20 Myths About General Augusto Pinochet
How a Chilean General Defied Communism, Saved His Nation, and Built Latin America’s First Free Economy
20 chapters · 84 pages · EPUB & PDF
The Departure from Power
March 11, 1990 is the day Pinochet handed power to an elected civilian president. This week, 20% off the book that asks why he finally left.
The Historic Referendum
On October 5, 1988, Chileans voted in the referendum on Pinochet’s rule, the event at the center of the book’s argument on the political transition. 20% off to mark the anniversary.
$6.99Was $6.99 now $5.59Was $6.99 now $5.59
20% off until March 12
20% off until October 6
EPUB + PDF · instant download
- Secure payment by Stripe
- Instant download
- 14-day refund before download
EPUB + PDF · works on any device · no DRM
Paperback · only on Amazon (opens in a new tab)About this book
Many Americans who have a picture of Augusto Pinochet got it from Costa-Gavras’s Missing or an anniversary article. The book argues that much of the record, compiled largely by his opponents, contradicts that picture.
The most repeated claims about him are tested against sources with no motive to flatter him. You come away knowing where each figure comes from and able to answer the standard account with evidence his critics produced.
The Church Committee found no evidence of direct American involvement in the 1973 coup. Three weeks before it, Chile’s Chamber of Deputies voted 81 to 47 that Allende’s government had broken the constitutional order. The official toll, 3,216 dead and disappeared, comes from commissions appointed by Pinochet’s democratic successors, and the book shows why the higher death tolls in circulation have no basis.
The case against him stays in the text: the 1978 amnesty, seventeen million dollars in American accounts no declared source explains, and his attempt to overturn his 1988 defeat, blocked by the rest of his junta. Every chapter lists its sources, and where Peter Kornbluh, Naomi Klein or Peter Winn argue the other side, their books are named, so you can weigh both cases.
Questions about this book
Does the book explain what the Chicago Boys actually did?
It traces the Chicago-trained economists’ program from the El Ladrillo plan to tariffs cut from about 94 percent to 10 percent. It then examines their response to the 1982 banking crisis and their handling of the copper mines.
Does the book look at Soviet and Cuban involvement in Chile?
Yes. It draws on the Mitrokhin Archive for Soviet money sent to Allende’s coalition and examines the Cuban help in training and equipping his personal guard. It also shows how TASS blamed the CIA within hours of the coup.
Does the book address the claim that Pinochet was a fascist?
Two chapters test the label against the definitions of fascism and totalitarianism, checking how the regime treated the church, the press and the unions. They also compare it with Franco’s Spain and Castro’s Cuba.
Reader reviews
No reviews yet.
