Constable and Valenzuela use quotes gathered through interviews
with members of every sector of Chilean society to present a
varied, if somewhat superficial, view of life under the 16-year
dictatorship of General Pinochet. The authors stress that President
Allende was elected with less than 50 percent of the popular vote
and show how his accelerated course toward socialism eliminated
powerful sectors of the nation, including the army, the business
elite and a larger portion of the urban middle class. But the
military dictatorship that followed similarly alienated a large
part of the population after it became apparent that Pinochet
planned to maintain his seat rather than return to a Democratic
tradition. The authors recount how Pinochet's "Chicago boys" -
hard-core believers in the free market theories they learned at the
University of Chicago - caused a bust and boom of the national
economy. The boom had 14,000 citizens rushing to get their first
credit cards, and the following bust saw small businesses fail and
their owners and managers become taxi drivers who worked "in tweed
jackets and ties, invariably with a tale of dignity destroyed and
dreams evaporated." Just as the dictatorship's first economic boom
was based on credit and unsustainable growth, so too was Pinochet's
social program based on appearances rather than on improved life
for the poor. While infant mortality - an internationally
recognized measure of prosperity - fell dramatically, the gains
were made at the expense of health-care access for the elderly and
indigent. In the end, however, the authors argue that the lessons
learned from the brief presidency of Allende and the 16 years of
Pinochet taught Chileans "a new appreciation for the values of
moderation and compromise." While many of the statements of the
average Chilean Joe help to present a picture of life under the
dictatorship, one wonders whether some of the comments, especially
those made by Pinochet's collaborators, can be taken at face value.
(Kirkus Reviews)
"Absorbing. . . . Rich in detail and compelling to read."—Boston Globe For seventeen years Chile answered to the rule of one men, General Augusto Pinochet. This widely praised history tellshow Chile, once South America's most stable democracy, gave way to a culture of fear. It shows how Socialist President Salvador Allende's government was toppled with American complicity, and how Pinochet came to rule Chile as a dictator whose economic policies brought new prosperity even as his political tactics divided the country against itself. It also shows how a democratic spirit was slowly rekindled in Chilean life, until Pinochet was forced to accept the inauguration of a new president in 1990.
"Vividly evoke[s] the climate of fear that prevailed under General Pinochet. . . . [Constable and Valenzuela] have compiled a meticulously fair record of a very tumultuous time, without losing sight of its drama."—New York Times Book Review
"A firsthand, highly readable account of how one Latin American millitary dictatorship ended more happily with Chilean democracy. The chapters on the Chicago Boys, the lawyer class, and the military's tradition are especially interesting and revealing."—Walter LaFeber, Cornell University
"An extremely close, chilling, and illuminating analysis of Pinochet's impact on the internal cultures of the Chilean military, secret police and judiciary, and how this created a culture of fea in Latin America's oldest democracy."—Alfred Stepan, Columbia University
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