Factional splits within the junta delayed the neoliberal turn

Evidence

With regard to a new neoliberal design of the institutional order, signals were mixed during the first two years of the new regime. The economic policy agenda was still dominated by a gradualist strategy advocating a modern “mixed” economy. Internal conflicts within the junta concerning the appropriate response to the economic situation were particularly visible between the navy and the air force, with the air force taking charge of labor and social affairs. The navy had the closest contact with neoliberal cadres, whereas air force commander Gustavo Leigh, Pinochet’s principal rival for control of the junta, was the most prominent supporter of corporatist policies and sometimes was even called a Keynesian (Valenzuela 1993; Kurtz 1999, 409). Leigh was eventually expelled from the junta in 1978. Because of the internal differences, in the early years the regime apparently feared that a radical neoliberal shock program would harm important pro-coup social actors and hence threaten the long-term viability of political restructuring (Valdivia and de Zárate 2003, chapter 3). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1569

Categorization

• XREF: The navy-air force split and Leigh’s corporatism resembles factional dynamics in other authoritarian regimes where economic ideology was hostage to internal power struggles. — connects to: Unity among rival nationalist factions proved fragile and brief — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 122
• QUESTION: What exactly were Leigh’s corporatist economic policies, and did his expulsion in 1978 mark the decisive turning point toward full shock therapy?

Broader Connections

• Unity among rival nationalist factions proved fragile and brief #exemplifies (0.85) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 122