That's not at the center of the argument here, it being economic, but sure, let's discuss it. How many people has Cuba, which was the model for Chilean socialism, imprisoned, and killed? It's far higher. While still nowhere like Stalinism, which in fairness to Allende it looked unlikely to become, Cuban socialism is pretty grim.

I sometimes defend Pinochet, mostly economically. So do millions of other Chileans. I'd guess about half. Hell, I know people who had champagne ready for when the coup came about. Did people die? Yes. Lawfully? No. But Allende's government had already been declared illegal by the Chilean Supreme Court, and was rapidly turning into Cuban-style communism. Pinochet didn't make the stakes higher than they already were.

And economically, which was what we were talking about, again, it was a case of taxing less and spending less that worked very well.