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Chileans remain deeply divided on his legacy. Some see him as a brutal dictator who ended democracy and led a regime characterized by torture and favoritism towards the rich, while others believe that he saved the country from communism and led the transformation of the Chilean economy into Latin America's most stable and fastest growing economy.
After a downturn at the end of the [[1960s]], Chile's economy entered a period of growth when Allende was elected. However, by the time the coup took place in 1973, the economy was in disarray. This was not entirely due to natural causes: in 1999 the US government released heavily censored versions of more than 1,100 previously classified documents from the CIA, defence and state department archives which detail efforts to provoke violent protests and economic chaos in Chile as part of US efforts to destabilise Allende's regime. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,260382,00.html]
Things initially grew worse during Pinochet's rule. Unemployment, 4.4% in 1973, increased to 19.9% in 1976, and peaked at 30.4% in 1983 [http://www.unc.edu/home/pconway/aea2000/Chilemac.pdf]. Although Pinochet's reforms attracted massive foreign investment, very little was invested in production. The price of Chile's exports fell and wages were reduced. [[Income distribution]] became more regressive, and both relative and actual poverty increased. Homelessness and malnutrition, which had been reduced under Allende, became more widespread, and there was a sharp increase in the [[infant mortality rate]]. Many small businesses went bankrupt whilst the economy, including newly-privatised industries, came to be dominated by monopolies with connections to the junta and by foreign corporations. [[Inflation]] peaked in 1976, but was then slashed, and the economy started to grow again towards the end of the [[1970s]]. Although unemployment remained high, poverty started to fall. However, a second recession hit Chile in 1982, and the economy did not start to grow again until 1986. Unemployment also started to decline, and had fallen to 7.8% when Pinochet left power in 1990.
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