Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet
On September 11, 1973, one of the most high-profile and famous military coups of modern times took place in Chile. The legally elected President of Chile, Salvador Allende, was overthrown by conspirators led by the Minister of Defense of this country, Augusto Pinochet. Allende, to whom the rebels guaranteed free exit from the country, defended himself to the end in his palace. Being wounded, he preferred to shoot himself with a Kalashnikov assault rifle given to him by Fidel Castro - and entered history a hero and a martyr, an eternal reproach to Yanukovych and other cowards like him.
Allende with a machine gun given to him
Curiously, Allende's parents belonged to the upper strata of Chilean society. His grandfather, Ramon Allende Padin, was the chief physician of the emergency hospital in Valparaiso, professor, founder of the medical corps of the Chilean army, which he led during the Pacific War of 1879-1884. And also a senator and a member of the Free and Justice Masonic Lodge, of which he became the Grand Master a few months before his death. Later, the father of our hero and Salvador Allende himself joined this lodge. At the funeral, the coffin with the body of Ramon Allende Padina was carried by two future presidents of Chile - José Manuel Balmaceda and Ramon Barros Luco.
Ramon Allende
Salvador Allende's father was a successful left-wing lawyer. A prominent position was occupied by another relative of the future president, Ramon Allende Castro, who was deputy minister of the interior, international relations and justice.
Pinochet was the eldest of six children in a poor family of a small customs official. The only thing in common between him and Salvador Allende was that both were born in the city of Valparaiso, in which the largest seaport of this country is located. However, they chose the roles in this unimagined high tragedy for themselves, as if in defiance of fate and circumstances. Let's get to know them better.
Youth
Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens was born on June 26, 1908. All doors were open to a native of an influential and wealthy noble family of Basque origin.
Coat of arms of the Allende family
He studied at a prestigious school with the loud name "Metropolitan National Institute". In the year of her graduation (1924) he became the national champion in decathlon among youths. In 1925 he served in the elite Cuirassier Regiment, then in 1926 he entered the medical faculty of the National University of Santiago. Here he became one of the leaders of the leftist student organization "Offensive" and a member of the University Council. For his activities, he was even briefly arrested in 1931.
In 1933, at the age of 24, he and his friend Vallejo (husband of Allende's sister and brother of one of the leaders of the leftist junta in the 1930s) were among the founders of the Socialist Party of Chile. Allende headed its branch in Valparaiso (later he will take the post of general secretary). Along the way, in 1935, he also became the editor of the Medical Bulletin of Chile, the author of the book The Organization of National Health - and in July of the same year he was sent into exile in the village of Caldera for anti-government activities, returned in November. And in March of the following year, Allende was at the head of the left-wing Popular Front in his hometown of Valparaiso.
Arrests and exile did not interfere with his political career, and perhaps even contributed to its successful development. In 1937, Allende had already become a member of the National Congress, in 1939 - Minister of Health and Social Security. Already a minister, during the work to eliminate the consequences of the 1939 earthquake, he met his future wife, Hortensia Bussi Soto, who was involved in helping the victims. In 1940 they entered into a marriage, in which Hortensia gave birth to three daughters.
Salvador Allende and Hortensia Bussi
The granddaughter of El Salvador and Hortensia, Maya Alejandra Fernandez Allende, has been the Minister of Defense of Chile since March 1, 2022.
Maya Alejandra Fernandez Allende
In Congress, Salvador Allende initiated the Social Security Act, which was passed by Congress in 1940.
In 1942, he left the post of minister and headed the Socialist Party.
And what was Augusto Jose Ramon Pinochet Ugarte doing at that time, who was 6 years younger than Allende (born November 25, 1915)?
He could not even dream of such a rapid “upward movement”. As we remember, Pinochet came from a poor family of a petty customs official. The ancestors of his father once came to Chile from Brittany, his mother - from the Basque Country. As a child, the boy was hit by a car, and he almost became disabled: the doctors seriously considered the possibility of amputating his leg. At an early age, he was impressionable. The episode that happened to him in the cinema while watching a silent film is indicative: after seeing the scene of execution, the future general and bloody dictator climbed under an armchair and shouted at the whole hall.
But in the future, his character changed, and at school Pinochet often received reprimands for various pranks. Service in the army gave at least some hope of breaking into people, but the beginning of a military career was the most ordinary and did not promise a special take-off. When the 30-year-old Allende became a minister in the government of President Pedro Aguirre Cerda, the 24-year-old Pinochet was a junior lieutenant and did not even serve in the capital, but in the provinces.
Young officer Augusto Pinochet
He tried to compensate for the shortcomings of his education (he graduated from an ordinary Catholic school, and then an ordinary, not elite, military school) by reading books on history, geography and military affairs. In 1943, 28-year-old Pinochet married Lucia Iriart, a 20-year-old girl from a wealthy family.
Augusto Pinochet and his wife Lucia
Lucia's parents were against this marriage, but he turned out to be quite happy. The wife fully shared the views of Pinochet, was an active supporter of a military coup, in her homeland she is known by the nickname "Iron Lady of Chile". In this marriage, 5 children were born.
Only in 1948, 11 years after graduating from college, did Pinochet enter the military academy.
