Chile, 11 September 1973: death and birth of a nation
Published on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)
Chile, 11 September 1973: death and birth of a nation
Chile, 11 September 1973: death and birth of a nation
Patricio Navia [1] 10 September 2013
The military coup of forty years ago inaugurated a long period of dictatorship and human-rights
violation. But its profound legacy also includes long-term economic and political effects, says Patricio
Navia.
On 11 September 1973, dreadful images shocked the world. The bombing of the Chilean presidential
palace and the suicide of President Salvador Allende, the first Marxist president to be democratically
elected in the world, remain among the most dramatic experiences even of the cold-war years with
its many military coups across the globe. Chile was not the only country to see its democratic
government overthrown in this era, and its military had been far from the most notorious violator of
human rights even in Latin America; but the violence perpetrated by Chile's armed forces in
deposing a democratically elected government and imposing its rule made Chile a symbolic case of
democratic breakdown.
Today, forty years on, Chile [2] is a very different country. The dictatorship of the coup leader
Augusto Pinochet, which lasted from 1973-90, left three overwhelming legacies: human-rights
violations, an institutional set-up intended to constrain the emergence of democracy, and an
economic model that has allowed for rapid economic growth with high levels of inequality.
A triple inheritance
The first legacy, the human-rights violations [3] that characterised the Pinochet regime, continues to
haunt Chileans today. The almost 4,000 Chileans killed by the military dictatorship will never be
forgotten. The remains of several hundred have yet to be found. Many thousands more who suffered
torture are a living reminder of the suffering caused by atrocious acts sanctioned at the highest
level. Though significant progress has been made in finding out the truth about the atrocities
committed, and dozens of violators have been brought to justice, there has been insufficient
progress in righting the wrongs of the past.
Four consecutive centre-left governments under the Concertación - comprised of political parties
prosecuted by the dictatorship - governed Chile from 1990-2010. They opted to prioritise the
consolidation of democracy over bringing justice to those who had suffered, which they calculated perhaps without sufficient reason - would risk stability. When Pinochet was detained in London in
1998 to face extradition proceedings for a case brought against him in Spain on charges of crimes
against humanity, the Concertación administration went out of its way to seek his release on
humanitarian grounds. After the British government released Pinochet in 2000, the former dictator
returned to Chile. He was indicted, but never prosecuted for the human-rights violations that
occurred under his rule. With fitting symbolism, he died [4] on 10 December 2006, international
human-rights day.
Overall, Chile has done more than many other countries to bring human-rights violators to justice,
but the post-1990 democratic governments were too timid in their efforts, fearing (again, with
uncertain justification) that trying military officers involved in human-rights abuses would put
democracy in danger.
This is the second legacy of the 1973 coup and the years that followed. After the dictatorship ended
in 1990, democratic institutions emerged from within the constraints [5] left in place by Pinochet.
Modern Chilean democracy grew out of the institutional trap left in place by the dictatorship in the
constitution of 1980. Because the transition to democracy was a pact - with Pinochet and the military
Page 1 of 6
Chile, 11 September 1973: death and birth of a nation
Published on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)
retaining significant power and several authoritarian enclaves - democratic elected governments
were significantly constrained during the 1990s. But after Pinochet's arrest in London, and thanks to
the careful steering of democratic elected governments, Chile’s democracy consolidated more
rapidly. A series of constitutional reforms stripped the Pinochet constitution of most of its
authoritarian and counter-democratic features. Against the dictatorship's original intention to
establish a permanently limited democracy, these gradual and incremental reforms expanded the
institutional limits and fostered the strengthening of a full-fledged democracy.
Many advocates of democracy in Chile continue to reject the notion that true democracy can be built
on authoritarian institutional foundations. Even though Pinochet’s name was removed from the
constitution in 2005, the present legal order cannot be disassociated from the authoritarian period.
After all, Chile's democracy was born out of an authoritarian constitution designed to prevent
democracy from flourishing, and can thus be seen as resembling a child conceived by rape and
unable ever to undo her traumatic origin. A more optimistic view, though, would see the traumatic
origin in a different light: precisely because democracy grew despite the constraints and limitations,
Chile should be celebrated as an example of the resilience of people’s democratic values and will.
