Chile: Left-Wing Women Bringing Down Pinochet, 1973-1990 Essay

Chile: Left-Wing Women Bringing Down Pinochet, 1973-1990
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Chile: Left-Wing Women Bringing Down Pinochet, 1973-1990
During the 1970s, Latin America had characteristic military governments whose ideologies revolved around antipolitics (Bakiner, 2010). Military rulers grabbed power from rightfully elected civilian leaders throughout the region, citing that political classes were responsible for poverty and civil unrest. In 1973, General Augusto Pinochet replaced socialist President Salvador Allende, elected in 1970. According to Bakiner (2010), several factors, including the support of the US government, led to the overthrowing of Allende in 1973. Also, domestic and international factors led to the transition of Chile from a military government to a democratic state. Until 1990, women did not take part in political decisions (Awad, 2011). However, women’s organizations both in the right and the left end of the political arena played critical roles in organizing oppositions to military rule in their country.
Traditionally in Chilean society, women assumed private duties while men were active in political spheres (Bakiner, 2010). However, General Pinochet’s neo-liberal economic strategies and political injustices made women in the country to take collective action in 1989-1990 to champion for democracy in Chile (Awad, 2011). As a result, women began to be actively involved in economic and political tasks outside their home settings. The introduction of the Arpillera movement gave women a chance to take part in administrative tasks significantly in the process of democratization of the country, which involved the removal of the military regime. For instance, as Awad (2010) illustrated, the Mujeres Por la Vida (Women for life) comprising of sixteen women leaders formed in 1983 championed for democratic reforms. Women for life were a movement that mobilized other women to support the end of the military government and raise gender concerns that af...