The Pinochet Regime

Transformative leadership: President Ricardo Lagos and democratic civilian control of armed forces in Chile (2000–2006)

“…The Chilean military dictatorship (1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990) started with a joint coup d'état by the three branches of the armed forces and the police, led by the Army and its commander-in-chief, General Augusto Pinochet. It was characterized by massive human rights violations, especially against left-wing political parties; a stable political order centered on Pinochet; and profound neoliberal economic reforms (Huneeus, 2016;Varas, 2017).…”

The assemblages of (counter) spectacle – mega-retail in post-dictatorship Chile and beyond

“…How did this unusual situation come to pass, one that compromises other features of the landscape that produce value in other circuits of consumption, namely in tourism? This expansion of mega-retail is not guaranteed, even under conditions of severe political repression and its afterlives (Huneeus 2007;Draper 2012). The findings below, then, illustrate what urban spectacle might look when infused with ANT and assemblage theories.…”

“…As a country, Chile has been at the forefront of urban spectacle, as the post-dictatorship period proved conducive to the aggressive expansion of shopping centres, malls, and other corporate retail environments (De Simone 2015; Salcedo and De Simone 2013;Moulian 1997Moulian , 2014. From 1973 to 1990, Chile was ruled by a brutal military dictatorship willing to commit human rights abuses in order to impose an extreme version of a neoliberal economy and society, the legacies of which remain enshrined in the 1980 Constitution and, as this paper will illustrate, continue to influence the production of urban space (Huneeus 2007;Draper 2012). There are now major efforts to this Constitution, but it remains a daunting challenge.…”

State Repression and Opposition Survival in Pinochet’s Chile

“…Having a unified revolutionary organization was the "brainchild of MIR leader Miguel Enríquez," in a formal alliance called the Revolutionary Coordinating Junta (JCR) (Dinges, 2005, 51). In addition, the MIR and certain factions of the Socialist Party systematically tried to infiltrate the Chilean Armed Forces to gain intelligence about potentially disloyal units, to guard against a coup, and to ensure that a portion of the military would fight against rebelling forces in the event of a coup (Constable & Valenzuela, 1991;Huneeus, 2001). For the military junta, these kids of threats made MIR a priority.…”

“…Based on interviews with the head of the Valech II truth commission, prosecutors who have built legal cases against DINA members, human rights experts, and militants who infiltrated DINA for a few months, as well as on cross-referencing names on the lists, I can draw a few conclusions. First, I am confident that the lists were developed before the coup of September 11, 1973 (Huneeus, 2001) (Interviewee 17, March 2017, Santiago, Chile). Gathering or updating these lists during the military dictatorship would bias the lists in favor of having more Communist and Socialist names than MIR militants, given the latter's secrecy and underground practices.…”