The third legacy of 1973-90 is the neo-liberal economic model [6] put in place by Pinochet. This
market-friendly model has been qualified and improved upon with socially-oriented reforms.
Democratic governments have retained its main tenets, but have implemented aggressive
poverty-reduction initiatives and have strengthened regulatory frameworks to encourage
competition and safeguard consumers’ rights. Chile is now a vibrant economy. Poverty rates have
declined from over 40% under the dictatorship to around 15% today. All social indicators show
remarkable progress. Millions have joined the middle class. The student protests that rocked the
country in 2006 and 2011 reflect the demand [7] for social and economic inclusion that has driven
political evolution in recent years. Yet against continuing high levels of inequality, and the state's
limited powers and ability to increase social spending, the laudable efforts to focus spending on the
poor and to reduce inequality by expanding opportunities among the lowest income quintiles have
barely made progress.
Indeed, critics of the Chilean economic model point to persistent inequality to challenge what
otherwise can be described as an overwhelming success. However, it is the very expansion of the
country’s economy that allows policymakers to focus on inequality rather than to have to respond to
the pressing needs of widespread poverty and destitution. Chile does have economic challenges,
but those are of a different order than the issues of poverty and marginalisation that haunt many
other countries in the global south.
In fact, twenty-four years after democracy was restored, Chile is on the verge of entering the select
club of developed countries. Its persistent levels of inequality [8] stand out more clearly because of
the great developmental progress Chile has made. Though high levels of inequality are an
undeniable threat to any democracy, the fact that leftwing and rightwing presidential candidates for
the November 2013 election are campaigning on promises to reduce inequality is a good sign.
Today, most policies are also designed to provide more social inclusion. Chile is a patient fully aware
of its potentially deadly condition, but it is doing what it is necessary to achieve good health.
The next Chilean road
In light of this subsequent history, the controversial and divisive moment [9]of the 9/11 coup seems
out of place when contrasted with the vibrant democracy that Chile enjoys today. Many Chileans
remain divided over their interpretations and readings of the past. Every 11 September, the divisions
reemerge. However, their polarisation over the past is in dramatic contrast with their overwhelming
agreement over the roadmap ahead. Improving market-friendly reforms, expanding inclusion and
building a more accommodating and accountable democracy is what a large majority of Chileans
want for the future.
The 1973 military coup remains the most important political event in Chile in the last fifty years
[10]. The coup did not just end democracy and begin a period of massive human-rights violations. It
also constituted a foundational moment for Chile. The market-based economic reforms implemented
by the Pinochet dictatorship, and improved upon by subsequent democratic governments, have
Page 2 of 6
Chile, 11 September 1973: death and birth of a nation
Published on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)
made Chile the most successful case [11] of economic development in Latin America in recent
decades. On 11 September 2013, the country rightly remembers all human-rights victims and
honours the noble defence of constitutional democracy led by President Salvador Allende.At the
same time, the economic and political system Chile has today is the legacy of the Pinochet
dictatorship more than the Chilean form of socialism that the government deposed on 11 September
1973 aspired to build.
Sideboxes'Read On' Sidebox:
Patricio Navia [12]
La Tercera - Patricio Navia's blog [13]
La Tercera - El Rescate del Atacama [14]
Gobierno de Chile [15]
Chile - ministry of education [16]
Carlos Huneeus, The Pinochet Regime [17] (Lynne Reinner, 2007)
Santiago Times [18]
MercoPress [19]
Alan Angell, Democracy after Pinochet: Politics, Parties and Elections in Chile [20] (Institute for the
Study of the Americas, 2007)
Katherine Hite, When the Romance Ended: Leaders of the Chilean Left, 1968-1998 [21](Columbia
University Press, 2000)
Naomi Roht-Arriaza, The Pinochet Effect: Transnational Justice in the Age of Human Rights [22]
(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006)
Mary Helen Spooner, Soldiers in a Narrow Land: The Pinochet Regime in Chile [23] (University Of
California Press, 1999)
Andy Beckett, Pinochet in Piccadilly [24] (Faber, 2002)
Juan Gabriel Valdes, Pinochet's Economists: The Chicago School of Economics in Chile [25]
(Cambridge University Press, 1995)
Silvia Borzutzky, Vital Connections: Politics, Social Security, and Inequality in Chile [26] (University of
Notre Dame Press, 2002)
Sidebox:
Patricio Navia is a political scientist [27] who teaches and researches at the Center for Latin
American and Caribbean Studies [28], New York University. His areas of interest include democracy,
inequality and political change in Latin America. He writes a blog [13] in the Chilean newspaper La
Tercera [29], as well as fiction and poetry.
