secret police (the CNI) and his
deputy are sentenced to seven and six years for “masterminding” the Letelier
assassination (“Chile”) |
|
1995 |
The Chile Sumpreme Court upholds the convictions, despite
Pinochet’s denouncement of them, and the two men are arrested |
|
1998 |
Pinochet retires from military and takes his seat in the
Senate (a provision of the constitution instituted under his regime)
(“Chile”) While in Britian in October, Pinochet is detained because a
Spanish judge has charged him with human rights violations and had requested
he be extradited to Spain--- the Chilean constitution had prevented Pinochet
from being charged in that country (“Chile”) |
|
1999 |
The highest court in Britain rules than Pinochet can be
extradited to Spain in reference to Britain’s human rights agreement signed
in 1988 (“Chile”) |
|
2000 |
Spanish Judge Guzman proceeds with trial |
|
THE ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES:
§
During
both the Ford and Nixon administrations, the CIA was involved in covert
operations that opposed Salvador Allende (Brown 64)
§
By
September 1976, the U.S. economic aid to Chile was 350.5 million dollars, which
made Chile the recipient of the most U.S. aid in all of Latin America (Brown
65)
§
By
1974, however, international attention to the human rights violation in Chile
was high, and the U.S. Congress cut economic and military aid to Chile (Brown
66)
§
The
Carter administration criticized Pinochet’s regime’s human rights violations,
and it was under his administration that the Bureau of Human Rights and
Humanitarian Affairs in the State Department made efforts to talk to the
relatives of those missing and attempted to disassociate the U.S. from such
governments (Brown 65)
§
The
Carter administration also, however, accepted the unsubstantial reforms of
Chile as having more content than they ever really had (Brown 66)
§
During
the Reagan administration, aid to Chile again increased, even after human
rights conditions worsened (Brown 66)
§
One
of the first actions Reagan took while in office was to lift a Carter sanction
against Chile: a ban on military aid, a promise to stop Export/Import bank
lending, and a decrease in military contact (Brown 66)
§
Though
the U.S. was supposed to vote against lending money to countries with poor
human rights records, the Reagan administration helped Chile gain one billion
dollars from lenders (Brown 66)
§
In
1981 and 1982, ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick expressed the Reagan
administration’s desire to normalize relations with Chile (Brown 67)
§
The
Deputy Assistant Secetary of State, Everett Biggs, announced the
administration’s desire to resume military aid to Chile in 1982 (Brown 67)
§
Kissinger Encouraged Chile's Brutal Repression
TORTURE:
“As documented by Chilean groups, U.N.
investigators, Amnesty International, and others, this regime has used torture
systematically on political detainees since it took power, experimenting until
the secret police [first the DINA and then the CNI] have acquired a scientific
level of sophistication” (Brown 60)
§
Torturers
interchanged roles to disorient prisoners
§
Torturers
video taped pre-torture confessions
§
Torturers
used doctors to keep prisoners alive for more torture
§
Torturers
used “electric shock to face and genitals, beatings, burnings, near
asphyxiations, the maintenance of the prisoner in forced positions, and rape,”
as well as psychological torture such as “repeated sexual humiliation, the
forced witnessing of another’s torture, threats against spouses and children”
(Brown 61).
Links:
§
www.derechoschile.com
(THE BEST SITE I FOUND! This site
provides chronologies, detailed information on the Pinochet government and
agencies of state repression, details on detention centers, and more)
§
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
(declassified docs relating to Chile and U.S. involvement in the 1973 coup)
§
www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Chile_KH.html
(excerpt from William Blum’s Killing Hope)
Works Consulted:
Brown, Cynthia. With Friends Like These: The Americas
Watch Report on Human Rights & U.S. Policy in Latin America.
New York:
Pantheon, 1985.
“Chile.” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000 CD-ROM. Microsoft: 1993-1999.
Submitted 01/29/01
By Sarah E. Tolbert