The putrescent smell of empire

US -VENEZUELAN INTERVENTION

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in Latin America is well documented.

On September 11, 1973, it used Augusto Pinochet to lead a USsponsored military coup against democratically elected Salvador Allende. Allende was killed, and the US installed Pinochet as president.

Pinochet led a brutal dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. Pinochet dissolved the Chilean Congress and suspended the constitution. Chile was ruled by decree for 17 years. More than 3 000 were killed or "disappeared". Thousands more were tortured.

The US sent a group of its economists known as the "Chicago Boys" to design new economic policies for Chile. They privatised state industries and cut social spending. Stateowned banks were sold to private investors.

Other sectors, such as steel, petrochemicals, electricity, water, telecommunications, airlines, ports, railways, and infrastructure, were all privatised.

The state pension system was replaced with privatised pension funds. All these were classic cases of state capture by the wealthy for personal enrichment.

Unemployment rose to over 20% and life for the ordinary Chilean became unaffordable. Chile became a case study of the failure of the US economic model of a market-based social policy. Chile under Pinochet also became a human rights graveyard. State violence against citizens made Chile one massive US-sponsored gulag for its people. Chile eventually faced financial collapse in 1982 due to over-deregulation and fixed exchange rates. The state had to rescue banks it had previously privatised.