Patricio Navia's books include Las Grandes Alamedas. El Chile Post Pinochet [30] (Santiago: La
Tercera-Mondadori, 2004); (with Eduardo Engel) Que gane el más mejor. Mérito y competencia en el
Chile de hoy [31] (Santiago: Random House, 2006); El genoma electoral chileno [32] (Santiago:
Universidad Diego Portales, 2009); and El Díscolo [33] (Grupo Gestión, 2009)
Related stories: The two 9/11s: Chile and the United States [34]
Chile: protest for the “promised land” [35]
The Chilean way: after the spotlight [36]
Country or region: Chile
Topics: Conflict
Page 3 of 6
Chile, 11 September 1973: death and birth of a nation
Published on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)
Democracy and government
International politics
$(document).ready(function () { $("div#contentgrid").removeClass('grid-8');
$("div#contentgrid").addClass('grid-6'); });
About the author
Patricio Navia is a political scientist [27] who teaches and researches at the Center for Latin
American and Caribbean Studies [28], New York University. His areas of interest include democracy,
inequality and political change in Latin America. He writes a blog [13] in the Chilean newspaper La
Tercera [29], as well as fiction and poetry.
Patricio Navia's books include Las Grandes Alamedas. El Chile Post Pinochet [30] (Santiago: La
Tercera-Mondadori, 2004); (with Eduardo Engel) Que gane el más mejor. Mérito y competencia en el
Chile de hoy [31] (Santiago: Random House, 2006); El genoma electoral chileno [32] (Santiago:
Universidad Diego Portales, 2009); and El Díscolo [33] (Grupo Gestión, 2009)
Related Articles
The two 9/11s: Chile and the United States [34]
Patricio Navia [1]Chile: protest for the “promised land” [35]
Patricio Navia [1]The Chilean way: after the spotlight [36]
Patricio Navia [1]
Read On
Patricio Navia [12]
La Tercera - Patricio Navia's blog [13]
La Tercera - El Rescate del Atacama [14]
Gobierno de Chile [15]
Chile - ministry of education [16]
Carlos Huneeus, The Pinochet Regime [17] (Lynne Reinner, 2007)
Santiago Times [18]
MercoPress [19]
Alan Angell, Democracy after Pinochet: Politics, Parties and Elections in Chile [20] (Institute for the
Study of the Americas, 2007)
Katherine Hite, When the Romance Ended: Leaders of the Chilean Left, 1968-1998 [21](Columbia
University Press, 2000)
Naomi Roht-Arriaza, The Pinochet Effect: Transnational Justice in the Age of Human Rights [22]
(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006)
Mary Helen Spooner, Soldiers in a Narrow Land: The Pinochet Regime in Chile [23] (University Of
California Press, 1999)
Andy Beckett, Pinochet in Piccadilly [24] (Faber, 2002)
Juan Gabriel Valdes, Pinochet's Economists: The Chicago School of Economics in Chile [25]
(Cambridge University Press, 1995)
Silvia Borzutzky, Vital Connections: Politics, Social Security, and Inequality in Chile [26] (University of
Notre Dame Press, 2002)
Page 4 of 6
Chile, 11 September 1973: death and birth of a nation
Published on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)
More On
Patricio Navia is a political scientist [27] who teaches and researches at the Center for Latin
American and Caribbean Studies [28], New York University. His areas of interest include democracy,
inequality and political change in Latin America. He writes a blog [13] in the Chilean newspaper La
Tercera [29], as well as fiction and poetry.
