News from the end of the Earth : a portrait of Chile / John Hickman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hickman, John, 1927-2001.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chile--History.

Chile.

History.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 250 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : St. Martin's Press, 1998.

Summary:

This in-depth study of Chile's history, politics, and economics is written by a man who was British ambassador there from 1982-87. John Hickman witnessed first hand the economic transformation wrought by the "Chicago Boys" in the later Pinochet years and the return from military dictatorship and terror to democracy. The radical left-wing regime of Allende in 1970-3 and its violent overthrow put Chile on the world stage as never before, and its great economic success has kept it there. Hickman traces Chile's emergence and evolution as a state and conveys the unique characteristics and personalities of its leaders.

Contents:

Chapter 1. Sketch of a Landscape with Figures 1

Chapter 2. Colony and Nation (1540-1875) 9

Primitive settlement 10

The Spanish conquest 11

The colony 15

Independence 19

Consolidation of the Republic 21

The economy 23

State of the nation in 1875 27

Chapter 3. A Model Republic (1875-1920) 29

The nitrate era 32

The War of the Pacific 34

The effects of victory 36

The arrival of Balmaceda 38

The civil war of 1891 40

The Parliamentary Republic 41

The southern frontier 43

The end of Araucania 45

Conflict in Patagonia 48

Chapter 4. Post-war Challenges (1920-1958) 50

The failure of parliamentary government 51

Impact of the First World War 52

First Presidency of Arturo Alessandri 53

The 1925 Constitution and the rise of Carlos Ibanez 56

The crash of 1929 59

The return of Arturo Alessandri 61

The rise of the Radical Party 62

The end of the Radical era 65

Chapter 5. The Swing of the Pendulum (1958-1970) 69

The Cuban revolution and the Alliance for Progress 70

The origins of Christian Democracy 74

The Presidency of Eduardo Frei 75

Reclaiming copper 78

Agrarian reform 79

Polarisation 81

The Unidad Popular 84

CIA involvement 86

An assessment of the Frei administration 88

Chapter 6. Revolution and Reaction (1970-1973) 90

Salvador Allende 90

The make-up of Unidad Popular 93

The class war 94

Agrarian reform 98

Boom and bust 102

The opposition revived 103

The slide towards violence 105

Coup d'etat 108

What lay behind the coup? 111

Chapter 7. Pinochet in Power 115

The origins of General Pinochet 119

The end of Unidad Popular 121

The defence of human rights 124

The DINA 125

The case of Orlando Letelier 127

US policy 128

The fall of General Leigh 130

The 1980 Constitution 132

A constitutional President 135

Chapter 8. The Chicago Boys 137

Economic reconstruction 139

The shock of 1975 140

The Chicago Boys in power 141

An economic miracle? 145

Labour relations 146

Modernisation Chicago-style 148

The cost of free markets 150

Collapse of the miracle 152

Chicago survives 154

Chapter 9. Friends, Foes and Foreign Quarrels 156

Conditioned reflexes and diplomatic manoeuvres 157

Chile and the Southern Cone 160

The Beagle Channel dispute 162

Chile, Britain and the Falklands War 165

The strange case of the Sea King 171

Collusion? 173

The approach to Antarctica 176

Chapter 10. The Long Way Back 179

The people protest 181

The Democratic Alliance 183

Washington changes course 186

The National Accord 187

Terror and counter-terror 192

The plebiscite of 1988 197

Chapter 11. Rebirth of a Democracy 201

The elections of 1989 201

Screwing down the Constitution 203

Chile's re-encounter with history 205

Dealing with the past 207

Civil-military relations 209

The economy: growth with equity 211

The social debt 212

Re-entry to the international community 214

Transition: fact or facade? 218

Chapter 12. End of an Era 221

The elections of 1993 221

The economic foundation for a stable democracy 223

Constitutional reforms 225

International and regional links 227

Towards the millennium 229

Will it be different this time? 230

Through other eyes 234.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-244) and index.

ISBN:

0312215673

OCLC:

38566294