Issue # 1409      6 May 2009

Chile: Tackling the legacy of Pinochet

Following the violent overthrow of the socialist Allende government of Chile in 1973, the US-backed military dictatorship under the leadership of General Augusto Pinochet imposed a new economic model based on ideas originating from the USA. “That model was imposed as a world first, if you like, as a kind of experiment of neoliberalism in Chile,” Nancy Diaz from the International Department of the Communist Party of Chile told The Guardian. “Neoliberalism, now a worldwide system, was imposed in Chile at a very early stage, by force, by the military dictatorship.” Nancy while in Australia talked to The Guardian about the so-called “Chilean economic miracle” and the present economic crisis.

Nancy Diaz: Chile was held up to the world as a success story in the years after the dictatorship; as an economic model to the rest of Latin America. Nevertheless, this model, imposed by the dictatorship and still the status quo in the economic development of the country, has been favourable only for an elite few. All of these years the workers have suffered and paid the consequences for the prosperity of this elite; not only fiNancyally but morally and legally.

The current crisis, which is a crisis of capitalism, cannot but have dire consequences in all the countries where the neo-liberal system prevails and particularly in our country. It is expected that the workers will be the victims, that they will carry the burden of this economic crisis.

We also see it as a time for workers all over the country to reflect and become aware of this particular situation and turn it, as unfortunate as it might be, into an opportunity to strengthen their organisations. For the workers to have a new consciousness about their own declining situation, about the inequalities in all Latin American societies, has come before them (the workers) in the most obvious manner.

We see it, therefore, as an opportunity to gain renewed consciousness that will allow us to strengthen workers’ unions and deepen their struggle.

On the one hand we had a very repressive dictatorship and, following the dictatorship, we have had for the last 20 years civilian governments in Chile. Given that the economic policies have remained the same, with severe restrictions on the workers as well, restrictions that have debilitated the unions, their membership is very low at the moment. Union membership was very numerous and important in Chile [in the period leading to the election of] the socialist government of Salvador Allende.

Nevertheless, today the CUT [Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Chile – the equivalent to the ACTU in Australia – Ed] has become aware of the important role they need to play and have organised a massive demonstration against the global economical crisis and workers’ rights for May Day.

Guardian: What is the Communist Party’s approach?

ND: The Party has proposed, very strongly, for many years and particularly for the last three years since the last Congress, that the country needs a really democratic government. It is very important to emphasise the question of democracy because even though Chile has been perceived worldwide as having democracy after Pinochet left the government, our position is that we have continued with a dictatorial legacy that has impeded the return of democracy to the country.

To give you an example of this legacy, there is an electoral law for parliamentarian candidates in which political conglomerates [not individual parties] nominate their candidates; each electorate elects two candidates.

It can only be understood as an imposition from the authoritarian government of Pinochet (1973-1990), whose objective was to establish a regime of “protected democracy” of which the electoral system was a part. The dictatorship abolished proportional representation that was effective until the military coup on the September 11, 1973.

The system excludes, in effect, the left-wing parties and particularly the Communist Party and creates an over-representation from those on the right wing even though they receive a minority of votes in the parliamentarian elections.

We have formed an alliance called Juntos Podemos Más or JPM (United We Are Stronger), which comprises the Communist Party, the Humanist Party, the Christian Left and Socialists for Allende

The Communist Party and its allies from JPM are proposing to the government coalition, the Concertación, where the Socialist Party is one of the parties, a partial agreement, not a political alliance, that would allow us to have candidates included in the next elections in December 2009. They would vote for our candidates in some electorates and we would vote for some of their candidates in some places. It is only proposed for about seven districts and we aspire to have double the amount of votes.

Our main objectives are:

1. To end the exclusion of the Left in Parliament, as there is the possibility of electing some of the candidates from JPM, and

2. To end the Right’s majority in Parliament, which they have used to obstruct democracy in the country. We hope we might, in some districts, be able to elect even two candidates, under the doblaje system*. In short, our aim is that, for the first time, a Parliamentarian from our coalition makes it to Parliament. Our coalition is a force against neoliberalism.

This is something new and to implement this idea we have a political agreement. Our coalition is made up of three parties plus the Concertación currently in government. This has been very complicated because the Christian Democrats are part of that coalition and politically they couldn’t be further away from us but irrespective of that, there is a proposal that for the first time with all the parties from the Concertación and the parties from JPM to look for a way, and this is not easy, but we have to create a way to do it. We are proposing seven districts for now; it could be less than that.

G: What are the forces that make up the Concertación?

ND: The government coalition was initially called Concertación por la democracia (Coalition for Democracy), at the moment is known simply as Concertación; it consists of four parties: The Socialist Party, the Christian Democrats, the Party for Democracy which was born at the end of the dictatorship and the Social Democratic Radical Party which has a long history in Chile.

Now, these parties proclaim to be of the centre left but we argue that they are mostly of the centre right. What was of the left in the past as in the case of the Socialist Party is now in the centre and the Christian Democrats are now on the right. But none of this is black and white; within all these groups there are pockets, for instance within the Socialist Party there are people who talk to us and we understand each other very well and there are other groups within the same party who are distant and will not interact with us. Even within the Christian Democrats there are a number of people who are more open to the left and to us than most of the party members, especially those on the leadership.

They continue, as they have done for the past 20 years, to apply neoliberal policies, maintaining the legacy of the dictatorship. Some have been more critical than others of these policies but ultimately they have all accepted and entered in a kind of cooperation with the right wing during these 20 years.

G: And the right-wing forces?

ND: They have an alliance of two parties: the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) and National Renewal. Both these parties were supporters of Pinochet, UDI being the most ardent supporter of the two.

G: Are the Greens a force in Chile?

ND: There is an ecologist party who have appeared in some elections, they are still very weak but we are committed to address the issues they have in their platform.

G: What do you hope to achieve in the next elections?

ND: The best results were in the past presidential elections when Michelle Bachelet [Concertación] was elected, it was the first time the JPM stood in an election where we obtained 7.4 percent of the votes. Our coalition’s candidate at the time, Tomás Hirsch Goldschmidt, representing the whole of the alliance, is the current candidate for the Humanist Party**.

Our aim as a party is to go beyond, to the Left, and to acknowledge the discontent of the population and all the new issues arising from the current global economic situation and its effects in our country.

For instance, the Right talks about the need for change after 20 years of government from the Concertación and they suggest they represent this change. Obviously this is not the case at all, that would be going backwards in history. The only real alternative is ours.

We are aware we do not have the necessary strength with the electorate, but at the same time, by the time of the elections in December we will be able reach more people and revive hope, especially given the situation as it is today.

The party sees this election and this electoral process as an opportunity to gather strength to continue the struggle. We believe there should be progress, not only within our party but also in the struggle to get more democracy for the country.

* Chile’s congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can present two candidates for the two Senate and two lower-chamber seats apportioned to each chamber’s electoral district. The system forces political parties to form electoral coalitions – 33.4 percent of all the votes are required to obtain a seat and 66.7 percent is required to win both seats in an electorate – what is called doblaje. The most common result is for the two largest coalitions win a seat each.
** The next presidential election will be held on 11 December 2009.

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