Latin America Exam Three

Who was Augusto Pinochet?

The longest military leader in Chile's history. He came into power during the 1970s uprising and ruled for 17 years.

Under Pinochet, those who posed a threat to his government (leftists, revolutionaries) were often arrested. Others were tortured, killed, disappeared, or otherwise driven into exile

When did the no campaign pass? Who was a part of it?

The No campaign passed in October of 1988. It was made up of 17 political parties interested in removing Pinochet from power.

Why did Pinochet allow the referendum to be held? Why was the No campaign given space?

- Pinochet sought to alleviate pressure from the international community and legitimize his rule

- He thought he would win!

Why did Pinochet think he would win the referendum?

- He believed the vast majority of the population liked him

- He had introduced free market, neoliberal economic policies that had grown the economy

- He thought the No campaign would be disorganized and overlooked given it's 10:45pm air time

Why were some Chileans apprehensive to vote "No"?

- Fear of bringing harm to their families

- Uncertain how a "No" vote would impact their lives - what if things got worse?

- Fear of socialism and economic decline

- Believed the election to be rigged and saw participation as legitimizing Pinochet's rule

The US supported the No campaign, despite initially helping Pinochet into power -- why?

1. Pinochet was becoming a political liability

- His precession of people was pushing them furthers towards socialism

2. The people running the no campaign were close in line with US interests

- The communist party and several other leftist groups were formally excluded from the No campaign

*These two reasons go together -- essentially, supporting Pinochet was no longer in line with US interests

Pinochet had no intention of leaving office even if he lost the election. What were his potential plans?

A. Win legitimately

B. If it looks like No will barely win, stuff the boxes and declare Yes victorious

C. If No is going to win by a landslide use violence and terror to quell rebellion

What plan did Pinochet end up trying? Why didn't it work? What did he do instead?

Pinochet tried to incite violence between the Yes and No groups so he could declare a state of emergency. This plan failed because the police did not follow his orders to let people fight, leaving Pinochet to beg the military Junta for extraordinary power. They denied him and he left office in 1990.

Was the No campaign the only reason for their victory in the referendum?

No! The jingles were cool, but it was years of grassroots campaigns to get voters registered and change ideology that laid the foundation for No's victory

How were gay people treated during colonial times in Latin America?

Spain and the UK were the most influential colonial powers. The Buggery Act of 1533 punished male homosexual activity with death, but the Spanish Napoleonic code later decriminalized same-sex activity.

What did post-colonial treatment of queers in Latin America look like?

1800s: consensual same-sex acts were recognized in eight countries throughout Latin America

1900s: 6 more countries recognized the legitimacy of consensual same-sex acts, some anti-discrimination laws were passed

2000s: recognition of civil union was granted in some countries and further anti-discrimination laws were passed

*there were some exceptions across Latin America, seen in raids on gay bars and anti same-sex marriage laws

How are gay people treated in Latin America today?

As of 2016 almost every country in Latin America had decriminalized homosexuality. Argentina started the movement to legalize gay marriage and also led the charge to allow legal name changes for trans individuals.

There exist more laws against gay men than women, and while there is pro-LGBTQ police in Latin America this does not mean its people are without prejudice.

What was the film "No" created?

Rene, who glorifies capitalism throughout the film, is depicted as a hero. He speaks time and time again of democracy as a product/commodity, and his taking on the campaign was more about ego, making money, and getting Veronica back. While his somewhat tangential investment in the cause is rewarded, Veronica (who is emotionally invested) is negatively impacted by her participation.

Rene's boss is the epitome of wealthy capitalists, but despite this Rene never leaves him. After the No campaign wins Rene does not seem particularly excited - he just continues on. Later, Guzman is seen bragging about Rene's work on the No campaign despite his initial resistance to the idea.

The film seems to pose the question: has that much really changed since the passing of the referendum? Or is democracy just a commodity. See Guzman: he was rich before the referendum, he continued to support Pinochet, and he is still rich now.

What happened with Pinochet in the wake of the 1988 referendum?

- Pinochet stepped down in 1990, serving as commander in chief until 1998 at which point he becomes a senator for life

- Chile continues to use Pinochet's original 1980 constitution

- Pinochet was arrested during a trip to London in 1998, but his lawyers claimed dementia and he avoided jail until 2004

- Pinochet died in 2006 with 300+ charges still pressed against him

Who were the two political figures that bounced in and out of power from 2005-2017?

Michelle Bachelet and Sebastian Pinera

Give a timeline Bachelet and Pinera's presidencies.

2005: Bachelet elected, was a significant figure in the pink tide and a member of a party formed around the "No" coalition. Bachelet worked in public defense before becoming the first female president of Chile and was super popular during her first term.

2009: Pinera was elected, a shift from pink tide policy as first right wing president since the referendum

2013: Bachelet ran again, though her approval rating was way down from the first time she was in office. She said she would change the constitution but never did and her children were seen as corrupt.

