Framing the problem...gathering 2 by 4s
I realize that having studied Chile and the rest of Latin America so many times in school and having spent so much time thinking about Chile recently leaves anyone reading this a little behind in the background information necessary to understand what it is that I have studied, what it is I am currently researching, and why it matters. And it probably makes a lot of the content of this blog irrelevant to you or your interests. I don't want to be irrelevant. I want to be interesting.
Here's the quick and easy (which is neither quick nor easy):
Chile, a developed and economically stable country in Latin America, suffered a violent dictatorship from the years of 1973 (September 11th-US was complicit in the coup which installed Pinochet, see the Foreign Affairs Affaire involving my thesis advisor, Kenneth Maxwell) to 1989 under the rule of General Augusto Pinochet. During the military rule, there were egregious human rights violations (these included the excessive detention, torture-30,000-and disappearance-3,000-of numerous Chilean citizens) which were justified in the name of a war against communism (the "war against terror" rhetoric was pervasive, which may feel a little familiar. But I need to keep this short. Right, Brooks?)
Salvador Allende, a socialist, had been democratically elected president of Chile in 1970 much to the dismay of US President Richard Nixon who, with the help of the CIA, had done everything he could to covertly deter Allende from being elected (Allende had run in 1964 but a similar aggressive campaign by the CIA-funding negative print and television ads-probably caused his defeat.) Anyone who doubts that the CIA would actually do this and thinks these are only "allegations" needs to visit the CIA's website on their covert action in Chile, read Peter Kornbluh's book The Pinochet File, or check out the document declassification project by the National Security Archive, or cruise around state.gov and see what's there. Why? Because it was the during the Cold War. Domino Theory. See The Vietnam War. See Guatemala, 1954. Cuba, 1961. Cuba, 1962. Cuba, throughout the 1960s. Brazil. The Dominican Republic. Panama. Iran. Afghanistan. Nicaragua. On and on.
So, starting in September of 1973, there was a right-wing military government in charge of Chile. Pinochet, in order to consolidate power, needed to eliminate leftists (He also needed to eliminate leftists because Henry Kissinger said so.) From 1973 to 1976 (the most violent and repressive period), Pinochet's regime systematically tortured and executed approximately 3,000 Chileans. The secret police, DINA, were in charge of the operations that hunted people down, removed them from their houses and "disappeared" them forever. Throughout the military rule, repression existed, however it was worst in those early few years. Perhaps most fantastic (in a terrifying way) in the history of Pinochet's repression was that it did not stay within Chile's borders. Operation Condor was an international operation which hunted down and killed "subversives" or Regime enemies in Spain, Argentina, and even the United States (Letelier-Moffit car bomb in Washington, DC.) Even Chilean exiles were not safe.
Beginning in 1976, Argentina suffered a very similar military coup with even worse repression. However, the Argentina military leaders were not as cunning as Pinochet, mismanaged the economy, and allowed demonstrations against them to proliferate (by engaging in far more random repression, Argentines couldn't be sure of their safety by staying out of politics, as Chileans could. This is how Pinochet succeeded in cultivating fear and keeping the public quiet and submissive.) Uruguay also had a similar military coup with some of the worst repression in the southern cone (worse as calculated by the percent of their population that suffered.)
By 1980, Pinochet, after seeing that "democracy" and "human rights" was becoming increasingly important to the powers that be (think United States and the Carter administration), constructed a Constitution of 1980 and conducted a plebiscite for whether he would remain in power as president. The plebiscite was a yes/no vote on whether Pinochet should stay on as president until 1988 when the constitution called for another plebiscite. The vote, unsurprisingly was "yes" (there was still a cult of fear, as well as direct pressure from the government to vote "yes.")
By the time 1988 roled around, the Argentine military rule had crumbled (1983), the US Contra War in Nicaragua had been revealed (1986), Reagan had started talking to Gorbachev, and the Berlin wall was soon to fall (1989). The Cold War was thawing. And supporting military government was no longer a la mode.
