The “Paradox of Participation” in Marketing Democracy In her book Marketing Democracy: Power and Social Movements in Post-Dictatorship Chile Julia Paley thoughtfully criticizes contemporary Chilean democracy. The author interprets Chile as the political and economic model for developing countries. She depicts the Chileans’ struggle for mobilization and critique of the democracy that has evolved as a result of the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The book is written in accessible and descriptive prose, which allows Paley to raise a couple of questions concerning the governance in the country and the era allegedly adherent to “participation”, “growth with equity”, and “democracy”. Chile’s economic and political history of the last 30 years undergoes regional typologies. Its iconoclasm indicates national processes of governance that utter disturbing questions about the character of current neoliberal reforms, as well as about the Chilian nature of democracy. The reforms, successfully tested under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, have followed democratic transitions in the former Soviet bloc, the collapse of Marxism, civil wars in Central America and a range of other events. The relationship between political action and political knowledge – the way it is produced, co-opted and constrained, and the way it can be used as a weapon against a democratic regime - is being closely examined by Julia Paley in her work. She illustrates how the objective and abstract
5.Constable, Pamela, and Arturo Valenzuela. A Nation of Enemies Chile Under Pinochet. Boston: W. W. Norton & Company, 1993. Print.
Prior to the Great Depression, Chile had prospered amidst the workings of free-market and mercantilist polices. The Great Depression, however, disrupted this, as it brought about the necessity of government intervention in the economy. Indeed, government intervention even stretched so far as to transform Chile into a nation insulated by protectionist policies. Furthermore, the Great Depression had undoubtedly brought about a political crisis in Chile with the ousting of Ibáñez del Campo in 1931, who himself had partaken in a military coup d’état to achieve presidency in the first place. It has even been posited that the nationalization of copper that had begun during the presidency of Ibáñez del Campo and which was completed during the presidency of Salvador Allende in the early 1970s built the foundation for a future international economic boycott, which further
Throughout the course of history, several authoritarian leaders have risen to power and maintained their acquired power through physical, violent means. Two authoritarian leaders that have transformed their acquired power into dictatorial rights are Fidel Castro of Cuba and Augusto Pinochet of Chile. Interestingly, Castro and Pinochet differed in their ideals about the ideal structure of governments. While Castro advocated for a socialist, Marxist, anti-imperialist Cuba, Pinochet favored a anti-Marxist, anti-socialist, capitalist Chile. Despite their differing ideals, both shared several similarities in their efforts to establish and maintain their power. Both individuals rose to power in a similar manner: a sort of coup d’état. Both individuals maintained power through positive and negative means. Castro and Pinochet introduced several economic reforms that mostly benefited the people of Cuba and Chile. While these economic reforms allowed for the financial freedom of many Cubans and Chileans, the dictatorial rulers politically repressed the residents of Cuba and Chile. While many historians believe that Castro and Pinochet greatly differed due to their opposing beliefs, both dictators share multiple similarities in the ways that they rose to power, negatively maintained power, and positively
During the movie Machuca it was evident that there were severe tensions between the classes. This can be seen through many of the characters in the movie. However, in this report I will discuss which two characters who better represented the class tensions and why. I will then conclude with how this parallels with the tensions that were found in Allende’s government at the time, which consequently resulted in the democratic breakdown of Chile.
Brittmarie Janson Perez, author of Political Facets of Salsa, writes, “Late at night, in a discotheque in a Latin American country whose political system is dominated by the military and is not particularly known for its respect for human rights, a crowd is dancing salsa, a generic term covering Caribbean dance music” (149). This has been and continues to be a very commonly accurate depiction of many Latin American countries. Since Cuba was founded in October 1492, its government and politics has been characterized by brutality, corruption and instability. Nonetheless, involvement from foreign nations and its deeply engrained Spanish roots has without a doubt had a significant impact on the transformation of what Cuba is today. In this paper, I will explore the pros and cons of the 1959 Cuban Revolution through the examination of the historical context of politics and how it impacted the social atmosphere.