2017: Pinera came back into power and his approval rating got down to 9%

The back and forth between these two officials made for a very strong anti-incumbent sentiment throughout Chile.

What was the cause of the 2019 protests in Chile?

They were directly caused by hikes in public transport costs, but people were less concerned with the size of the increase than the burden of bettering society continually falling on Chile's poorest people.

Under Pinochet, though the economy grew, inequality grew as well. Even with Pinochet gone this continued to be a problem -- is this why the No film was made?

Who was Gabriel Boric?

Boric was elected president in 2021 as a result of anti-incumbent sentiment in Chile. He got into politics as a result of involvement in the 2019 protests and sought to fulfill the promises made when Pinochet stepped down. The Chilean people were expecting economic inequality to be addressed in the wake of the referendum, but this was not the case. Boric sought to rectify this.

He is left-wing and has decreased in popularity since coming into office as concerns have shifted from pensions, retirement, and healthcare to crime and inflation. It is likely that anti-incumbent sentiment will lead to the election of a conservative president following Boric's stepping down.

How did Pinochet make it difficult to change the constitution even after he left office? What lasting effects did the constitution have?

- 70% agreement was required to change the constitution

- 1980 constitution made it so everything in the country could be privatized (pensions, water, education). While public systems still exist, they suck.

What does the process of writing a new constitution in Chile actually look like?

Following the cancellation of a UN climate summit as a result of protests, Sebastian Pinera agreed to hold a referendum on whether or not to write a new constitution.

October 2020: 78% voted yes to writing a new constitution

May 2021: a new board was elected to write the constitution. The board had gender parity and was made up of 155 people with 17 seats reserved for indigenous folk.

*anything that would be included in the new constitution required a 2/3 majority

September 2021: constitution draft went to referendum but it was super leftist (on account of >2/3 of the 155 people being leftist) and called for massive increases in government spending. It also listed over 100 individual rights. The people shot this version down.

What happened after the first rewritten constitution failed?

Rather than electing new laypeople to write the constitution they decided to create a board of experts -- 12 men and 12 women selected by congress. Once the expert version was made, 50 more people were elected by the public to continue editing.

What was the problem with the second draft of the constitution?

Right wing board members now outnumbered left wing members -- what they ended up writing was more right wing than the 1980s constitution. People rejected it because:

- it was too political

- fear it would lower pensions

- fear for abortion rights

- fear of businesses being able to discriminate against LGBTQ people

When did Argentina become independent? Why were there few disparate groups in Argentina prior to independence?

Argentina declared independence in 1810, but warred until 1818 and was not official independent until 1816. The country had no significant indigenous population prior to colonialism, and even after it became a colony few Spaniards settled because it was low in material wealth. The country relied on beef production for income -- a trade requiring little labor -- so African slaves were not brought in to help. After independence, birthright citizen ship and tons of available land led to mass European immigration.

What happened post independence in Argentina?

Independence left a power vacuum and factions warred for a few decades. From 1850 to 1916 Argentina was ruled by an oligarchy who believed decision making should be left in the hands of educated folks who own property. As time went on, discontent with this method of governance grew.

Which primary groups grew to dislike the oligarchy? What did they eventually join to form?

- Newly prosperous land owners (euro migrants)

- old aristocratic families -- used to having power under colonial rule

- growing middle class that came about as a result of the export economy

These groups came together to form the Radical Civic Union

What are the characteristics of the Radical Civic Union? How did they come into power? Why did they fall out of power?

- not actually all that radical, just want a say in the government

- campaigned on increasing well-being for all and won the presidency in 1916. Their victory was also aided by the introduction of secret ballots and universal male suffrage

- Their rule was fairly stable but could barely be labeled democratic

- Rule came to an end with the stock market crash in 1929

Who came into power after the Radical Civic Union?

A military and civilian group overthrew the president, hoping to reinstate the oligarchy and make a return to the "good ol' days."

What was the infamous decade in Argentina? Why?

The 1930s. They were labeled as such because of super high poverty rates associated with the failure of Import Substitute Industrialization.

When the military returned to power in 1943, who took the lead?

Juan Peron

Characterize Juan Peron

Juan Peron was part of the military group that took over in 1943. He became the minister of labor and found an untapped market of support in the large blue collar population that had come about as a result of ISI. His implementation of labor rights led to his growing very popular very quickly, and in 1946 he ran for president. His run was a truly free and fair election checked by the Supreme Court. He was a populist leader and fought for workers rights and state directed economic policy during his time in office.

Despite Peron's popularity, he used brutality when necessary to achieve his goals. He sought to purge society of all who opposed him and changed the constitution so he could run for a second term in 1951.

What does it mean to be a populist leader?

Problems in the country are because of the elites, attention must be paid to the average person

Who was Eva Peron? What role did she play in her husband's political career?

