This month will mark the 50th anniversary of Augusto Pinochet’s coup in Chile. President Gabriel Boric has made the commemoration of that tragic chapter in Latin American history a major moment in his government, taking several initiatives to atone for the past, but the right is pushing back, at a moment when public opinion about the coup is changing. In 2005, an average of 24% thought that the military was right in carrying out the coup. In 2023, that number has risen to 36%. In the background is Chile’s turbulent recent history: the massive protests that took place in 2019, the pandemic, an economic downturn, a security crisis, the rejection of last year’s proposed constitution and the ongoing attempt at drafting a new one. In such a context, how are we to interpret such poll numbers? What do discussion about the coup say about the state of politics in Chile today? And what does this moment mean for the country’s future? Robert Funk, assistant professor of political science at the University of Chile’s, joins the podcast to discuss.
Subscribe to The Americas Quarterly Podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google and other platforms
Guests:
Robert L. Funk is assistant professor of political science at the University of Chile’s Faculty of Government
Brian Winter is AQ’s editor-in-chief
Supplemental reading:
50 Years Later: He Haunts Us Still by Robert L. Funk
A Last Hope for Chile’s New Constitution? by Emilie Sweigart
AQ Podcast: Explaining Chile’s U-Turn
Fifty Years On, the “Chicago Boys” Remain Difficult to Discuss by Brian Winter
