Guzmán clearly drew on Hayek in distinguishing between authoritarianism and totalitarianism in order to justify a state's use of repressive measures when they are required, and deployed tools to shield a free market order against perceived totalitarian ( = socialist) tendencies. During his second visit in Chile, Hayek had clarified his understanding of (neo)liberalism in this regard in an interview for El Mercurio: "A dictatorship can restrict itself and a dictatorship which deliberatively is restricting itself can be more liberal in its policies than a democratic assembly which has no limits" (Hayek 1981). Not surprisingly, Hayek went to some lengths to bestow legitimacy on the new Chilean constitution, since he had been personally consulted by the Chilean government in the process leading up to the final draft. During his first visit to Chile in 1978, Pinochet had invited him to a personal meeting. Hayek's influence extended beyond the merely personal, however. One member of the commission in charge of drafting the constitution, Carlos Cáceres, was a close follower of Hayek and eventually joined the MPS in 1980 (Walpen and Plehwe 2001).

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 1592