Augusto Pinochet

General Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte{{an|Name}} (born November 25, 1915) was head of the military government that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. He came to power in a violent coup that deposed Salvador Allende, a Marxist physician who had become the first Socialist to be elected President of Chile. The coup ended a period of strained relations between the United States?which had actively sought Allende's removal?and the South American country, and allowed Pinochet to implement profound neoliberal economic reforms and, at the same time, to commit extensive human rights violations, both at home and abroad.

Legacy

Chileans remain divided on his legacy. Some see him as a brutal dictator who ended democracy and led a regime characterized by torture and favoritism towards the rich, while others believe that he saved the country from communism and led the transformation of the Chilean economy into Latin America's most stable and fastest growing economy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the economy, Pinochet's reforms had mixed success. After a downturn at the end of the 1960s, Chile's economy entered a period of growth when Allende was elected. However, by the time the coup took place in 1973, the economy was in disarray. Things initially grew worse during Pinochet's rule. Unemployment spiralled from 4.4% in 1973 to 19.9% in 1976, peaking at 30.4% in 1983.http://www.unc.edu/home/pconway/aea2000/Chilemac.pdf Although Pinochet's reforms attracted massive foreign investment, very little of that money was invested into production. The price of Chile's exports fell and wages were reduced. Income distribution became more regressive, and both relative and actual poverty increased. Homelessness and malnutrition, which had been reduced under Allende, became more widespread, and there was a sharp increase in the infant mortality rate. Many small businesses went bankrupt whilst the economy, including newly-privatised industries, came to be dominated by monopolies with connections to the junta and by foreign corporations. Inflation peaked in 1976, but was then slashed, and the economy started to grow again towards the end of the 1970s. Although unemployment remained high, poverty started to fall. However, a second recession hit Chile in 1982, and the economy did not start to grow again until 1986. Unemployment also started to decline, and had fallen to 7.8% when Pinochet left power in 1990.

Related Topics:
1960s - 1973 - 1976 - 1983 - Income distribution - Infant mortality rate - Inflation - 1970s - 1986 - 1990

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Any doubts about the human rights abuses carried out by the Pinochet regime have been stilled by several detailed reports and the emergence of evidence. In January 2005, the Chilean Army accepted institutional responsibility for past abuses. Other institutions accept that abuses took place, but blame them on individuals, rather than official policy. Lucía Pinochet Hiriart, Augusto Pinochet's eldest daughter, said the use of torture during his 1973?90 regime was "barbaric and without justification", after seeing the Valech Report.

Related Topics:
January 2005 - Valech Report

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~