Is Pinochet the Model?

Abstract

Chileans are bemused by the attention paid the robust econ omy bequeathed them by General Augusto Pinochet. Reformers as far afield as Europe and America have taken special note of his reform of health care, education and social security. President Carlos Saul Menem pinned a medal on Pinochet, wishing aloud that he had received Argentina from his own democratically elected predecessor in as good political and economic condition. Most ironically, the one time Soviet Communist Party organ Pravda?which had led a worldwide campaign against the Chilean leader?interviewed to ask how Russia might follow the Chilean example. Indeed, the Pinochet is one of the standard cures touted for nearly any country seeking to make the transition from socialist poverty. This model, as it is widely understood, calls for some com bination of political repression and economic liberalism: a strong armed leader imposes a period of economic austerity and political stasis, after which the country emerges with a lean free-market econ omy, a vigorous civil society and a political class that is once again ready to assume the reins of government. The closer one looks, however, the more difficult it is to construe a model from Chile's experience. Chile's reforms are indeed admirable. But the path by which they were achieved is less so. Beyond its repressive, undemocratic nature, the military government