Chile: A Perfect Dictatorship

Is perfection an imaginary ideal, or does it really exist? In many cases, perfection is perceptive; it depends on how one discerns the idea of it. Some may argue that perfection is nonexistent, all things will eventually fall short of its goals, and that nothing is without flaws. On the contrary, some may argue that perfection is a scarce form of existence that only few entities attain. In the case of Chile, perfection existed in one of the most unexpected forms; Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. A perfect dictatorship is a dictatorship that functions as one, but allows the countries citizens to believe that they have a say politically (elections). It allows for the people to believe that the dictator has the bests interests of the people and …show more content…
After being named chief executive, Pinochet established a “…personal, ministry-level staff under Colonel Covarrubias, which gained control of the paper flow and signature routing for regime orders” (Constable, Valenzuela 66). Pinochet established such, to combat the authority of the other commander’s staffs (each commander was entitled to a staff). His sadistic, manipulative personality is a perfect example of how he ran the perfect dictatorship. In December of 1977 the UN sanctioned Chile for their abuse of human rights to their citizens. In response to this, Pinochet called a national referendum to establish a legitimacy to his regime. A month later citizens were asked to vote “yes” or “no” to the statement, “Faced with international aggression launched against our fatherland, I support President Pinochet in his defense of the dignity of Chile and reaffirm the legitimacy of the government…” (Constable, Valenzuela 68). With the election being rigged (blank ballots were counted as yes) Pinochet was able to claim victory. Two things were established with his political victory. First, Pinochet made it seem as though the people had a legitimate political say in the election. He made it appear as though he had the best interests of the people and the country. As mentioned earlier, these are both key components of how a perfect dictatorship is ran. Secondly, Pinochet made it appear as though the people were supportive of him. Thus, he established a legitimacy to his dictatorship both domestically and abroad. After the victory, Pinochet proclaimed “Mr. Politicians, this is the end of you! Today there is a new Chile (Constable, Valenzuela 68). In fact, there was a new Chile. This new Chile would be continued to be ruled by Pinochet, with an iron fist, for the next 12