Patricio Navia's books include Las Grandes Alamedas. El Chile Post Pinochet [30] (Santiago: La
Tercera-Mondadori, 2004); (with Eduardo Engel) Que gane el más mejor. Mérito y competencia en el
Chile de hoy [31] (Santiago: Random House, 2006); El genoma electoral chileno [32] (Santiago:
Universidad Diego Portales, 2009); and El Díscolo [33] (Grupo Gestión, 2009)
Subjects
Chile [37]
Conflict [38]
Democracy and government [39]
International politics [40]
institutions & government [41]
Globalisation [42]
democracy & power [43]
latin america [44]
Related Articles
The two 9/11s: Chile and the United States [34]
Patricio Navia [1]
Chile: protest for the “promised land” [35]
Patricio Navia [1]
The Chilean way: after the spotlight [36]
Patricio Navia [1]
[45]
This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 licence. If you
have any queries about republishing please contact us [46]. Please check individual images for
licensing details.
$("#fps-wide").remove();//$("#fps-wide").hide();
Source URL:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/patricio-navia/chile-11-september-1973-death-and-birth-of-nation
Links:
[1] https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/patricio-navia
[2] http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/chile.htm
Page 5 of 6
Chile, 11 September 1973: death and birth of a nation
Published on openDemocracy (https://www.opendemocracy.net)
[3] http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB212/
[4] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/general-augusto-pinochet-427998.html
[5] https://www.rienner.com/title/The_Pinochet_Regime
[6] http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/economic-history/pinochets-economists-c
hicago-school-economics-chile
[7]
http://opendemocracy.net/patricio-navia/chile-protest-for-%E2%80%9Cpromised-land%E2%80%9D
[8] http://www.coha.org/the-failings-of-chile%E2%80%99s-education-system-institutionalized-inequal
ity-and-a-preference-for-the-affluent/
[9] http://opendemocracy.net/patricio-navia/two-911s-chile-and-united-states
[10] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/cl/cl_overview.html
[11] http://opendemocracy.net/patricio-navia/chilean-way-after-spotlight
[12] https://files.nyu.edu/pdn200/public/
[13] http://blog.latercera.com/blog/pnavia/
[14] http://especiales.latercera.cl/especiales/2010/MINEROS/especial/index.html
[15] http://www.gobiernodechile.cl/
[16] http://www.dipres.gob.cl/574/propertyvalue-14437.html
[17] http://www.rienner.com/title/The_Pinochet_Regime%20
[18] http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/
[19] http://en.mercopress.com/
[20] http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/democracy-after-pinochet-alan-angell/1101478319?ean=978
1900039710
[21] http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/catalog/data/023111/0231110162.HTM
[22] http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14090.html
[23] http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520221697
[24] http://www.faber.co.uk/work/pinochet-in-piccadilly/9780571215478/
[25] http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521451469
[26] http://undpress.nd.edu/book/P00775
[27] https://files.nyu.edu/pdn200/public/%20
[28] http://clacs.as.nyu.edu/page/home
[29] http://www.latercera.com/
[30] https://files.nyu.edu/pdn200/public/alamedas.htm
[31] https://files.nyu.edu/pdn200/public/elmasmejor.html
[32] http://www.ediciones.udp.cl/colecciones/sociales/genomaelectoralchileno.html
[33] http://www.gge.cl/index.php/pagina/libro/9789568410285
[34] https://www.opendemocracy.net/patricio-navia/two-911s-chile-and-united-states
[35] https://www.opendemocracy.net/patricio-navia/chile-protest-for-%E2%80%9Cpromised-land%E2
%80%9D
[36] https://www.opendemocracy.net/patricio-navia/chilean-way-after-spotlight
[37] https://www.opendemocracy.net/countries/chile
[38] https://www.opendemocracy.net/topics/conflict
[39] https://www.opendemocracy.net/topics/democracy-and-government
[40] https://www.opendemocracy.net/topics/international-politics
[41] https://www.opendemocracy.net/theme_7-institutions_government/debate.jsp
[42] https://www.opendemocracy.net/editorial-tags/globalisation
[43] https://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy_and_power/index.jsp
[44] https://www.opendemocracy.net/editorial_tags/latin_america_caribbean
[45] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
[46] http://www.opendemocracy.net/contact
Page 6 of 6