Waiting for Cincinnatus: The role of Pinochet in post-authoritarian Chile

Third World Quarterly

Volumn 21, Issue 5, 2000, Pages 725-738

  Weeks, Gregory ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

MILITARY GOVERNMENT; NATIONAL POLITICS;

CHILE;

EID: 0033673140     PISSN: 01436597     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/713701081     Document Type: Article

References (54)

1. For an extensive analysis of Chilean civil - military relations, see G Weeks, 'The Long Road to Civilian Supremacy Over the Military: Chile, 1988-1998'. PhD dissertation University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1999.
2. K Remmer, 'Neopatrimonialism: the politics of military rule in Chile', Comparative Politics, 21(2), 1989, p 165. Hartlyn offers a different definition of neopatrimonialism, especially with regard to the 'blurring of public and private interests and purposes within the administration'. J Hartlyn, The Struggle for Democratic Politics in the Dominican Republic, Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1998, p 14. Without engaging in lengthy terminological debate, for the purposes of this article the key definitional aspect is 'the centralization of power in the hands of the ruler who secks to reduce the autonomy of his followers by generating ties of loyalty and dependence, commonly through complex patron - client linkages' (ibid).
3. K Remmer, 'Neopatrimonialism: the politics of military rule in Chile', Comparative Politics, 21(2), 1989, p 165. Hartlyn offers a different definition of neopatrimonialism, especially with regard to the 'blurring of public and private interests and purposes within the administration'. J Hartlyn, The Struggle for Democratic Politics in the Dominican Republic, Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1998, p 14. Without engaging in lengthy terminological debate, for the purposes of this article the key definitional aspect is 'the centralization of power in the hands of the ruler who secks to reduce the autonomy of his followers by generating ties of loyalty and dependence, commonly through complex patron - client linkages' (ibid).
4. See G Arriagada, Pinochet: The Politics of Power, Boston, MA: Unwin Hyman, 1988, esp ch 14, for a discussion of Pinochet's manipulation of promotions during the Dictatorship. For example, by 1984 only two generals out of a total of 50 were commissioned within 10 years of Pinochet.
5. For a discussion of the Latin American military's antipolitical beliefs, see B Loveman & T Davies, Jr, 'Military antipolitics and the Latin in American tradition' in Loveman & Davies (eds), The Politics of Antipolitics: The Military in Latin America, Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1997. 'One widely held assumption of Latin American military officers, and one also shared by many conservative civilian groups, was that "politics" was largely responsible for the poverty, instability, and economic backwardness of their nations' (pp 4-5).
6. For example, see 'Qué trama el general?', Hoy, 9-15 January 1988.
7. See Livy, The Early History of Rome, London: Penguin Books, 1960, p 197.
8. 'A quién apuntaló el Ejército', Hoy, 17-23 April 1989.
9. 'Me iré al cielo', Hoy, 10-16 July 1989.
10. There are countless examples of this attitude. A former Army Vice Commander in Chief offers the following assessment of the military regime: 'Its results can be synthesized into the motto "mission accomplished!" Overcoming many difficulties, la patria was restored. The people, shackled by narrow ideological conceptions, were returned their liberty,' J Canessa & F Balart, Pinochet y la restauracion del consenso nacional, Santiago: Geniart, 1998, p 372.
11. Editorial, 'Una Patria libre y próspera', Revista de Marina, 106(793), 1989, p 593.
12. It is composed of four civilians, including the president, and the Commanders in Chief of the three branches as well as the National Police. Since it can he convoked by any two members the military can force a meeting even if civilians oppose it.
13. C Molina, 'Las Fuerzas Armadas y su papel en la sociedad', Memorial del Ejército de Chile, 439, 1992. p 4.
14. J Fritz, 'El mando, arte professional del oficial', Minerva, XI(31), 1993, p 24.
15. C Romero, 'Trilogia: subversión, terrorismo y drogas en Iberoamérica', Minerva, VII(19), 1989, p 46.
16. 'General Pinochet dijo que en situación similar al año 73 actuaria de la misma forma', El Mercurio, 12 September 1990.
17. 'Qué hay detrás de las amenazas', Hoy 23-29 October 1989.
18. For a discussion of the 'ejercicio de enlace' as well as the military's discourse, see C Fuentes, El discurso militar en la transición chilena, Santiago: Nueva Serie FLACSO, 1996.
19. For a narrative of the events surrounding the 'boinazo', see R Otano, Crónica de la transición, Santiago: Planeta, 1995, pp 306-320.
20. For a historical survey of the use of the constitutional accusation in Chilean politics, see B Loveman & E Lira, Las acusaciones constitucionales en Chile, Una perspectiva histórica, Santiago: LOM-FLACSO, 2000.
21. 'Texto completo: acusación constitucional en contra de Augusto Pinochet Ugarte', La Hora, 17 March 1998.
22. See 'La recta final', Qué Pasa, 14 March 1998. Roughly translated, the term means 'emeritus'.
