The Chilean Military: Legalism Undermined, Manipulated, and Restored
2003; Volume: 23; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.4067/s0718-090x2003000200012
ISSN0718-090X
Autores Tópico(s)Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America
ResumoThe article argues that, during the last 30 years, the commitment of the Chilean armed forces during the 1960's to constitutionalism, legalism, and professionalism has been successively undermined, manipulated and restored.During the Allende government it was undermined by the breakdown of political and economic consensus and the increasing politicization of the armed forces.Between 1973 and 1990 the legalism of the military was manipulated by General Pinochet in order to establish and maintain himself in power.Since 1990 there has been a slow return to the earlier professionalism of the military, marked in particular by the 1995 imprisonment of General Contreras in a civilian jail, the removal from the political scene of General Pinochet in 1998 because of his detention in Great Britain, and the "Never Again" speech of General Cheyre in 2003. PALABRAS CLAVE • ChileMy first visit to Chile took place forty years ago in July 1963.I had already visited Brazil from which I came away predicting that there would be either a Marxist-led revolution or a military coup within 6 months-a prediction that established my reputation at Princeton as a political prophet when the 1964 military coup took place in April 1964.I came to Chile from Argentina where, when I asked about Argentine political parties, I received a lengthy answer on the comparative strength of the Azul and Rojo groups in the Argentine army.It was thus a relief for someone who had done a Master's thesis on French politics to find in Chile a functioning multiparty democracy in which the role of the armed forces was never mentioned.During subsequent visits to Chile over the next several years, including a period of six months teaching at the Catholic University in 1967, at a time when military coups were taking place in many other Latin American countries, my Chilean interlocutors rarely mentioned the armed forces and when they did, they insisted that Chile was
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