Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende Gossens (July 26, 1908 – September 11, 1973) was
president of Chile from 1970 until 1973, when he was overthrown in a bloody
military coup during which he died.

A socialist President

Allende was born in Valparaiso, Chile and was a medical doctor by
profession. He was also an ardent Marxist and an outspoken critic of the
capitalist system. Allende declared his intention for far-reaching socialist
reforms, but he remained vague on how exactly he planned to implement them.
His political opponents accused him of planning to turn Chile into a
Communist dictatorship, but Allende dismissed such allegations.

Prior to being elected president, Allende co-founded Chile's socialist
party, and served as cabinet minister and Chairman of the Chilean Senate.
After running in vain for president three times, in 1970, he obtained a
narrow plurality with 36% of the vote as leader of the Unidad Popular
coalition party.

At the time, the United States had substantial economic interests in Chile
(through ITT, Anaconda, Kennecott, and other large corporations), and the
Nixon administration was strongly opposed to Allende. It attempted to
prevent his election by financing political parties that opposed him
(including the moderate Chilean Communist Party).

That having failed, the CIA ran operations after the election to try and
incite Chile's outgoing president Eduardo Frei to veto Allende's
Congressional ratification as the new president. The CIA's plan was to
persuade the Chilean Congress to appoint Allende's runner-up,
Conservative-Liberal Party candidate Jorge Alessandri Rodr’guez as
president. Under the plan, Alessandri would promptly resign his office
immediately after assuming it, and call new elections. Eduardo Frei would
then be constitutionally able to run again (the Chilean Constitution forbids
more than two consecutive terms), and presumably easily defeat Allende.

However, in the end Congress rebuked the plan and chose to appoint Allende
president, on the condition that he would sign a "Statute of Constitutional
Guarantees" affirming that his socialist reforms would not undermine any
element of the Chilean Constitution.

After his inauguration, Allende began to carry out his platform of
implementing socialist programs in Chile. Many corporations were
nationalized, and a new "excess profit tax" was created. The government
announced a moratorium on foreign debt payments and defaulted on debts held
by international creditors and foreign governments. These moves angered
middle- and upper-class elements and polarized the country.

Throughout his presidency, Allende remained at odds with the Chilean
Congress, which was dominated by the conservative Christian Democratic
Party. The Christian Democrats continued to believe Allende was leading
Chile toward a Cuban-style dictatorship and sought to overturn many of his
more radical constitutional reforms. Some members even called for the
normally apolitical Chilean military to stage a coup to "protect the
constitution."

In 1971, following a month-long visit of Cuban president Fidel Castro, with
whom he had a close friendship, Allende announced the re-establishment of
diplomatic relations with Cuba, despite a previously established
Organization of American States convention that no nation in the Western
Hemisphere would do so.

Allende's socialist policies combined with his close contacts with Cuba
caused panic among high-ranking members of the United States government that
Chile was in danger of becoming a "communist state" and joining the Soviet
sphere of influence. The Nixon adminstration began exerting economic
pressure on Chile via multilateral organizations, and continued to back his
opponents in Congress. Allende's presidency was further complicated by
radical Marxist forces within his coalition of supporters who were pushing
for an even more rapid implementation of socialism in Chile.

The coup

By September, 1973, high inflation and shortages had plunged the country
into near chaos. The Chilean military led by General Augusto Pinochet,
staged a coup against Allende. During the capture of the Presidential
Palace, Allende was said by his personal doctor to have committed suicide,
with a submachine gun given to him by Fidel Castro, although others believe
he was killed in the defense of the Presidential Palace.

Ironically, the coup that many Chileans hoped would protect the constitution
from futher destruction actually accelerated the process. Many human rights
abuses ensued, leaving more than three thousand Chileans dead or missing and
plunging the country into a long period of dictatorship.

In the aftermath of the coup, many Allende supporters began to allege that
the president's overthrow had been the result of an American orchestrated
scheme. Although the CIA denies having actively supported the coup and
claims that it was merely informed of it, recently declassified documents
have indicated that the CIA was much more directly involved in the coup than
it has previously admitted.

Quotes about Allende

   * "Allende is seeking the totality of power, which meant Communist
     tyranny disguised as the dictatorship of the proletariat." -- Statement
     from the National Assembly of the Chilean Christian Democratic party,
     May 15, 1973

   * "As for the bourgeois state, we are seeking to overcome it, to
     overthrow it." -- President Allende, speaking to French Journalist
     Regis Debray in 1970

   * "Not a nut or bolt shall reach Chile under Allende. Once Allende comes
     to power we shall do all within our power to condemn Chile and all
     Chileans to utmost deprivation and poverty." -- Edward Korry, US
     Ambassador to Chile, upon hearing of Allende's election

   * "Of all of the leaders in the region, we considered Allende the most
     inimical to our interests. He was vocally pro-Castro and opposed to the
     United States. His internal policies were a threat to Chilean
     democratic liberties and human rights." -- Henry Kissinger, Years of
     Renewal

   * "I don't see why we have to let a country go Marxist just because its
     people are irresponsible." -- Henry Kissinger

   * "The Popular Unity government represented the first attempt anywhere to
     build a genuinely democratic transition to socialism — a
     socialism that, owing to its origins, might be guided not by
     authoritarian bureaucracy, but by democratic self-rule." North American
     Council on Latin America (NACLA) editorial, July 2003