May 25, 2008

The only thing that matters is the economy....

This is part of an article in a magazine cheering for the Chicago Boys, the group of economist that modeled Pinochet economic policy:

“Pinochet had no clue about economics,” Lüders (former finance minister under Augusto Pinochet) recalls, “and our country was in a desperate situation.” But when Pinochet asked Friedman, who had helped mold Chicago’s economics department, to provide solutions for hyperinflation, the great economist proposed just the right cure: monetary control. Harshly criticized in the U.S. for his “collaboration” with the dictator, Friedman responded by asking whether he should have let the patient—the Chilean economy—die instead.

.................

This is a testimony of man tortured in October 1973 (one month after the military coup), contained in the report to the President prepared by the Commission of Political Imprisonment and Torture:

“They beat me especially in the testicles, with some kind of ruler, giving unbearable pain. All happened while I was completely naked and blindfolded. During the process of torture they also introduced a stick in my anus, and because of that I had internal hurts that made me bleed for several days, both anally and orally”

3 comments:

Pierre-Louis said...

so you are saying Friedman was wrong to do what he did...yes he was...

Dany Jaimovich - Bakary Baludin said...

I cannot really judge Friedman. Probably he was too bussy with his theories to take care of Nixon supporting a military coup in Chile or to hear the claimings on torture and kills (most of the chilean population had no idea about this until the return of democracy). But the one that is absolutly wrong is the asshole that in 2008 is still cheering for Pinochet "great" policies, without mentioning the sufferings that we had for 17 years...

Dany Jaimovich - Bakary Baludin said...

For the interested, a lot of information about the topic is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfkZlbax0Lw
including chileans interrupting Friedman's nobel prize ceremony (7'40'')