The reaction of CEPAL during the Chilean authoritarian regime: repression, institutional constraints, and evaluations of the economic model

Although CEPAL’s ideas and history have attracted considerable historiographical interest, few were written about the institution’s role in its host country’s authoritarian regime. This paper highlights the complex articulation between the institutional and intellectual dimensions of the CEPAL’s role during the Pinochet regime (1973-1990). Drawing on primary sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile archives, documents from other government institutions and of CEPAL, I argue that, far from acting as a bureaucratic island, the Commission engaged with the economic, political, and social context around it. Despite being an institutional agency of the United Nations, I show it was not immune to government repression. Moreover, CEPAL’s institutional status required it to cooperate with the government on many technical assistance projects. Nevertheless, the Commission positioned itself in the key economic debates of the context, with variations in tone and language.