The Chilean Christian Democratic Party, the U.S. Government, and European Politics during Pinochet's Military Regime (1973–1988)

This article analyzes the relationship between the Chilean Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and its international allies in Europe and the United States during the years of General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. International networks played a key role in facilitating a negotiated transition in Chile, as well as consolidating the PDC's leading position in the process. Drawing on Chilean, U.S., German, and Italian sources, the article suggests a three-phase periodization. First, after the military coup in September 1973, the PDC's international situation was characterized by the loss of U.S. assistance and by tensions with some West European Christian Democratic parties. However, during the second phase, in the mid- to late 1970s, the party's shift to the opposition helped it recover these networks and establish contacts with West European social democratic parties. Finally, from the mid-1980s, the PDC positioned itself as the crucial actor in a negotiated transition strategy—with support from the United States and from West German Christian Democrats—that led to the 1988 Chilean plebiscite as the Cold War was winding down.