Power, Coercion, Legitimacy and the Press in Pinochet's Chile a Dissertation Presented to the Faculty Of
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Writing the Opposition: Power, Coercion, Legitimacy and the Press in Pinochet's Chile A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Brad T. Eidahl December 2017 © 2017 Brad T. Eidahl. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled Writing the Opposition: Power, Coercion, Legitimacy and the Press in Pinochet's Chile by BRAD T. EIDAHL has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by Patrick M. Barr-Melej Professor of History Robert Frank Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT EIDAHL, BRAD T., Ph.D., December 2017, History Writing the Opposition: Power, Coercion, Legitimacy and the Press in Pinochet's Chile Director of Dissertation: Patrick M. Barr-Melej This dissertation examines the struggle between Chile’s opposition press and the dictatorial regime of Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (1973-1990). It argues that due to Chile’s tradition of a pluralistic press and other factors, and in bids to strengthen the regime’s legitimacy, Pinochet and his top officials periodically demonstrated considerable flexibility in terms of the opposition media’s ability to publish and distribute its products. However, the regime, when sensing that its grip on power was slipping, reverted to repressive measures in its dealings with opposition-media outlets. Meanwhile, opposition journalists challenged the very legitimacy Pinochet sought and further widened the scope of acceptable opposition under difficult circumstances. Ultimately, such resistance contributed to Pinochet’s defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, initiating the return of democracy. Historians have paid relatively little attention to the relationship between the dictatorship and the opposition press, the critical role opposition journalism played during the Pinochet years, and the importance of opposition journalists in the successful “No” campaign in the 1988 plebiscite. This dissertation makes clear that the opposition media—and opposition newsmagazines in particular—together played a vital role during the period. 4 DEDICATION For Whitney and Owen, who have patiently supported me through this endeavor. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Dedication ........................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 7 Social Change and the Free Press ................................................................................... 9 Policing the Press .......................................................................................................... 12 Hegemony, Legitimacy and Coercion .......................................................................... 15 Approaching the Chilean Case ..................................................................................... 19 The Regime, the Press, and Historiography ................................................................. 27 Chapter One: Contesting Visions of Freedom of the Press in the Era of Mass Politics ... 33 The Right, Freedom of the Press, and the “Gag Law” ................................................. 35 A Revolution in Liberty for the Press ........................................................................... 41 The Chilean Road to Socialism and Freedom of the Press ........................................... 50 The End of the Era of Mass Politics and Press Freedom .............................................. 64 Chapter Two: The Gospel of Accuracy and the Power of Tabloid ................................... 77 Political Presses under the Constitution of 1925 .......................................................... 79 A Journalist in the Gran Ciudad ................................................................................. 104 Journalism and the End of the Era of Mass Politics ................................................... 116 Chapter Three: The Birth of the Opposition Press.......................................................... 120 Establishing Legitimacy through Economic and Legal-institutional Success ............ 123 Discovering the Limits of Participation: Opposition Media ....................................... 137 Journalists Challenging the Regime’s Legitimacy ..................................................... 158 Chapter Four: Apertura and Repression ......................................................................... 165 Apertura and Closing: Pinochet’s Rule 1980-1984 .................................................... 168 Apertura and Coercion for the Opposition Press ........................................................ 180 The Siege and Beyond: A Palace Coup ...................................................................... 194 Chapter Five: The Long Road to the Decisive Year ....................................................... 199 The Loyal Minister ..................................................................................................... 202 The Opposition Press between States of Siege ........................................................... 209 6 Pinochet and Plebiscite Campaign .............................................................................. 218 The Long “No” Campaign of the Opposition Press ................................................... 222 The Decisive Year ...................................................................................................... 234 Epilogue .......................................................................................................................... 241 Remembering those Halcyon Days ............................................................................. 244 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 253 7 INTRODUCTION A country that did not have journalism—as it happened in Chile in 1973— was not a country worth existing. -Arturo Navarro Ceardi, Chilean Journalist In February 1987, Chile’s National Press Association reprinted the inaugural issue of the landmark newspaper La Aurora de Chile, founded in 1812, to commemorate the publication’s 175th anniversary. In that first issue, Father Camilo Henríquez, a dissident priest and Chilean independence figure, wrote, “Oh, if La Aurora de Chile could contribute in any way to the enlightenment of my compatriots! If it were the dawn of more abundant lights, heralding writers better endowed by nature!”1 Writing as the Spanish king remained Napoleon’s prisoner, and inspired by independence movements sweeping through Latin America, he went on to cheer that Spain’s colonial restrictions on many freedoms had effectively ended. Henríquez declared, “The destructive monopoly has ceased; our ports are open to all nations. The books, the machines, the instruments of sciences, and arts go in without the old obstacles.”2 At first glance, the re-release seems innocuous. However, the press association found in Henríquez’s words an effective but guarded way to reference the repressive policies toward the press that were enacted and enforced by the dictatorial regime of General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (1973-1990). In its statement about the re-release of the particular issue of La Aurora de Chile, the association explained, “The legacy of Camilo Henríquez, which is his love of 1 Camilo Henríquez, “Libertad, educación, y el rol de la Aurora de Chile,” La Aurora de Chile, February 13, 1812, Accessed on 5/1/2017, http://www.auroradechile.cl/newtenberg/681/article-3339.html. 2 Camilo Henríquez, “Prospecto,” La Aurora de Chile, February 1812, Accessed on 5/1/2017, http://www.auroradechile.cl/newtenberg/681/article-2418.html. 8 freedom and service to the community, should always be present in our press.”3 Without directly mentioning the Pinochet regime, the association continued, “Whatever has been the circumstances, whoever governs us, whatever the situation, [the press] has tried to champion the right of Chileans to be informed, to inform, and as we have argued, renouncing them would mean renouncing our very existence…Understanding that this objective is above and beyond the natural ideological differences or doctrines of diverse publications that should exist in a pluralistic society.”4 The statement pointed to Chile’s democratic culture and the essential nature of a free press for the common good of the nation. Clearly, the press association chose to reprint La Aurora de Chile as both a reminder of the country’s long republican tradition of freedom of press and as a critique of Pinochet’s military government. Indeed, beginning with La Aurora de Chile, newspapers and newsmagazines played a vital role in both shaping and reflecting the peculiar political culture of Chile’s republic.5 This dissertation examines the opposition press under the Pinochet dictatorship. It argues that due to Chile’s tradition of a pluralistic press, which Chileans valued strongly as a hallmark of the nation’s pluralistic political culture, Pinochet allowed space in which the opposition press could operate. Far from constituting an altruistic or humanitarian measure, Pinochet’s approach grew from his conviction that doing so would perpetuate the notion he was a legitimate president. In what was a