Source Wikimedia Commons
Frei, Eduardo. “File:Campaña Frei – Clase Media.png – Wikimedia Commons.” Accessed December 12, 2022. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Campa%C3%B1a_Frei_-_Clase_media.png.
During the rain of Pinochet’s government, many people who supported Allende and the leftist party would face the consequences of the new government. Many people who supported the leftist party of Chile found that under the new rule, life would be harder. The government made it difficult for these people to change their social status in Chile. Often, they were moved to lower job positions than before. They were also denied many benefits from government aid. The middle class would be the most effect the new government. Many middle-class people during time earn a decent income and lived comfortably for their whole lives. However, many of the middle-class members would suffer the effect of the new government and would lose everything they built up.
People of the middle class often had the same mindset as getting an education and working hard. Most people believed they could move up in life by putting in the effort. However, this mindset would crumble for most people during Pinochet’s rule. Based on Patricia Politzer book Fear in Chile: Lives Under Pinochet, we can get a first-hand account of what the middle class went through. Patricia Politzer argument is to show that the lives under Pinochet’s government were alike. The Decline And frustration of a banker talk about a man named Sergio Astrain Torres who live a comfortable life until the coup of 1973.
Sergio worked at a bureau planning as the head of employee salaries and live a decent life, working hard to move up. When the coup happened on September 11th, Sergio supported the new government since he was tired of how things were being run and thought that the military would allow a new election. However, things would go south for Sergio after a woman at his workplace would report him for being a member of the Christian Democratic member in his youth. This would cause me to be moved to a lower-paying position and denied help from the government. The result of this would cause Sergio to look for other opportunities to help pay for rent and food. Sergio would get a job at a bank and would at first enjoy it but would face a gradual decline.
Sergio would describe his frustration at working at that bank because, in his opinion, being smart was worthless, and being nice to the boss was more important. Sergio would stay in the same position for the rest of his time and found that no matter how much effort he put in, nothing changes. This would lead to Sergio to talk with his fellow workers and express their anger at the government. This would end with them forming a protest and raising their voices to stand for what they believed in. Sergio view allows us to see how the middle class was treated under Pinochet’s government. It adds to the overall picture by showing how one social class was effect by the coup and how the living experiences were changed.
Politzer, Patricia. Fear in Chile: Lives under Pinochet. (New York: New Press, 2001).
Frei, Eduardo. “File:Campaña Frei – Clase Media.png – Wikimedia Commons.” Accessed December 12, 2022. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Campa%C3%B1a_Frei_-_Clase_media.png.