According to Garreton, the oppositions had successfully created a political front that aggregated enough support for an alternative to the current regime. This resulted in a democratization in Chile that was also free and repressive. Chile had a pacted transition which was actor-centered. This transition to democracy was repressive in that the elections were started from the top down, only once the elites and the official agreed to hold an election was there any form of a transition. As O’Donnell described it, it is ironically non-democratic because these pacts are negotiated among small numbers of elites. It was also repressive in that once Chile was democratized it delayed truth and justice. Those that were involved in many of the atrocities did not serve jail time because of the amnesty laws. However, this transition was also free because it resulted in elections that allowed for the public to decide whether or not they were going to transition to democracy. These elections were also free in that they were inclusive and also non-violent. This then resulted in a stable democratic government that was bred through both freedom and
Models for post-revolutionary Latin American government are born of the complex economic and social realities of 17th and 18th century Europe. From the momentum of the Enlightenment came major political rebellions of the elite class against entrenched national monarchies and systems of power. Within this time period of elitist revolt and intensive political restructuring, the fundamental basis for both liberal and conservative ideology was driven deep into Latin American soil. However, as neither ideology sought to fulfill or even recognize the needs or rights of mestizo people under government rule, the initial liberal doctrine pervading Latin American nations perpetuated
One of the most speculative experiences of conquest and dictatorship in the history of Latin America has been the socialist and dictatorial regimes in Chile. Chile has gone through multiple times of dictatorship, lead by the military, and also had lapses of a socialist government. The film “Machuca” by Andres Wood provided an insight of the series of social events in Chile in 1973, ranging from inter personal experiences to political issues and the Chilean nation. “Two dictators, Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet, both brought tremendous suffering upon the Chilean people -- one through his socialist policies and nationalization of
As Charles Bergquist observes, "Crises in Colombia tend to generate cycles of violence instead of mutations in the political regime." The reason is simple: regime changes in Colombia tend to produce very little change in anything other than nominal rule. Since Colombia's independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Colombia has seen a series of civil wars and secessions (Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama the last coming rather conveniently at a time when the U.S. was prepared to pay millions for a canal through its nation preparation that later resulted in a multi-million dollar redress to Columbia). Colombia's political history, therefore, has been colored by outside influences pulling on the two dominant liberal and conservative parties, with violent exchanges, and long periods of instability being the consequences. While regime changes have occurred, they have not produced significant improvements. Rather, Colombia in the 20th century has become a nesting ground for paramilitary forces and drug traffickers, with U.S. Central Intelligence operatives contributing heavily to the violent conflict that has risen between regimes. This paper will examine the regime types that preceded the Rojas Pinilla regime in mid-20th century Colombia, analyze their similarities and differences, and discuss the extent to which Rojas Pinilla reached his goals and objectives.
This Extended Essay will examine how American domestic politics during the Nixon Administration influenced the role of the U.S and more specifically the C.I.A in their role in the Chilean coup of 1973. Throughout this paper connections will be drawn between various corporations which had a significant stake in Chile’s industry and economy before the coup occurred and their subsequent relationships with different members of the Nixon Administration or those in places of power such as the director of the C.I.A. This paper will document just how much was at stake for various companies, and what they stood to gain or lose from a significant regime change. Furthermore, just how the C.I.A and these American corporations waged an economic war on Chile’s economy will be examined. In addition, this paper will provide an analysis on just who stood to gain the most from a regime change, the American people winning a war against communism, or the multinational corporations whose businesses in Chile could be potentially nationalized. This paper will also examine the interdepartamental differences and rifts inside the Nixon Administration itself, and help clarify whether or not these differences were based upon an ideological difference or because of their roles in rival corporations. Overall this paper will provide a broad look at just how much these large multinational corporations had an affect upon the Nixon Administration, and how much an ideological sense of responsibility was
The investigation, which evaluates the tactics used by the CIA and of the 40 committee, delves into how the president of Chile, Salvador Allende, was refrained from gaining political power and the tactics used to destabilize the government after his election in 1970, this evaluation will try to answer the question: To what extent was the involvement of the United States government and the CIA responsible for the downfall of Salvador Allende?
Strongly linked with civil society were the political institutions; the political institutions were more of a catalyst for change not based on what they accomplished, but rather what they failed to do. For one, their winner take all systems were flagrantly ineffective. While many thriving nations use the winner take all system, its implementation in South America was deplorable. This resulted in intense gridlock and difficulty in changing leadership and policies. Those in power abused this inaction and employed extralegal methods for carrying out their policies and agenda. With the technocrats and experts unable to enforce any real political change, the economic situation in Chile, Brazil, and Argentina continued to spiral downwards. This caused
With Pinochet’s rejection of communist thinking he was able to obtain the backing of the United States which was a key difference in his ability to come to power in his country. This in comparison with Castro and the hard hand that the United States used to try to make crush Castro’s reign in Cuba. The United States was not happy that Chile had elected a well-known socialist into presidency and
Chile’s economy was effectively owned by US corporation’s, and these corporation’s controlled the country's resources. When Allende nationalized copper the two main American corporation were financially hurt severely and lost a lot of profit. This concerned the US and Nixon worried that Chile was falling under soviet control and communism. One of Nixon’s fears was that the Soviets would have total control in Americas backyard. However, the major reason that the US instigated the overthrow was because the corporations did not want Chile to take over their own resources and use them for their own benefit. The corporations were able to exercise leverage over Allende because Chile was in the middle of an economic depression and Chile was receiving loans from American banks. Once Allende was in power these loans were stopped by US foreign policy and of course Chile suffered economically . At this point,
In this article, García-Canclini develops some of the topics characteristics of his work: the role of the State, the popular (lo popular), the nation, the elites, and so forth, in cultural policies in Latin America. Particularly, he inquires into the cultural landscape under pressure by the neoliberal turnover of the ‘80s. Specifically, García-Canclini highlights five ideas about the national-popular (lo naciona-popular) in which these cultural policies are embedded: (1) Biological-telluric; (2); statist; (3) Commercial; (4); Military; and (5) historical and popular. What does mean lo nacional-popular in Latin America and to what extend it is related to cultural practices and cultural policies are the questions at the core of the proposal.