Well, its a topic that I have to write about, but to be totally honest, it is a topic that I am quite embarrassed to say my country was involved in.
In 1970, Salvador Allende was elected the President of Chile. This was extremely important because Salvador Allende was a member of the Socialist Party and a Marxist. Thus he was the first democratically elected communist president in world history. The United States was not happy with this outcome because they were worried that it could cause an "epidemic" of communist regimes in South America and because the consequences were great for American companies and interests in Chile.
It also needs to be said that this election was a fairly close one. The only reason Allende won the election was because he represented a coalition of three political parties: the communists, the socialists, radicals, and social democrats. This coalition was called the Popular Unity Party (UP). The vote in 1970 was split in three ways between the UP coalition, the Christian Democrats, and the Conservatives. Allende did not win a plurality of votes instead only 36% of the population actually supported the UP coalition. As you can imagine winning only 35% of the population through a coalition of 4 parties makes governing very difficult. He was confirmed by the Chilean Parliament because they worked with the Christian Democrats to gain the votes needed in the confirmation vote.
Part of these negotiations was that all now 5 parties would share in the governing process. Allende was required to have a certain number of people in his administration from each party. This created an administration which was not unified and did not work cohesively. Allende immediately worked to instill his political policies, including land reform (taking land from wealthy land owners and giving it to the poor) and also nationalizing the copper industry (especially the copper mines that were controlled by American companies).
Not surprisingly the United States immediately denounced the new Chilean government and started to raise economic sanctions against the country.
At first the Allende policies had a very good effect on the economy including increased industrial and GDP growth. This did not however sustain itself and by 1972, Chile experienced inflation equivilent to 140%. This coupled with mandated prices set by the government created a huge economic mess. Literally the Chilean system looked to be falling apart at the seams.
If you believe that the country was polarized in 1970 during the election, then in 1973 after the economic crisis you would believe that the country looked super, super polarized. With a stalemate between the three parties and no answer to the economic crisis. The military deposed Allende, who committed suicicde, during a brutal attack on the Presidential Palace on September 11, 1973. Here is a CBS news report from September 11, 1973.
Today, after CIA and White House documents have been released we see that the US was involved in the planning and aid of the military coup de'tat lead by the Chilean military. Here is a good youtube video about the US involvement of the Coup.
This coup de'tat eventually yielded the rule of Augusto Pinochet who became dictator and served as the leader of Chile until 1990. His administration and rule is marked by an application of extremely conservative neo-liberal economic policies and a total disregard for human rights.
Every year on September 11, the country has numerous protests around the city and around the country. In many years Chilean police forces are killed by protesters. Many colleges, high schools, etc. close for the day because the threat of protests are too high to legitimize a normal day.
I did leave the apartment on September 11, 2008 and everything during the day was normal. It wasn't until that night that we saw on television the protests. It looked extremely scary with fires and barricades. It was quite the site to see. When we ask everyone about the protests and why exactly these people protest, they really don't have an answer. The people that are protesting are not protesting the Pinochet government (Pinochet is now dead) or protesting to remember their lost loved ones. Instead these people seem to be protesting for the simple reason that they can. This year 3 Chilean police officers were in the hospital with severe wounds, however I don't think anyone died.
If you want to read more about the Chilean Coup of 1973 here is a link to wikipedia.
In this article you will find quotations by American leaders who helped fund, plan, and aid the Chilean Coup. I included two of my favorite here:
"I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves." - Henry Kissinger (Nixon Secretary of State)
"Make the economy scream [in Chile to] prevent Allende from coming to power or to unseat him" — Richard Nixon (US President to the CIA)
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