A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 153 Department, this study does provide much food for thought regarding their future and likely evolution. Although the administration of these statutes may change, the laws themselves are very unlikely to disappear, either because, as Boltuck and Litan suggest, they increasingly function as a depoliticized means of distributing protection to the most needy industries, or because, as Stewart suggests, they offer precisely the safeguards that have made, and will continue to make, trade liberalizations palatable to democratic governments sensitive to domestic unemployment. A Nation ofEnemies: Chile Under Pinochet. By Pamela Constable and Arturo Valenzuela. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991, 320 pp. $24.95/Hardcover. Reviewed by Paul Psaila, M.A. Candidate, SAIS. On October 5, 1989, the Chilean people went to the polls to decide the future of democracy in Chile. In accordance with the 1980 Constitution, the ruling military regime, headed by General Augusto Pinochet, held a plebiscite to decide between eight more years of military rule under General Pinochet and a transition to democracy. Those opposed to Pinochet, the "No" vote, struggled to decide if they should partake in the vote, and legitimize the plebiscite, or abstain in protest. Risking their democratic freedom and their lives, opposition groups agreed to play by Pinochet's rules and they launched the "No" campaign. Backed by the military and conservative elements, Pinochet plunged into the "Yes" campaign. He warned that his electoral defeat would lead to a return of the turmoil that led to the military overthrow of president Salvador Allende in 1973. During the campaign, the democratic opposition was constantly thwarted by the pro-Pinochet forces and had to struggle for equal time to lobby the Chilean people. By October 5, 92 percent of eligible voters had registered. Despite the fears of disturbances by the military or radical groups, the voting went smoothly. During the day and into the night, the ballots were tallied, and the "No" vote won a decisive 58 percent; the "Yes" won 40 percent. Pinochet was furious, believing that he had been betrayed by his advisors, and considered calling for a state of emergency. But he had sworn an oath to his own constitution. Chile was on its way to democracy. In A Nation of Enemies Pamela Constable and Arturo Valenzuela describe the rise and fall of the Pinochet regime from the vista of the Chilean people. Although Constable and Valenzuela represent two different disciplines, journalism and academia respectively, the book's style is predominantly journalistic. Each chapter is devoted to a single aspect ofPinochet's sixteen-year regime: "The Soldiers," "Army ofthe Shadows," "The Rich," "The Poor," "The Culture of Fear," and "The Politicians." Most of the story is told through personal anecdote. The authors describe how the military dictatorship changed Chilean society. In one gripping chapter the authors portray how "anti-Marxist fervor ravaged friendships and family relations; marriages collapsed and sons were disinherited." The greatest peril to the Chilean populace was DINA (Dirección de Inteligencia 154 SAISREVIEW Nacional), the Chilean gestapo. Under military rule, DINA fought a "war against subversion" much like the guerra contra subversión in Argentina. The book candidly details how during the night, heavily armed men burst through doors and abducted people suspected ofbeing leftists. Surviving prisoners ofDINA tell dreadful stories of imprisonment and torture. Meanwhile, Pinochet radically altered the Chilean economic system. Between 1956 and 1961 scores of Chilean students of economics went to study at the University of Chicago through a U.S. government-sponsored program. Upon Pinochet's ascension to power, the "Chicago Boys" came to dominate economic planning and directed the economy towards a free-market model. While the military controlled Chilean society, the technocrats implemented shock programs and sold off state owned industries. A Nation ofEnemies recounts the paradox that developed . The economy moved towards a western neoliberal model under a classic Latin American dictatorship—repression was used to enforce economic freedom. Although they studied in the U.S., the "Chicago Boys" did not appear to be bothered by lack of civil rights and the flagrant human rights abuses going on around them. Pinochet believed that he was "making history" by creating a prosperous nation free from ideological conflict...