In 1988, Pinochet submitted to the plebiscite he had agreed to in 1980. The "no" vote won. Pinochet had underestimated the cooperative power of a center-left coalition that had worked tirelessly from 1980 to 88 to ensure that a "no" vote passed. Pinochet had no choice but to step down. In 1989, a presidential election was held and Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin became President of Chile in 1990.
Here's the quick and easy (which is neither quick nor easy):
Chile, a developed and economically stable country in Latin America, suffered a violent dictatorship from the years of 1973 (September 11th-US was complicit in the coup which installed Pinochet, see the Foreign Affairs Affaire involving my thesis advisor, Kenneth Maxwell) to 1989 under the rule of General Augusto Pinochet. During the military rule, there were egregious human rights violations (these included the excessive detention, torture-30,000-and disappearance-3,000-of numerous Chilean citizens) which were justified in the name of a war against communism (the "war against terror" rhetoric was pervasive, which may feel a little familiar. But I need to keep this short. Right, Brooks?)
Salvador Allende, a socialist, had been democratically elected president of Chile in 1970 much to the dismay of US President Richard Nixon who, with the help of the CIA, had done everything he could to covertly deter Allende from being elected (Allende had run in 1964 but a similar aggressive campaign by the CIA-funding negative print and television ads-probably caused his defeat.) Anyone who doubts that the CIA would actually do this and thinks these are only "allegations" needs to visit the CIA's website on their covert action in Chile, read Peter Kornbluh's book The Pinochet File, or check out the document declassification project by the National Security Archive, or cruise around state.gov and see what's there. Why? Because it was the during the Cold War. Domino Theory. See The Vietnam War. See Guatemala, 1954. Cuba, 1961. Cuba, 1962. Cuba, throughout the 1960s. Brazil. The Dominican Republic. Panama. Iran. Afghanistan. Nicaragua. On and on.
So, starting in September of 1973, there was a right-wing military government in charge of Chile. Pinochet, in order to consolidate power, needed to eliminate leftists (He also needed to eliminate leftists because Henry Kissinger said so.) From 1973 to 1976 (the most violent and repressive period), Pinochet's regime systematically tortured and executed approximately 3,000 Chileans. The secret police, DINA, were in charge of the operations that hunted people down, removed them from their houses and "disappeared" them forever. Throughout the military rule, repression existed, however it was worst in those early few years. Perhaps most fantastic (in a terrifying way) in the history of Pinochet's repression was that it did not stay within Chile's borders. Operation Condor was an international operation which hunted down and killed "subversives" or Regime enemies in Spain, Argentina, and even the United States (Letelier-Moffit car bomb in Washington, DC.) Even Chilean exiles were not safe.
Beginning in 1976, Argentina suffered a very similar military coup with even worse repression. However, the Argentina military leaders were not as cunning as Pinochet, mismanaged the economy, and allowed demonstrations against them to proliferate (by engaging in far more random repression, Argentines couldn't be sure of their safety by staying out of politics, as Chileans could. This is how Pinochet succeeded in cultivating fear and keeping the public quiet and submissive.) Uruguay also had a similar military coup with some of the worst repression in the southern cone (worse as calculated by the percent of their population that suffered.)
By 1980, Pinochet, after seeing that "democracy" and "human rights" was becoming increasingly important to the powers that be (think United States and the Carter administration), constructed a Constitution of 1980 and conducted a plebiscite for whether he would remain in power as president. The plebiscite was a yes/no vote on whether Pinochet should stay on as president until 1988 when the constitution called for another plebiscite. The vote, unsurprisingly was "yes" (there was still a cult of fear, as well as direct pressure from the government to vote "yes.")
By the time 1988 roled around, the Argentine military rule had crumbled (1983), the US Contra War in Nicaragua had been revealed (1986), Reagan had started talking to Gorbachev, and the Berlin wall was soon to fall (1989). The Cold War was thawing. And supporting military government was no longer a la mode.
In 1988, Pinochet submitted to the plebiscite he had agreed to in 1980. The "no" vote won. Pinochet had underestimated the cooperative power of a center-left coalition that had worked tirelessly from 1980 to 88 to ensure that a "no" vote passed. Pinochet had no choice but to step down. In 1989, a presidential election was held and Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin became President of Chile in 1990.
posted by Lauren at 9:43 PM
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