Guest Column
A Cold War dictator who paved the way for democracy.
The Pinochet Paradox
A Cold War dictator who paved the way for democracy.
Wall Street Journal
December 12, 2006
Augusto Pinochet died on Sunday at the age of 91, more than 18 years after
he agreed to a 1988 plebiscite that turned him out of power. The standard
Pinochet narrative is to emphasize the loss of liberty during the 17 years
he ruled the country as a military dictator. The real story is more
complicated.
Though General Pinochet became a devil symbol of the international left, he
was a far more complex figure and cannot be understood apart from the global
Cold War conflict of which he and his country were a part. Pinochet's legacy
is a paradox--a long string of them.
He took power in a coup in 1973, but ultimately he created an environment
where democratic institutions would prevail. He is responsible for the death
and torture that occurred on his watch, but had Salvador Allende succeeded
in turning Chile into another Cuba, many more might have died.
Late in life it emerged that he had probably stashed millions in personal
bank accounts. But he also supported the free-market reforms that have made
Chile prosperous and the envy of its neighbors. Finally, his legacy includes
a Chile that is democratic, that truly belongs to the Chilean people; it
exists in stark contrast to the nearly five decades of personal (and soon to
be fraternal) dictatorship that Fidel Castro is leaving in Cuba.
Pinochet proved the truth of Jeane Kirkpatrick's Cold War distinction
between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, with the former far more
likely to evolve into freer places. That the international left still gives
Castro higher marks is something for democrats everywhere to ponder. The
popular notion that the U.S. sanctioned the coup or condoned Pinochet's
torture also hasn't held up under historical scrutiny. In particular, his
behavior can't be understood without considering the behavior of the Allende
government he deposed.
Contrary to mythology, Allende was never a popular figure in Chile. He
garnered only 36% of the vote in the 1970 election. His path to the
presidency had to run through Chile's congress. Reluctantly, the Christian
Democrats agreed to let him go forward only after he promised to accept a
"Statute of Guarantees" supporting the rule of law. In office, he moved fast
and hard to the left.
Government threats to jail journalists in 1972 brought condemnation from the
Inter-American Press Association and the International Press Institute. That
same year, shortages and spiraling inflation sent Chilean housewives to the
streets banging pots and pans. In the first days of 1973, Allende proclaimed
government rationing.
In March, he tried to further accelerate the state's unlawful assault on
private property through expropriation. In May the 14 members of the Supreme
Court denounced "an open and willful contempt of judicial decisions [by the
executive]" that threatened an "imminent breakdown of legality." Throughout
1973 street violence escalated. The coup came in September.
The official death toll of the Pinochet dictatorship is some 3,197. An
estimated 2,796 of those died in the first two weeks of fighting between the
army and the Allende-armed militias. The balance died in the next 17 years.
The Pinochet dictatorship was fraught with illegality. Civil liberties were
lost and opponents tortured. But over time, with the return of private
property, the rule of law and a freer economy, democratic institutions also
returned. An economic crisis in 1982 led to even more economic
liberalization.
Let no one doubt that, for the peoples of many nations, the Cold War years
were dark times. Like Spain's Franco, Pinochet was an authoritarian who
resisted the Communists and created the foundation of what would become a
democratic transition. What remains is a Chile that has the healthiest
economy in Latin America, a free press and a competitive political system
that has allowed Socialists to come to power.
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