Mary Helen Spooner – författare

On September 11, 1973, a military coup in Chile overthrew the socialist government of Salvador Allende, beginning an era of political repression that lasted over sixteen years. Mary Helen Spooner takes us behind the Pinochet regime's wall of censorship, silence, and propaganda and provides an inside look at a brutal dictatorship. She traces the personal histories of key political figures, explains why many Chileans supported the regime, and reveals the fate of many of its victims. The 1998 arrest of Augusto Pinochet and resulting events serve as a reminder of his harrowing legacy. In a new preface (Paper edition) Spooner looks at how Chile has changed in the 1990s and places recent events in a larger historical context.

In her acclaimed book "Soldiers in a Narrow Land", Mary Helen Spooner took us inside the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Carrying Chile's story up to the present, she now offers this vivid account of how Chile rebuilt its democracy after 17 years of military rule - with the former dictator watching, and waiting, from the sidelines. Spooner discusses the major players, events, and institutions in Chile's recent political history, delving into such topics as the environmental situation, the economy, and the election of Michelle Bachelet. Throughout, she examines Pinochet's continuing influence on public life as she tells how he grudgingly ceded power, successfully fought investigations into his human rights record and finances, kept command of the army for eight years after leaving the presidency, was detained on human rights charges, and died without being convicted of any of the many serious crimes of which he was accused. Chile has now become one of South America's greatest economic and political successes, but as we find in "The General's Slow Retreat", it remains a country burdened with a painful past.

In her acclaimed book "Soldiers in a Narrow Land," Mary Helen Spooner took us inside the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Carrying Chile's story up to the present, she now offers this vivid account of how Chile rebuilt its democracy after 17 years of military rule - with the former dictator watching, and waiting, from the sidelines. Spooner discusses the major players, events, and institutions in Chile's recent political history, delving into such topics as the environmental situation, the economy, and the election of Michelle Bachelet. Throughout, she examines Pinochet's continuing influence on public life as she tells how he grudgingly ceded power, successfully fought investigations into his human rights record and finances, kept command of the army for eight years after leaving the presidency, was detained on human rights charges, and died without being convicted of any of the many serious crimes of which he was accused. Chile has now become one of South America's greatest economic and political successes, but as we find in "The General's Slow Retreat," it remains a country burdened with a painful past.

In her acclaimed book Soldiers in a Narrow Land, Mary Helen Spooner took us inside the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Carrying Chile’s story up to the present, she now offers this vivid account of how Chile rebuilt its democracy after 17 years of military rule—with the former dictator watching, and waiting, from the sidelines. Spooner discusses the major players, events, and institutions in Chile’s recent political history, delving into such topics as the environmental situation, the economy, and the election of Michelle Bachelet. Throughout, she examines Pinochet’s continuing influence on public life as she tells how he grudgingly ceded power, successfully fought investigations into his human rights record and finances, kept command of the army for eight years after leaving the presidency, was detained on human rights charges, and died without being convicted of any of the many serious crimes of which he was accused. Chile has now become one of South America’s greatest economic and political successes, but as we find in The General’s Slow Retreat, it remains a country burdened with a painful past.

The Cuban health care system has been the focus of much international attention and debate while revealing jarring contrasts. Long publicized as the Cuban Revolution’s greatest accomplishment, it is also a system covered by such a thick wall of political ideology that critical analysis is difficult. Its medical missions in Haiti and other developing countries have generated good will toward the Castro government, even as humanitarian groups in North America and Europe organize shipments of medicines and medical equipment to Cuban clinics and hospitals plagued by shortages of the most basic supplies. No country’s health care system functions independently of its economy, and over the years, Cuba’s medical services and public health indicators have improved at some intervals and declined at others. Cuban authorities have been closing medical facilities and making other cutbacks in the health budget, amid reported outbreaks of cholera and dengue fever in several parts of the country. The Cuban health care system is facing more upheaval as the country begins to look ahead to a post-Castro Cuba and the changes this could entail.

What can be learned from Chile’s experience with severe political polarization? Many view Chilean President Salvador Allende as a tragic victim of heavy-handed U.S. policy thanks to declassified documents from the CIA, State Department, and other U.S. government agencies that show a concerted effort to undermine his government. But the documents also contain revealing accounts of deep political and social divisions that remind us that countries have their own determining factors over which foreign powers have limited influence. No society goes from peaceful to violent overnight, and in recent years a number of Chileans close to the Allende government have expressed circumspection about that period. This book retraces key events of Allende’s three-year government, including the nationalization of Chile’s copper and other industries, Fidel Castro’s 25-day visit, political assassinations, strikes, and shortages. It also examines role of the military toward the end of Allende's administration—lurking in the background is General Augusto Pinochet, Chile’s future dictator and a man whom Allende trusted. Supplementing in-depth research with interviews with some of the few witnesses to key events during that period who are still around to tell the story, Mary Helen Spooner constructs a fresh look at the Allende years.