23. 'From the very heart of the Spanish Middle Ages there had been derived the profound conviction that the conquistador who had rendered signal service, the benemérito, especially the one who had served a su costa y minción, without placing any financial burden on the king, had a prescriptive right to a reward in the lands he had conquered.' Quoted in M Gógora, Studies in the Colonial History of Spanish, America, London: Cambridge University Press, 1975, p 21.
24. 'Pinochet, comandante benemérito del Ejército', La Epoca, 7 March 1998.
25. Cámara de Diputados, Boletín de Sesiones, Sesión 26, 14 January 1998.
26. 'Derecha: DC "le quitó el piso" a Frei', La Epoca, 11 March 1998.
27. Comunicado oficial del Ejército de Chile, Ejército de Chile, Comandancia en Jefe, Departamento Comunicacional, 17 October 1998.
28. Quoted in L Salinas, The London Clinic, Santiago: Ediciones Lom, 1999, p 87.
29. Senado de Chile, Legislatura Extraordinara 339, Sesión 2, 20 October 1998.
30. Cámara de Diputados de Chile, Legislatura Extraordinaria 341, Sesión 7, 20 October 1998.
31. 'De amor y de odio', Qué Pasa, 26 October - 2 November 1998. In addition, 39% labelled themselves as Pinochet supporters, versus only 3% who placed themselves in the opposition.
32. For a discussion of the arrest, see G Weeks, 'Autumn of the general: Pinochet and the search for justice in Chile', Hemisphere. 9(2), 2000, pp 6-8.
33. T Moulian, 'The arrest and its aftermath', NACLA Report on the Americas, XXXII(6), 1999, p 15.
34. 'Declaración oficial del Ejército de Chile', Ejército de Chile, Comandancia en Jefe, Departamento Comunicacional, 9 December 1998.
35. Comunicado Oficial de Prensa, Servicio de Relaciones Públicas de la Armada de Chile, 10 December 1998.
36. 'Dificil periodo de Rojas Vender', La Tercera, 30 July 1999.
37. With regard to UDI making pronouncements on behalf of the army, Garretón notes that the Pinochet case made evident that 'the political right is nothing other than the faithful expression of Pinochetism and that all ideas, projects or positions within it are subordinate to this essential truth'. M Garretón, 'Chile 1997-1998: the revenge of incomplete democratization', International Affairs, 75(2), 1999, p 266.
38. 'Urenda: visita de Izurieta a Pinochet demuestra apoyo del Ejército', La Tercera, 20 April 1999.
39. Ibid.
40. Comunicado oficial del Ejército de Chile, Ejército de Chile, Comandancia en Jefe, Departamento Comunicacional, 3 March 2000.
41. 'FF.AA. manifiestan inquietud al interior de sus filas por proceso de desafuero de Pinochet', La Tercera, 27 April 2000.
42. 'Lagos molesto por reunión de jefes militares', La Tercera, 16 May 2000.
43. For example, see 'Se Pinochetizó La Cumbre', La Hora, 15 November 1999; 'Se Pinochetizó la elección', La Hora, 12 January 2000.
44. For example, see 'Se Pinochetizó La Cumbre', La Hora, 15 November 1999; 'Se Pinochetizó la elección', La Hora, 12 January 2000.
45. Quoted in P Azócar, Pinochet: Epitafio para un tirano, Santiago: Editorial Cuarto Propio, 1999, pp 202-203.
46. Although they are beyond the scope of this paper, other issues have also entered into the civil - military equation. The Chilean courts have ruled that a 'disappeared' person who cannot be ruled deceased does not fall under the 1978 amnesty, meaning that officers are being ordered to stand trial. For example, see 'Señales para un amnisticio', Qué Pasa 21-28 June 1999. In addition, Defence Minister Edumundo Pérez Yoma convoked a 'roundtable dialogue' (mesa de diálogo) to bring the military and various civilian experts together to discuss pending human rights issues. On the latter, see for example 'Pérez Yoma satisfecho con nueva sesión', La Tercera, 5 December 1999.
47. Although they are beyond the scope of this paper, other issues have also entered into the civil - military equation. The Chilean courts have ruled that a 'disappeared' person who cannot be ruled deceased does not fall under the 1978 amnesty, meaning that officers are being ordered to stand trial. For example, see 'Señales para un amnisticio', Qué Pasa 21-28 June 1999. In addition, Defence Minister Edumundo Pérez Yoma convoked a 'roundtable dialogue' (mesa de diálogo) to bring the military and various civilian experts together to discuss pending human rights issues. On the latter, see for example 'Pérez Yoma satisfecho con nueva sesión', La Tercera, 5 December 1999.
48. Canessa & Balart, Pinochet y la restauracion del consenso nacional, p 381.
49. J Anderson, 'Profile: the dictator', The New Yorker, 19 October 1998, p 44.
50. 'La carta que envió Pinochet', La Tercera, 11 December 1998. Even conservatives in the USA agreed with this statement. A Wall Street Journal editorial called the case a 'personal vendetta' and noted that one of the Spanish lawyers working for Judge Garzón was Joan Garcés, who had been an advisor to Salvador Allende. 'Prosecution or persecution?', Wall Street Journal, 19 April 1999.
51. 'La carta que envió Pinochet', La Tercera, 11 December 1998. Even conservatives in the USA agreed with this statement. A Wall Street Journal editorial called the case a 'personal vendetta' and noted that one of the Spanish lawyers working for Judge Garzón was Joan Garcés, who had been an advisor to Salvador Allende. 'Prosecution or persecution?', Wall Street Journal, 19 April 1999.
52. Senado de Chile, Legislature 339 Extraordinaria, Sesión 11, 15 December 1998.
53. A Jocelyn-Holt, El Chile perplejo, Santiago: Planeta/Ariel, 1998, p 319.
54. 'Discurso de agradecimiento del Comandante en Jefe del Ejército, Teniente General Ricardo Izurieta Caffarena, con motivo del homenaje por parte de la Academia de Historia Militar', Comunicado de Prensa, Ejército de Chile, 9 November 1999.