Attempts to reform the Allende government and the reasons for their failure
В first article cycle, we got to know Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet a little, traced their path to the president of Chile and the army divisional general, respectively. Today we will continue this story and talk about the reforms carried out by the Allende government, the political and economic situation in Chile, as well as the El Tanquetazo rebellion, which became the dress rehearsal for the military coup on September 11, 1973.
Political and economic situation in Chile
The Spaniards came to the territory of the modern state of Chile in the first half of the 718th century. They were mostly white-skinned and fair-haired natives of Asturias and the Basque Country, who proudly called themselves "sons of the Visigoths" and "offspring" of Eurych (son of Theodoric I) and Pelayo (Visigothic king of Asturias, who ruled in 737-XNUMX).
Recall, by the way, that Allende came from a family of Basque nobles, and Pinochet's maternal ancestors came from the Basque Country (and from Brittany, and his great-grandfather's surname was pronounced Pinochet).
Subsequently, these first settlers were diluted with natives of Castile, Germany, France, Italy, Croatia, Ireland and some other European countries. Caucasoids now make up about a third of Chile's population, with Chileans themselves admitting that white and non-white populations have now stabilized.
It is not a matter of racial prejudice, but of differences in the level of well-being and education - among the Caucasoid population, these figures are much higher. The number of whites is quite large, they do not experience a shortage of communication and prefer to marry partners of their own circle. And the widespread use of contraceptives has practically stopped miscegenation.
Look at the photo of the Chilean high school girls sports team:
These are students of one of the elite schools, girls from the upper middle class of Chilean society. Some look like Spaniards or Italians, others look like Germans or Swedes, and one of them on the street could be mistaken for Russian. In general, the appearance is far from the traditional ideas about burning Latin Americans.
And these are students of an ordinary Chilean school:
In Chile, the first settlers met with the warlike tribes of the Mapuche Indians, who are also called Araucans. They did not submit to the Incas and put up serious resistance to the Europeans. One of the commanders of the conquistadors, Pedro de Valdivia, was taken prisoner by them and, in order to "quench his greed", the Araucans poured molten gold into his throat.
It was possible to more or less pacify them only 100 years later - in the middle of the 1870th century, and not by military means, but by means of treaties. Nevertheless, the neighborhood was turbulent, and wars against the Araucans were fought as early as the 1880s and 1920s. Separate clashes continued until the XNUMXs. The descendants of the Mapuche still live apart on their own land. In addition to them, Indians of other tribes live in Chile, the most numerous of them are Aymara and Quechua. Another feature of the Chilean population was the almost complete absence of blacks and mulattoes; they began to appear only at the end of the XNUMXth century as labor migrants and come mainly from Haiti.
In 1810, taking advantage of the favorable situation in Europe (the Napoleonic Wars), the Creoles, who already considered Chile their home country, with the support of mestizos and some local Indians, began a war of independence, which was proclaimed in 1818. The last Spanish troops left Chile in 1826. The new state did not differ in political stability, and until 1970 there were four civil wars, many attempts at a military coup, ten of which were successful. Add to this uneasy relations with neighbors: a peace treaty with Bolivia has not yet been concluded, Peru has territorial claims against Chile, and periodic frictions arise with Argentina.
Since 1886, the Chilean army began to reorganize according to German models (and German officers even headed the General Staff and the headquarters of the armed units). Argentine publisher and journalist Jacobo Timerman even called the Chilean army "the last Prussian army in the world." Numerous German colonies in the center and south of the country also became a source of officer cadres. Since the formation of the state of Chile, its army has not lost a single war, and the military has had the experience of removing legitimately elected presidents from power. The first was Balmaceda in 1891, the second was Arturo Alessandri, who was overthrown by the military in 1924 and returned to his post in 1925.
