A-Infos (en) Czech, afed: Chile: experimental laboratory of neoliberalism -- The richest country in Latin America is crushed by abysmal social disparities. People rebel. [machine translation]

Chile is the pride of neoliberalism. For many years, all Klaus and Joch have been behaving 
like an honest model, a "free" pearl in that Latin American filth. It is precisely those 
economics experts who have recently wanted to privatize our oxygen, and today we are 
haunted by the Islamization, greening and feminization of Europe. To this day, financial 
portals are praising: Chile has the lowest taxes on OECD countries. Chile is a haven for 
employers. But beside the glass quotes of financial districts, cardboard shacks rot, the 
number of slums in Santiago has doubled since 2011. Chilean gross domestic product is 
rising to dizzying heights and has been unprecedentedly moving away from the Latin 
American average for thirty years. We all know it from work. As far as prosperity is 
concerned, shifts are prolonged, work increases, holidays do not take place and salaries 
remain the same. When it fails, the wage is reduced, forced holidays, unpaid leave, or 
straight off.

The commodity-distorted pension system has resulted in pension alms not covering even 
basic living needs. Millions of people do not have access to proper health care or 
education. These institutions have practically become a privilege for the rich. Access to 
drinking and non-potable water also requires high costs, as water resources and water 
supply are in the hands of private speculators. Equally, the energy sector is dominated by 
foreign corporations. The experimental laboratory of neoliberalism plunged this Latin 
American country into scandalous inequality, where practically the entire middle class 
lives on the edge of poverty. The income of a very large class of declassified is around 
3200 CZK per month. About half of the population has to make do with 12,600 CZK per month, 
while the cost of living in Santiago is the highest of Latin America and exceeds Prague.

The building of paradise began under August Pinochet. Yes. When neoliberal conservatives 
talk about freedom, they mean the freedom of corporations to buy up competition, build 
monopolies, cough on labor law and the environment, the military junta doesn't mind. 
Subsequent three democratic governments continued the set line. The social cabinet came 
with cosmetics and the conservative, and the richest Chilan Pi ñ era was perfectly crowned 
with his arrogance and spectacular superiority.

Laboratory building

The Chilean neoliberal experiment conducted by Chicago economists through the fascist 
Pinochet dictatorship became the standard later applied by Reagan and Thatcher in the 
West. For the right, Chile has become a textbook example of all the benefits of 
capitalism. In 1982, Milton Friedman declared that the military junta "pushed for a 
complete free market economy. Chile is an economic miracle. "[Elton Rayack,Not So Free to 
Choose , p. 37]During his visit to Chile in 1990, US President George Bush praised this 
economic model as worthy of following.

But the capitalist miracle perfectly exploits all the "benefits" of a class-separated 
society. It meant a dramatic deterioration in living conditions for workers. The reason 
why workers were subjected to a neoliberal experiment here is simple. They had no choice. 
General Pinochet was the leader of the military coup drafted in 1973 against the 
democratically elected government of Salvador Allende. The coup culminated in years of 
American interference in Chilean politics, which began long before the advent of the 
Marxist Allende, whose administration was not long lasting. Richard Nixon imposed a total 
embargo on the ground. In the words of the then US ambassador, "we will do everything in 
our power to condemn the Chileans to maximum poverty."[Noam Chomsky,Deterring Democracy , 
p. 395]

In addition to the free-market agenda, Pinochet came up with a final solution to turn the 
progressive workers' movement once and for all. According to very sober estimates, "in the 
first year in power killed 11,000 people".[P. Gunson, A. Thompson, G. Chamberlain,The 
Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of South America , p. 228]Military troops launched an 
operation called The Caravan of Death and threw themselves into the persecution of anyone 
suspected of sympathy to the left. Torture and rape became a mundane norm, and those who 
were not secretly eliminated were dropped from the aircraft as a warning to potential 
opponents of the regime. Today, official statistics refer to 40,018 victims.

The role of the Chicago boys during the coup cannot be underestimated. They have 
maintained strong ties with the army since 1972 and played a key role during the coup. "In 
August 1972, a group of ten economists led by Sergio de Castro began working on an 
economic program that would replace Allende's vision... "The Chicago Boys, Social Security 
and Welfare in Chile",The Radical Right and the Welfare State , Howard Glennerster and 
James Midgley (eds.), P. 88]

In spite of all the hymns, the capitalist miracle had great flaws, which have tossed it to 
this day. The wild introduction of free market ideas immediately triggered a financial 
crisis. GDP fell by 12.9% in one year, while the rest of Latin America grew by 3.8%. Wages 
dropped freely by uncontrolled fall until they stopped at 64.9% of 1970 wages. 
Unemployment rose to 20%. Even Pinochet was staring that "the social costs of shock 
treatment were higher than he expected".[Elton Rayack,Not So Free to Choose56, 41 and 
57]After the crisis ceased, growth of about six years followed. It was at this time that 
the economic miracle began to be spoken, but the growth period was replaced by another 
crisis, much more painful than the last. Government debt, unemployment and bankruptcies 
have risen dramatically. This time it was time for a proven but very non-market rescue 
package of taxpayers' money. Even the much-praised free-market economy has never been 
completely free-market. Without state rescue operations, it would have collapsed long ago.

Multinational banks "were redeemed by the government, which spent $ 6 billion (30% of 
GDP!) On saving them during 1983-1985, while being subjected to strict government 
regulation to ensure their solvency. Foreign investment has also been subject to 
regulation. "[Collins and Lear, Chile's Free-Market Miracle: A Second Look , p. 42]After 
the capitalist economy was rescued, leaving only workers to work with their bare butts, 
another round of privatization began. Pinochet's neoliberal reforms are still valid today. 
This neoliberal experiment, still praised by corporate and public media, is an economic 
disaster from start to finish.

