Social capitalism and Christian democracy

2010 ◽  
pp. 174-191
1971 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-341
Author(s):  
Michael J. Francis ◽  
Hernan Vera-Godoy

Increasingly alone as a stable republican nation in Latin America, Chile has long been a favorite subject for North American scholars and journalists. Every six years, as it faces a presidential election, the world press breathlessly rediscovers that this long slim country confronts its public problems within the framework of a developed, democratic political system. When in 1964 Chile placed a young idealistic party in power behind Eduardo Frei, an unquestionably intelligent figure of austere but charismatic bearing, this country became a favorite model for the advocates of democratic reformism in Latin America and soon was receiving the highest United States foreign aid per capita in Latin America. Thus it came as a shock that the Chilean electorate could turn its back on Frei's administration in 1970 by favoring the rightist and Marxist candidates. For those who saw in the government of Frei a basic alternative to Marxist models for Latin America, the free election of an avowed Marxist as the President of Chile presents additional problems.


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