The point to take from this sordid story is that neoliberal economic policies were so obviously destructive to people’s lives that it was very difficult to get them implemented in a democratic government. In most cases, the only way to bring them in was through military dictatorship and a state terror programme that would quash resistance wherever it emerged. In order to aggressively deregulate the economy, you first have to aggressively regulate the political sphere. Total market freedom requires total political unfreedom, even to the extent of mass imprisonment and concentration camps.