A paradise for whom?

If ultimately there was no miracle, why was Chile glorified by people like Friedman? 
Because conservatives and neo-liberals have always dug for the richest class, and 
precisely this class is the highest in the neoliberal military junta. Indeed, no bourgeois 
democracy can push through as thorough privatization as a dictatorship. As long as the 
neoliberal model showed profits, the rich were stuffing their pockets when they went 
bankrupt, all casualties paid by ordinary people. Capitalism simply serves a narrow group 
of privileged, while societies are harmful. Fifteen years after the introduction of 
free-market reforms, the Chilans' wages were still lower and unemployment higher than in 
1970. Half of the country's population lived in poverty. This refutes another myth of 
neo-liberals and all sorts of chairmen of employers' unions, who continually claim that 
unemployment increases are also increasing wages.

After decades of neoliberal experimentation, the Chileans rely on jobs that promise no 
stability, are poorly paid, usually temporary, or are in the informal economy. Most of the 
new jobs created after 1982-1983 were seasonal work, characterized by low wages, long 
working hours and instability. Many Chillans worked for more than 48 hours per week 
without compensation. This also scared the screenwriters of the system. "Unpaid overtime 
remains a serious problem. It is commonly assumed that employees will work longer without 
remuneration, which is reminiscent of the European model of the nineteenth century. 
"[Collins and Lear," Working in Chile's Free Market, "pp. 22-25]growth. Statistics from 
the 1990s say that "productivity growth outperformed real wage growth of 3: 1 in 1993 and 
5: 1 in 1997 '.[Volker Frank, "Politics without Policy," p. 73]

Privatization of the pension system and health care, as we all know, was and is a total 
disaster. Interestingly, the bureaucratic cadres, the army and the police were excluded. 
They had their own generous social system, market solution was implemented only for the 
mob. As part of the privatization of the pension system, 'workers' savings in the form of 
social security contributions were transferred from the public to the private sector, 
where they served as a source of investment. Given the oligarchic concentration of wealth 
and corporate dominance under Pinochet, this meant passing on forced labor savings to the 
most powerful Chilean capitalists.[Winn, "The Pinochet Era", pp. 31 and 64]Only 20% of 
taxpayers received adequate pensions. The same goes for healthcare. In 1990, private 
health care was only available to 15% of Chileans, 75% of which were high-income 
taxpayers. There is a three-phase health system in Chile. A well funded state-run police 
and military system, a luxurious private system for the elite, and a "grossly 
under-funded, neglected, overloaded system for 70% of the Chileans".[Collins and Lear, 
ibid., Pp. 99 and 246]

In a nutshell. In 1972, Chile was the second straightest country in Latin America, while 
in 2002 it became the second country with the highest inequality in the region.[Winn, "The 
Pinochet Era," p. 56]. This refutes further crap by the elite to this day, claiming that 
the more capitalist a country is, the less inequality it suffers. As in the United Kingdom 
and the United States, the countries that used Friedman's ideas, inequality increased 
dramatically in Chile. The implementation of his ideas thus refuted his own claims.

Burning, my doll!

This October, the government announced a 3% increase in metro fares, which caused a 
massive boycott by students in the form of skipping turnstiles. The government responded 
by granting an exemption to students, but they continued to protest in solidarity with 
their loved ones. An arrogant, professional, aggressive campaign for political class and 
mass media began. The threat of cruel punishment allowed by the laws of August Pinochet 
led to a revolt spreading into the streets where other people were involved. The threat of 
violence by the state provoked violence of the dissatisfied. People began to precisely 
demolish turnstiles, ticket machines, collectively pulling the emergency brakes. Whole 
stations were ashes, as were bus stops and buses. Soon a police station, known as the 
hatchery of corruption and brutality, came to the headquarters of the Italian energy 
concern Enel, supermarkets and of course government buildings. After a few days, three 
quarters of the metro network were demolished, a total of 85 stations.

Protests spread completely spontaneously without coordinated mobilizations. We are 
witnessing a crowd of self-confident action by people tired of decades of exploitation of 
the coarsest grain. People leave their workplaces, homes, universities, march through 
metropolises with empty pots and spoons to the throbbing rhythm of the samba, making it 
clear that they will not be miserable by the ruling class. Like the economy, the cops are 
still soaked in the structure of the Pinochet regime, they are absolutely clueless, and, 
as many videos have shown, they are burning sharp with the crowd. A state of emergency was 
declared and ten thousand soldiers were called to pacify protests with a great deal of 
brutality. Social media as well as foreign news are blocked. To date, eighteen dead, 
dozens of missing and thousands of rebels and rebels in police cells have been registered. 
Pinochet legislation threatens them with twenty years of punishment. Anarchists call for 
international solidarity. This legitimate and courageous fight undoubtedly deserves it. 
Millions of people have remained behind the gates of the capitalist paradise, and are no 
longer willing to watch the powerful abound in wealth, wringed out of the hard work of the 
unprivileged.

Sources:
https://freedomnews.org.uk/what-is-happening-in-chile/
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/afaq-c#toc45
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Chile #Economic_policies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_Economic_Freedom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet
https://www.theguardian.com/world/chile

https://www.afed.cz/text/7057/chile-pokusna-laborator-neoliberalismu
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