That is, before us, on the one hand, is a brilliant intellectual from a wealthy family professing liberal views. Already after Allende's victory in the presidential election, The New York Times on November 1, 1970 could read:
"Unlike most communist trade union leaders and parliamentarians with their rough manners, dull speeches and dark business suits, Allende has something of a dandy and a ladies' man."
And Allende himself proudly declared:
"I was accused of everything, but not that I was a thief or a homosexual."
On the other hand, we see an unremarkable person from the lowest layer of the middle class - a hard worker who does not have connections and patrons, without special abilities, but conscientious, executive and disciplined.
Salvador Allende on his way to the presidency of Chile
Four times - from 1945 to 1969, Allende was elected to the Senate and was its speaker in 1966-1969. In 1949–1963 he was acting president of the Medical College of Chile. He ran for president in 1952, 1958 and 1964, coming in second twice. In 1954, Allende first visited the USSR, in 1959 - Cuba, where he met Castro and Che Guevara, in 1969 - Vietnam, where he met with Ho Chi Minh.
Salvador Allende and Fidel Castro
In 1970, after becoming the candidate of the Popular Unity coalition of left-wing parties (in the establishment of which the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile, Luis Corvalan, took part in the establishment), Allende finally won them.
Luis Corvalan and Salvador Allende on postage stamps of the GDR
The Americans, who did not want to receive a “second Cuba” in South America, watched the situation in Chile with concern.
Santiago, the inscription on the wall: "Cuba is not alone"
To counteract the election of Allende in the United States, a special coordinating "Committee of 40" was created. It was chaired by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and its members were Attorney General John Mitchell, Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Thomas Moorer, State Department Representative Alexis Johnson, and Undersecretary of Defense David Packard.
It was the "Committee of 40" who approved all the covert operations of the CIA. To finance the pro-American forces, 3 million dollars were allocated (much more full-weighted than now). Another 700 thousand dollars were spent by private American companies that supported mainly Allende's main rival, Jorge Alessandri. Half of this amount was allocated by the International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation. At the same time, the Soviet Union, before the elections, provided assistance to the "People's Unity" in the amount of approximately 500 thousand dollars. And it was Allende who took the first place in these elections.
However, his victory was not indisputable and unconditional. The fact is that he received a relative majority of votes - 36,3%. Right-wing National Party candidate Jorge Alessandri (President of Chile 1958-1964) received 35% of conservative voters. The representative of the Christian Democrats, Radomiro Tomic, who advocated moderate and gradual reforms, was supported by 30% of those who voted.
Salvador Allende, Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez, Radomiro Tomic
According to Chilean law, if no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the final decision was to be made by Congress, choosing between Allende and Alessandri, who received the most votes. Radomiro Tomic was a good acquaintance and even friend of Allende. It was his support that was decisive. He declared in parliament the recognition of Allende's victory.
The right, realizing that force was not on their side, did not dare to join the fight, although among their supporters, supported by the Americans, voices were heard calling for the use of force. The US Ambassador to Chile, E. Corry, in his report, described this situation as a "heavy defeat." And President Nixon, upon receiving the news of Allende's victory, according to Kissinger, "was simply beside himself." $350 was allocated to counter Allende's presidency.
Allende on the cover of Time magazine October 19, 1970 - "The Marxist Threat to America"
Men - supporters of Alessandri at that time took to the streets in underwear with signs "I'm an idiot" and "That's how I should be", their wives dressed in black - "as a sign of mourning for the fate of Chile."
Before officially taking office, Allende was effectively denied state protection. Once he had to fire his rifle into the air from a balcony to scare off an aggressive crowd, and his beloved daughter and assistant Beatrice was almost crushed by a car driven by a supporter of the losing right. As a result, Allende made his residence a country villa, the protection of which was taken over by a “detachment of personal friends”, consisting of Cubans sent to Chile by Fidel Castro. Initially, there were several dozen people in this detachment, then several hundred.
So, having received the approval of the deputies of parliament, "the first democratically elected Marxist" entered the presidency of Chile. He immediately established diplomatic relations with the PRC, Cuba and the GDR, and, fulfilling his election promises, began to carry out long-planned reforms.
Career of Augusto Pinochet
Pinochet meanwhile graduated from the military academy. For some time he taught at a military school, which he himself once graduated from. He attended a course of lectures at the School of Law of the University of Chile and in 1953 received a bachelor's degree. Then he published the book "Geography of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru". Later he wrote three more: "An Essay on the Study of Chilean Geopolitics", "Geopolitics" and "Tarapac's Campaign". In 1956 he was sent to Ecuador to help establish a local military academy.
At the end of 1959, Pinochet received command of the regiment, in 1963 he was appointed deputy director of the Military Academy. He showed no interest in politics at that time. Reports of Pinochet's participation in the shooting of protesting workers at the El Salvador mine in 1967 are not confirmed in historical documents. In addition, Pinochet did not command any military unit at that time. Pinochet became a brigadier general only in 1969, and received the rank of divisional general already under President Allende - in 1971. Then he became the commander of the garrison of the capital of Chile - Santiago.
General Pinochet at a military parade, photo 1971
In the next article we will talk about the social, economic and political situation in Chile, the role of the army and the reforms of the government of Salvador Allende, and then we will talk about the El Tanquetazo rebellion, the military coup on September 11, 1973 and the fake "economic miracle" that is not really happened in Chile during the reign of Pinochet.
Information