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Abstract: Chile, in the early 1970’s, carried on its books a very conventional antitrust law. This law, however, fell rapidly into disuse after its promulgation and is an almost-defunct piece of legislation moldering in the back offices of the Chilean bureaucracy. This article presents an analysis of antitrust’s rise and fall in Chile, which explains much about the legal environment in which the economy functions in Chile and peripherally sheds some light on why so many of the Latin American countries have antitrust laws and do not apply them. It concludes that, beyond its probable broadening effect on the perspective of Chile’s price-control administrators, it is difficult to imagine any current function of Chilean antitrust. It is also not likely to be modified by practical application to a new purpose or form unintended by its drafters. It appears most likely to be ignored, although it may provide perspective for creating a competition policy in a larger geographical context, that of either the Latin American Free Trade Association or the Andean Group.
Keywords: Anti-Trust, Chile, Anti-Monopolies Commission
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