By Carla Suárez, recent King’s College London graduate currently working as a Political and Press Trainee at the EU delegation to Bolivia.
This article was submitted to El Cortao’ as part of our thematic collaboration with The London Financial and has, accordingly, been published on both platforms.
“Si Chile fue la cuna del neoliberalismo, también será su tumba” (“If Chile was the birthplace of neoliberalism, it will also be its tomb”) proclaimed Gabriel Boric, candidate for the left coalition Frente Amplio, after winning the primary elections in July 2021. A few months later, on 19th December 2021, Boric won the second round of elections against far-right conservative candidate José Antonio Kast, paving the way for a new left to enter La Moneda with a progressive agenda that could shift the destiny of the nation and the region. His election not only represents the rise to power of a new generation with different concerns and a new political agenda, it could also trigger the end of the neoliberal era in Chile. Gabriel Boric, the youngest president in the history of Chile, is now faced with major challenges ranging from constitutional reform to economic rebuilding.
Neoliberalism: At the Core of Chile’s Polarisation
Neoliberalism is a long-standing tradition in Chile. A coup d’état in 1973 saw military dictator Augusto Pinochet overthrow socialist president Salvador Allende. Following this turn of events, Chile’s economy found itself redirected by the ‘Chicago Boys’, a group of Chilean economists who studied at the Department of Economics of The University of Chicago and who identified with libertarian economic theories. Inspired by thinkers like Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek, the ‘Chicago Boys’ introduced neoliberal economic reforms in Chile during the late 1970s and 80s that would define the country’s political economy for decades to come.
This neoliberal economic model is a market-oriented policy model based on reduced state intervention in the economy that encourages privatisation and market deregulation. Pinochet’s controversial constitution, implemented in 1980, safeguarded neoliberal values and made Chile’s economy reliant on free markets, trade liberalisation, privatisation of state-owned enterprises, and austerity. Eventually, the stagnant economy of the 1970s raced into rapid economic growth during the 1980s, an event which came to be known as the ‘Miracle of Chile’ – a term coined by Milton Friedman himself to describe the success of Chile’s neoliberal experience. Despite these apparent leaps in development, however, Chile’s social inequality deepened. Hence, neoliberalism led to Chile’s social and political polarisation.
Beyond the ‘Miracle of Chile’, the Pinochet regime, acting in accordance with Operation Condor, imposed state terror and political repression including “disappearances”, massacres of thousands of student leaders, and torture of political opponents. In 1988, a national referendum was held due to Pinochet’s desire to extend his mandate until 1997. However, Pinochet’s massacre of opponents and the authoritarian nature of his decade-long regime led to his loss. Ultimately, a period of democratic transition was established, and Christian Democrat candidate Patricio Aylwin was democratically elected in 1990, bringing an end to the military dictatorship.
The survival of neoliberal policies in Chile beyond the end of military dictatorship is due to their inclusion in the 1980 constitution, which was kept on as a legacy of Pinochet’s regime due to its perceived provision of macroeconomic stability. Nevertheless, these policies deeply polarised the country, causing social inequality that only worsened throughout the 2000s and 2010s with a vanishing middle class, a wealthier upper class and a poorer working class. Social turmoil in Chile culminated in October 2019 when massive civil protests took over the streets of Santiago and quickly spread across the nation. The social outburst of 2019 was driven by civil society groups who demanded social change and a new constitution. The October 2019 protests were the most violent the country had lived in the past decades and led the principal Chilean political parties to agree in November 2019 to hold a referendum to rewrite the Constitution. Over 78% of voters during the 2020 referendum voted in favour, and the Chilean constitutional reform was initiated. The social outburst of 2019 not only led to the drafting of a new constitution for the country, but also to a new shift in politics with a polarising result to the first-round of 2021 presidential elections. The progression of both Gabriel Boric, a former student leader representing the left coalition Frente Amplio, and José Antonio Kast, a far-right conservative candidate to the second round, represents an end to the center-right and center-left political tradition that has dominated Chilean politics since the return to democracy.
The Rise of a New Left and Promises of Social Change
Gabriel Boric is the first far-left coalition candidate to win an election in Chile since Salvador Allende’s victory in the 1970 elections. Boric’s triumph brings a new wave of opportunities for the country with a promising new political agenda focused on social change. Boric represents a new generation, the ‘millennials’, taking power. Boric named a progressive cabinet constituted of fourteen women and ten men, of which several were student protest leaders such as Giorgio Jackson, the newly appointed secretary general, and Camila Vallejo, the government’s spokesperson. His cabinet choices reflect his aim to build a more inclusive Chile. The political agenda of the Boric government is centered on reducing social inequality and protecting indigenous rights, environmental rights, LGBTQ+ rights, as well as promoting gender equality, multiculturalism and social justice.
With a new constitution underway that could reform Chile’s economic policy, Boric will face major challenges as the country moves into unknown territory. Nonetheless, Boric’s presidency represents a wind of change and gives hope to a nation in need of social change. Beyond Chile’s borders, Boric’s election gives hope for change at a regional level as South America is plagued with populist politicians who disguise corruption and undemocratic rule under a smokescreen of “socialism” and false promises of social justice and equality. Boric’s presidency gives hope to younger generations with a potential renewal of the Latin American left, driven by climate change and gender equality concerns. If Boric succeeds with his social reform promises, he could truly redefine the Latin American left.
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