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Sept. 11 Will Mark Quarter Century Since Military Takeover

From Institute for Public Accuracy
3 September 1998

Interviews available: 25th anniversary of momentous coup in Chile

Twenty-five years ago -- on Sept. 11, 1973 -- the military seized power in Chile. President Salvador Allende died in the bloody coup, which ushered in more than a decade and a half of dictatorship under Gen. Augusto Pinochet. In 1989, Chile returned to a democratic system with a civilian government.

The upcoming quarter-century anniversary provides an opportunity to examine the realities of recent Chilean history as well as key economic issues that currently loom large in Chile and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere

During the past two decades, Chile has led the way for privatization of pensions and other programs that were formerly government services. Some advocates of privatizing Social Security in the United States now cite Chile as a model.

The following researchers can be contacted directly for interviews on the economics and politics of Chile, past and present:

TERESA GHILARDUCCI, ghilarducci.1@nd.edu

Teresa Ghilarducci is an associate professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame. She has written about the economics of pension reform in Chile.

FERNANDO LEIVA, fleivalet@aol.com

Fernando Leiva is co-author of "Democracy and Poverty in Chile: The Limits to Electoral Politics."

KATHLEEN VICKERY, kvickery@igc.org

Kathleen Vickery is a longtime researcher on politics and human rights in Chile, where she lived from 1989 to 1995. Vickery recently returned to her home in California after a three-week visit to Chile this summer.

JOHN B. WILLIAMSON, jbw@bc.edu

A professor of sociology at Boston College and author of several books on economic security, John Williamson is an expert on privatization in Chile and its lessons for Social Security in the United States.

For more information, contact Sam Husseini at the Institute for Public Accuracy, (202) 347-0020.