Eva Peron was born into poverty, became an actress in Buenos Aires, and upon marrying Juan dove into work with the marginalized. She was instrumental in securing women the right to vote and played a central role in Juan's popularity. During Juan's second term people wanted Eva to run as VP but the military wouldn't allow it. When Eva died of cancer in 1953, it became clear just how much she contributed to Juan's political career.

How did Juan's rule fall apart after Eva Peron died?

The economy was already on the decline after the war boom and Juan chose to pick a fight with the Catholic Church when they refused to canonize Eva. He legalized prostitution and divorce and moved schools to government control. in 1955 the military bombed the central plaza in Argentina and offered Juan the option of resigning or facing civil war. He resigned and settled in Spain.

What happens following Juan's relocation to Spain?

The military made Peronism illegal (or tried to), reappropriated land, un-nationalized industries, and executed union leaders. The Radical Civic Union comes back into power but, after two decades of chaos, the people want Peron back!!

What happens when Juan Peron returns to power?

After winning the election by a large margin in 1973 -- with his third wife as his VP -- Peron dies in 1974. His wife, Isabel, becomes the first female president of Argentina. Unfortunately, she is not prepared to take over.

How is Isabel Martinez de Peron's coming into power handled by the military?

They leave her to flounder for a couple years (prove what can happen without them) and then stage a coup in 1976. Many Argentinians were relieved when the military came back into power.

Who was General Jorge Videla? Why was he important?

General Jorge Videla led the military coup and wanted to implement institutionalized military rule in Argentina. He wanted power for a short period of time, but long-term his hope was to keep the military as a whole in power so as to avoid excess consolidation of power and creation of power vacuums when leaders died/step down.

What was the dirty war?

Beginning with the 1976 coup, the dirty war was a war against political opposition and leftist parties throughout Argentina. In the eyes of the military, this war was a return to morality and proper order. They arrested subversive individuals at will, repressed political parties, and destroyed labor unions. In the first 5 years of the war an estimated 30,000 were disappeared (vanished by the government) or killed.

What was the role of women under authoritarian regimes?

When the military took power there was a lot of political repression and a desire to control the image of the country. Women played a critical role in developing this image, as it was believed they should be upholding traditional gender roles and staying in the private sphere. On the whole, many women did not support authoritarian regimes.

What are the names of two groups who fought back against authoritarian regimes in the name of women?

The Madres de Plaza de Mayo and the Abuelas

What did the Madres de Plaza de Mayo do?

Fought against the regime during the dirty war. They were led by Azucena Villaflor, who crafted a letter to the government asking for info on their missing children. This letter turned into weekly marches in the plaza. These marches were silent and the women used the regimes idea of women as homemakers/mothers against them by holding up pictures of their disappeared children. The marches attracted global attention, meaning the women could not just be mowed down, but eventually Azucena Villaflor was disappeared.

Who were the abuelas?

The abuelas were women calling for the babies who were born in captivity. They still work today and have found over 250 missing children. They persistently draw attention to the previous wrongs of the government.

What happened following the return to democracy in 1983?

Rule bounced back and forth between the radical civic union and the pertness party for a couple decades, and our story picks back up with the election of Nestor Kirchner in 2003, followed by Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in 2007.

What were the defining characteristics of the Kirchners as Peronist party members?

Left wing, big figure in the pink tide, very anti-US and anti-neoliberal

How did Nestor originally gain popularity?

Addressing what had happened during the dirty war! Some had been prosecuted but by '85 all parties were given amnesty. Nestor revoked this amnesty when he came into power and people are still being persecuted today. Additionally, he gained popularity for riding the pink tide during the commodity boom.

What explains Mauricio Marci's election in 2015?

He was a center-right coalition member - after the commodities bust Marci was a way to turn away from the pink tide. Unfortunately, things went terribly for him and he lost reelection in 2019. He was the first in Argentinian history to do so.

What is true of every recent election in Argentina?

We see an increase in anti-incumbency sentiment

Who was Alberto Fernandez?

President after Mauricio Marci, with Christina de Kirchner as his VP. Life had already been getting worse for Argentinians in 2019 and Fernandez did not succeed in making it better. He was replaced in 2023 by Javier Milei

Who is Javier Milei?

Current president of Argentina, member of the freedom advances party, and self described anarchocapitalist (wants to burn down the establishment and start anew). Has been supported by Americans such as Elon musk and Donald Trump, but his approval rating has dropped since he entered office. He has been big on cutting spending and entirely restructuring the economy. He argues that things were good under conservative governments and wants to return to those times.

What are the biggest names to remember and a little blurb about each?

- Augusto Pinochet (dictator)

- Michelle Bachelet and Sebastian Pinera (went back and forth as Chilean presidents, got worse as time went on)

- Gabriel Boric (curerent president of Chile)

- Juan Peron, Eva Peron (populist leader who fought for workers rights, wife played central role in his campaign)

- General Jorge Videla (led coup during the dirty war)

- Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (peroness party members associated with the pink tide, lost power when the commodity boom ended)

- Javier Milei (trump!!)