Utilitarianism In Chile

Although today, Chile is known as one of the biggest economic and political powerhouses in Latin America, it wouldn’t be where it is today without its long and complicated history. In the 16th century, the Spanish commenced the colonization of modern day Chile, and Pedro de Valdivia established the capital Santiago in 1541. However, the Mapuche people greatly resisted this invasion and weren’t subdued until the 1880’s. Chile declared independence in 1810 following the overthrow of the king of Spain. Official independence from Spain didn’t happen until 1818: when Bernardo O’Higgins became the supreme leader of Chile. However, he was forced to resign by 1823, over civil strife surrounded around anticlericalism and other conflicts between differing

Allende had died in an assault of the presidential palace. The oligarchy and a good portion of the middle class supported this dictatorship. Their support was rooted in the belief that it represented a transitional phase that was needed to return to life before 1970. They soon realized that the military dictatorship had its own agenda, which included repressing all left wing and center political entities. The Christian Democratic, National, and Radical Democracy parties were not allowed to function and the Communists, Socialists, and Radicals were outright

The military dictatorship promoted free enterprise and the creation of a new entrepreneurial class, but Chile saw little economic improvement. Pinochet’s regime caused unemployment, decreased wages, and in turn Chile suffered lower standards of living within the middle and lower classes. After a heavily controlled vote in 1980, a new constitution was adopted and Pinochet’s term was extended by eight years. The constitution forbid a transition to civilian government during this term and established a referendum at the end of the term to dictate Pinchot’s second term. Economic and political instability ensued in late 1980s, with increasing pressure for governmental change. A coalition between leftist and centrist parties formed the Command for No (Comando por el No) and then on October 5, 1988, voters rejected Pinochet. Negotiations commenced between Command for No and the government for constitutional changes that national referendum later approved in July of 1989. The 2000’s were an opportunity for Democracy to strengthen in Chile. In 2000 Ricardo Lagos of the CPD was elected the country’s first socialist president since Allende. With Lagos’s administration, the economy improved and numerous social reforms were enacted. Lagos was succeeded by another socialist, Michelle Bachelet (also CPD) who in 2006 defeated conservative billionaire businessman Sebastián Piñera to