There were those who used to argue that, say what you like, Pinochet unfettered the Chilean economy and let the Friedmanite breezes blow. (This is why Mrs. Thatcher was forever encouraging him to take his holidays and shopping trips in London; a piece of advice that he may well have regretted taking.) Yet free-marketeers presumably do not believe that you need torture and murder and dictatorship to implement their policies.Historically, the moderate left has not been given much of a chance to try new things out in South America. In the long run, there is nothing wrong with letting leftist populists either (a) prove that their policies work, or (b) discredit leftist populism when they don't.
(Venezuela might be an exception, since the government has lots of oil money to spare.)
The same principle should apply to the right-wing policies too. Just as long as it's not "one man, one vote, one time."
1 comment:
Pinochet died the same day of the so called International Human's Rights Day. Such a slap in the face of those who searched in vain for justice. You see, life under a dictatorship is deeply engraved in the memory of Latin America. And it is sometimes hard to forgive or forget.
For many Chilean people, the country was left divided. Fortunately we still have words to talk about it.
Interesting times ahead...
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