Return of the Chilean Right

Sebastián Piñera may become president of Chile, which would mean the first elected right-wing government in that country since it was tarnished by its enthusiasm for one Augusto Pinochet.

In fact, it would be the right's first presidential victory since the election of Jorge Alessandri in 1958.

The fact that it’s taken this long for the pinochetista forces to gather enough strength to compete electorally is a testimony to the depth of revulsion the dictatorship engendered. Chilean voters are as susceptible as any to the blandishments of a conservative, pro-business discourse, and had the political right been less identified with Pinochet’s worst crimes, they might have ousted the anti-dictatorship coalition years ago.

Instead, the four-party Concertación para la Democracia has occupied the presidential palace non-stop since the junta was disbanded in 1990.

Piñera is a mega-millionaire and a sort of Berlusconi figure, but my recollections of his 2000 attempt to become president suggest a guy who is less alarming than the typical reactionary, ultra-Catholic apologists for the dictatorship who populate the right-wing parties. He could turn out to be a sort of unpredictable, Michael Bloomberg-ish president with a CEO mentality and a relatively non-dogmatic approach.

In that case he wouldn’t be all that different from the parade of dullards and suits that have led the country under the Concertación since Pinochet ran all alone in his 1988 plebiscite—and came in second. (There’s a danger in giving the people the chance to vote YES or NO.)

Chileans had high hopes for the return to democracy, and they’ve been pretty disappointed. The pleasant face of Michelle Bachelet, the country’s first female president, renovated the Concertación’s image four years ago when she beat out Piñera by a nose.

But the real victor all along in Chile has been neoliberalism and its aftermath, which all the presidents have administered to a greater or lesser degree since Pinochet installed the system by ripping out the throat of any opposition.

So although it’s too bad that the direct descendants of Pinochet are creeping close to La Moneda once again, it’s a far bigger pity that the whole country continues to be his legatee.