A three-year-old Marxist government was overthrown in 1973
by a dictatorial military regime led by Augusto PINOCHET, which ruled
until a freely elected president was installed in 1990. Sound economic
policies, first implemented by the PINOCHET dictatorship, led to
unprecedented growth in 1991-97 and have helped secure the country's
commitment to democratic and representative government. Growth slowed
in 1998-99, but will likely recover in 2000.