Supporting Repression: Multinational Banks in Chile

In: Race & class: a journal on racism, empire and globalisation, Band 20, Heft 2, S. 111-128

Abstract

The economic & social human rights violations in Chile under the Pinochet regime caused wide-spread cutbacks in foreign aid to Chile, starting in mid-1976. Chile's already huge debt, combined with the cutbacks, sent the country into even more of a desperate state, with the experience of a depression which resulted in more human rights violations. The presence of multinational banks in Chile subsequently became the prime lending source, & Chile is now able to struggle upwards. However, the saving of Pinochet's junta by multinational consortium investment & loans has only served to maintain the human rights policies of the regime. Detailed historical summary of United States & international relations with Chile is presented, with data on previous foreign aid & recent multinational loan amounts. C. Strong.