Source: James2813.
“File:Arms of Chile.svg.” Wikimedia Commons. Accessed December 13, 2022. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arms_of_Chile.svg.
This project aims to look at what happened to Chile during the 1973 coup. Many Secondary Sources authors have written about what happened to Chile before and after the overthrow of the government. Most of the secondary sources that examined the Chile coup often just summarize what happened and explain the lasting cause and effect of the Chile coup of 1973. I gather three secondary sources that examine what happened after the coup and examine the lasting effects caused by the coup. By comparing each author’s view and argument on the changes in Chile after the coup, we could see if they thought it was a positive or negative impact. With this project, I plan on looking at the lasting effects the coup of 1973 caused on the people, the economy, and the political landscape of Chile.
The first secondary source by Ashley Davis looks at the lasting effect of Chile after the coup. Ashley Davis received a BA in political science with a minor in economics from the University of Mary Hardin Baylor and served 11 years of government service. Ashley Davis look’s at what happened in Chile after 1973 and examines how the new dictatorship government changed the economic landscape of Chile. Ashely’s essay is about Neoliberalism in the Chile economy called “SUCCESSFUL NEOLIBERALISM?: STATE POLICY POVERTY, AND INCOME INEQUALITY IN CHILE”, here Ashley Davis look’s at introducing neoliberalism after the coup and questions the lasting effect it had on Chile “Chile’s economic transformation can offer insight on the impact of neoliberal policies on developing countries in the region. Such insight might help the reduction of poverty and income inequality that many developing states in Latin America”[1].
This is Ashely Davis’ main argument for looking at the lasting effect of neoliberalism in Chile. Ashely backs this argument by showing figures and data showing the decrease in poverty over the years. This approach of looking at the lasting effect of the economy after the coup gives us a different view of the situation and helps us understand the positive and negative parts of this change.
This next approach is by Rebecca Evans, which examines how the coup’s lasting effect helped to change Humans rights Policies after Pinochet’s power. Rebecca Evans is an assistant professor of politics at Ursinus College and helps to contribute to the Washington Post. Rebecca looks at human rights politics before and after the coup. “Government policy reflected the changing interplay among competing interests”[2] Here Rebecca’s main argument is how human rights in Chile would be used by multiple political members of the government to support their party and charge Pinochet for his crime. Rebecca would use multiple sources from other articles to write about this essay. Overall, Rebecca’s essay shows how Pinochet’s government’s political members made it difficult for the Chilean government to charge them.
This source gives us an insight into how Chile’s political landscape was affected by the coup and how hard they try to push back against Pinochet’s regime members. Rebecca’s article demonstrates the coup had a negative effect on the political landscape of Chile by slowing down its progress of Chile. This is in contrast with Ashley Davis Hamel’s argument that the lasting effect wasn’t positive but negative. They both agree that there were lasting effects because of the coup but, had different opinions if it was a good or bad thing. The third approach looks at the economic approach again but disagrees with Ashley Davis Hamel’s argument that Chile’s neoliberalism was a positive impact. With neoliberalism having a lasting effect in Chile because of what happened in 1973, Angela Vergara, a professor of history at California State University Los Angeles, wrote a book called “Fighting Unemployment in Twentieth-Century Chile” that examines neoliberalism in Chile.
Angeles looks at the economy during the time of the dictatorship and takes firsthand reports of the people of Chile. Angeles’ argument looks at the labor rights of Chile and highlights what the workers examined. Angles support their claim by quoting the people of Chile and other sources’ works. This book agrees with Ashley Davis Hamel’s argument that neoliberalism had a positive impact. However, although the lasting effects of neoliberalism in Chile ended up helping the economy out, the road to that path was very difficult. To support her argument more, Angels look at the living conditions of the people of Chile and highlight the many reforms they fought for to have employment.
All these sources examine the lasting effects of the 1973 Coup. Both Ashley Davis Hamel and Angela Vergara look at the idea of neoliberalism in Chile and question if it was a positive or negative thing. Based on Ashley Davis Hamel’s work, neoliberalism had a positive effect by cutting the poverty line and getting Chile out of debt. However, Angela Vergara argues that neoliberalism had a negative impact on the people and cause more harm based on the interviews with the worker. Then, with Rebecca’s work, we can see how the political landscape was affected by the coup and the change in response to what happened. Each of these authors made their point by either gathering other authors’ sources like Ashley Davis Hamel’s work or gathering interviews from the Chilean people like Angela Vergara and Rebecca Evans’s work. The 1973 Chile coup caused lasting effects that shaped modern-day Chile, ranging from the economics and political landscape of Chile, and these sources help to show that.
[1] DAVIS-HAMEL, ASHLEY. “SUCCESSFUL NEOLIBERALISM?: STATE POLICY, POVERTY, AND INCOME INEQUALITY IN CHILE.” International Social Science Review 87, no. 3/4 (2012): 79–101. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41887539.
[2] Evans, Rebecca. “Pinochet in London: Pinochet in Chile: International and Domestic Politics in Human Rights Policy.” Human Rights Quarterly 28, no. 1 (2006): 207–44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20072729.
Vergara, Angela. Fighting Unemployment in Twentieth-Century Chile. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021.