Chile IB

Concertacion de Partidos por el NO

A coalition of center and left political parties in Chile in 1988 to campaign against the Pinochet regime. In 1988, several parties, including the Humanist Party, the Ecologist Party, the Social Democrats, and several Socialist Party splinter groups added their support, despite fears of election fraud by Pinochet, and the "Concertación de Partidos por el NO" was formed to campaign against the continuation of Pinochet's regime

Chicago Boys

A group of Chileans who went to the UChicago and elsewhere to study neo-liberal economics. They are backed up by the Pinochet administration and came back with many ideals which they implemented in Chile. Their ideals brought down the inflation rates and introduced a business environment to the system. However, even though the economy went up, the unemployment rate went up too due to the competition

Military Junta

A military junta is a group of military officers who seize power in order to reorganize the rule of a country. This form of government was established after the coup by Pinochet which overthrew Salvador Allende. The junta replaced the democratic government and shut down congress, suspended the Chilean constitution, and established strict laws of censorship for all Chilean citizens. Additionally, the junta forbid all leftist party groups and implemented a dictatorship.

1980 Chilean Constitution

After coming to power by force (a coup), Pinochet, commander in chief of the army and now president, announces that a new constitution would be created with articles to govern a democratic transition. This constitution was very controversial, and was drafted by a plebiscite under the military Junta of Augusto Pinochet. It is significant because it is the current constitution in use in Chile.

World Bank

An international loaning agency that lends large sums of money to countries based in Washington D.C. Parent organization is the United Nations Chile's economy was boosted because of the loans, but the national debt also increased

the Letelier Assasination

Chilean diplomat appointed during the Allende presidency. Seeking refuge, he would flee to the United States after Pinochet's military coup. He was assassinated by DINA agents through a car bombing. As his death was on U.S. soil, the FBI would begin an investigation which subsequently brought foreign attention to Chilean affairs.

Judge Juan Guzman Tapia

Chilean judge during and after Pinochet's rule in Chile. He was appointed to take charge of an investigation against Pinochet for a surplus of human rights violation. Judge Juan Guzman Tapia succeeded in his investigation and charged Pinochet with a multitude of human rights violation. In order to charge Pinochet, he used a new interpretation of the 1978 amnesty law called permanent kidnapping which was if the bodies of victims were missing, then it could be legally argued that there were still kidnapped.

Death Flights

Death flights were a common manner of silencing those opposed to Pinochet's regime. He used military aircraft to throw people to their deaths over the ocean. This prevented the bodies from being found, giving Pinochet's government deniability about their connection to the many disappearances.

9/11/73

Due to political tension and social unrest between national parties, the Chilean armed forces and national police staged a coup d'etat to dispose of the country's socialist president Salvador Allende. The coup d'etat successfully took control of the country and Allende committed after delivering his famous final radio speech to the nation.

Inter-American Development Bank

During Pinochet's rule, the Inter-American Development Bank lent vast sums of money funded and helped Chile's economy. The money used for Pinochet's economy lead to a rise in GDP growth.

Salvador Allende

He is known as being the first democratically elected Marxist president of a Latin American country. He won the presidency in the 1970 election as the leader of the Unidad Popular coalition, narrowly obtaining the plurality of the vote. After taking office, he began to implement a socialist agenda. This included redesigning the healthcare and educational systems, nationalizing large-scale industries, most notable copper mining, and seizing and redistributing of land. He hoped to equalize the quality of life for all Chilean citizens, mainly by focusing on the poorer classes. However, inflation rates quickly rose as a result of increased wages for workers. As a result of his actions, Chile had now ostracized its relationship with the United States as it had taken away industries from them during nationalization and could not qualify for loans from other countries due to the inflation. His presidency was prematurely ended after the Chilean military, led by Pinochet and aided by the CIA, seized power

Gustavo Leigh

He was a combat pilot who was later named commander of the Air Force by Allende. Yet, he was the first one to sign the coup document. He was anti-communist, and wanted to "eradicate communism from [Chile]." He actually purged many of the left-winged officers. He opposed Pinochet's power and both of them clashed due to the fact that Pinochet did not want to name a date for democracy.

Christian Democratic Party of Chile

Offered a middle ground for a polarized Chile. With their candidate Eduardo Frei, the PDC won the 1964 election. The left and right were discontent with the methods of the PDC. The left felt the PDC favored the wealthy and the right felt they were encouraging a Marxist revolution. This caused the emergence of two polarized political ideas which garnered support for Allende and Pinochet. The PDC was a part of the coalition that helped Allende get elected, but their support for him quickly diminished following the implementation of Allendes policies

Operation Condor

Operation Condor was a campaign of political repression and terror involving intelligence operations (with the assistance of the CIA) and assassination of political opponents. Other members of the governments of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil were also involved. This operation was supported by the U.S, and the U.S provided aid to the participants. Pinochet believed this was necessary to save Chile from Communism. The goal was to eradicate communist and socialist ideals and to suppress active or potential opposition against the government. Victims include leftists, intellectuals, peasants, and priests. Approximately 60,000 victims died as a result

Ernest Frei

President that preceded Allende. He was known as a more moderate option to the candidates that were put forth by both the liberal and conservative coalitions. He was responsible for the implementation of the "Chileanization" system which included the government buying up large shares of companies (especially the vital copper mining companies) for the government. By the end of his administration, he had alienated both the right-wing conservatives and the leftist liberals of the nation. He was unsuccessful in running for reelection in 1970

the Caravan of Death

The Caravan of Death was a death squad comprised of members of the military that searched for Pinochet's opponents and Allende's supporters. They were responsible for killing dozens of Chileans. In addition, evidence strongly suggest they tortured their victims as well. Some members of the "Caravan of Death" were arrested later on, and the specifics Pinochet's relationship with them was one of the key factors of his trial

economic neo-liberalism

The 20th century resurgence of 19th century ideas associated with laissez-faire economic liberalism. This includes extensive economic liberalization policies (privatization), fiscal austerity, deregulation, free trade and reductions in government. These principles were the foundation of the Pinochet regime and were reiterated through the Chicago boys, who helped provide a path to privatization to Chile.

Augusto Pinochet

The military commander appointed by President Allende who masterminded the September 11, 1973 coup d'etat of Allende. He becomes President of Chile, and tries to eliminate Marxist ideals. The United State's actions led to his control over Chile; he was not stopped because he was not Communist. It is evident that he let (and ordered) a lot of human rights violations occur in his administration through DINA. He also had great power over the Chilean government after Presidency, as a permanent Chilean senate member. He does implement and promote the economy of Chile; problems such as inflation and overall quality of life. He is eventually charged for his human rights violation charges, but he never suffers punishment as he dies before conviction.

"La via Chilena al socialismo"

The nationalization of certain large-scale industries, the healthcare system, continuation of Frei's educational system and land redistribution under Allende. Effort to put Chile on the same path as Cuba. This was a threat to the United States which caused them to support the military juntas rise to power.

Rettig Report

The report was written in 1991 and it decided that the 2,279 people that had disappeared were killed for political reasons as a consequence of political violence.

DINA (Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (English: National Intelligence Directorate))

The secret police force that was active during Pinochet's dictatorship. They were responsible for deaths and human rights abuse issues. DINA would come and take the people that "disappeared".

Operation Colombo

The systematic identification, abduction, and murder of more than 100 officials of the Allende regime. This was conducted by the DINA, (Direccion de Inteligencia Nacional) Chile's secret police, and was sanctioned by Pinochet's government. Those who were abducted were taken in the middle of the night and taken to be tortured, after which they were killed. Their bodies were disposed of in midnight burials, or dropped into the ocean, secured to rails. These measures prevented the DINA from being held responsible at the time, although they were blamed. Following the change in power, due to the inability to recover the bodies, those in chdarge coul not be held accountable for murder, but were charged for "permanent kidnapping".

Vicariate of Solidarity

This is a human rights organization that was founded during Pinochet's reign. It was established by the Catholic church in the in January of 1976. It's purpose was to provide relief for the victims of the brutality of the new regime under Pinochet. It focused on providing legal and medical assistance to the Chileans throughout the country. It also established communal kitchens, medical services, basic education, and job training, mostly to those in the poor communities. Lastly, it provided meals for about 5 million children throughout Chile. Legally, it investigated assassinations, torture, and disappearances of Chilean citizens.

Valech Report

This report was a public record of the human rights abuses committed by the military regime under the leadership of Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990. It was commissioned by the 2000 elected president Ricardo Lagos. It was published in November of 2004 following a six month investigation, with a revised version released in June of 2005 and a recommissioning for more cases in 2010. The report found that approximately 38,000 citizens were imprisoned for political reasons, and often tortured, and nearly thirty had "disappeared" with the assumption of execution. The testimony of the report has been classified for the next fifty year, and they therefore cannot be used in trials of human rights violations, contrasting Operation Condor.

Chileanization

This was the progressive process by which the Chilean government acquired control over major foreign owned industries within Chile. It was especially prominent with the copper industry and was completed under the Allende regime. The Chilean government took 51 percent ownership of the mines controlled by United States companies, principally those of Anaconda and Kennecott. Policy enacted under Frei presidency

Villa Grimaldi

a government detention center where political prisoners (leftists) including Michelle Bachelet were taken and tortured. It was part of the government's attempt to eliminate political opposition in Chile under Pinochet and the military junta.

Patricio Aylwin

was Pinochet's successor as president of Chile. He was elected democratically in 1989: the first democratic election since the 1973 coup that put Pinochet in power. He is significant because he represents Chile's transition to democracy in 1990. He also established the National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation that investigated the human rights violations that occurred under Pinochet.

Popular Unity Party (UP)

was a leftist coalition of parties in Chile that was led by and supported the candidacy of Salvador Allende. This party was initially in agreement with Allende's policies, specifically the socialist aspects of his Presidency. They backed his nationalization of the copper industry and believed in forming a government that would benefit the working people. However, over time, Allende's work started to negatively impact Chile, and the moderate Christian democrats of the party began to diminish its support.