The army of Chile was a kind of conservative corporation, which, the only one in the country, gave people from poor families at least some opportunity to make a career. Politicians, regardless of their views, were treated with undisguised contempt by the military. Since the 1930s, the army has not interfered in elections or attempted any military coups. After Allende's victory, the commander-in-chief of the Chilean army, René Schneider, and the chief of the general staff, Carlos Prats, came to the conclusion that the army should remain aloof from politics even now. Annoyed by the American Ambassador Corry, in another report, he called them "tin soldiers."
René Schneider, by the way, was mortally wounded by right-wing extremists on October 22, 1970, for refusing to "preempt" Allende's victory by force. But Carlos Prats, who replaced him, managed to keep the army from participating in "political showdowns."
Carlos Prats
Allende after the inauguration and Pinochet accompanying him
Based on reports from Corrie and the leaders of the CIA spy network in that country, the American "Committee of 40" concluded that "the organization of a coup d'état in Chile is currently impossible."
However, at the time of Allende's victory, Chilean society was divided, and the forces of conservatives and supporters of reforms were approximately equal. Moreover, the split was also noted among the left, where the MIR (Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria - "Left Revolutionary Movement") and MAPU (Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitario - "Movement of United People's Action") groups were particularly radical. Many members of these organizations were amnestied by Allende immediately after coming to power.
In response, he received accusations of insufficiently active implementation of reforms and the nickname "Kerensky". In opposition to Allende was the Socialist Party, previously headed by him, which was now led by Carlos Altamirano, who called for a "deepening of the revolution."
In general, the situation in the country was very turbulent and unstable, and already on January 17, 1971, an attempt on Allende was prevented: the police defused bombs at the presidential residence in Valparaiso. And on January 25, millionaire Jorge Ossa was arrested, in whose house they found machine guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition for them.
Reform attempts
It must be said that the socialist Allende, in contrast to the reactionary and counter-revolutionary Yeltsin, who cynically and deliberately deceived his voters, really wanted to improve the situation of ordinary people.
President Salvador Allende
At first it seemed that he was going to succeed. In 1971, Chile's GDP grew by 8,5% (growth in industrial production was 12%, agricultural production - about 6%), unemployment almost halved. In the crisis year of 1972, GDP increased by 5%, and the volume of construction work - by 3,5 times.
However, then problems began, one of the main reasons for which were the sanctions imposed by the United States: President Nixon ordered that everything possible be done so that “the Chilean economy screamed” (in another translation, “squealed”). US banks refused to issue loans to the Allende government, foreign companies curtailed their activities in this country, local entrepreneurs withdrew money abroad, and the budget deficit was growing rapidly. An additional blow to the Chilean economy was caused by the fall in world prices for copper in 1972, caused by the fact that the Americans dumped strategic reserves of this metal, as well as molybdenum, on the world market at dumping prices.
Under these conditions, it was necessary to turn on the economy mode and “tighten the belts”. However, Allende did not want to deceive his voters, and therefore the printing press was turned on. Thus, the top leaders of the United States, who decided to “punish” the Chileans who made the “wrong” choice, are also responsible for the difficult economic situation in which this country finds itself, by starving them to death.
The problem was also that, as we remember, Allende did not have popular support: the society was split into two approximately equal parts. And some of his former allies went over to the opposition to the president. Under such conditions, the reforms of the new government were sharply criticized both from the right and from the left.
Of all Allende's undertakings, the most profound and large-scale reforms were in the agricultural sector. So far, it has been possible to expropriate about 15% of the possessions of large landowners. Allende was able to organize the seizure of another 25% from them - 3,5 million hectares of land were distributed to the peasants. However, they were dissatisfied even with such a high rate, and therefore spontaneous land seizures began in the regions.
On the other hand, large cattle ranches began to drive herds to Argentina, or even send cows to slaughterhouses, and this began even before the inauguration of the socialist president.
In addition, even before Allende's official accession to the presidency, many wealthy Chileans began to close their deposits and convert their savings into dollars, the exchange rate on the black market almost doubled.
But the Catholic Church of Chile officially declared its rejection of capitalism and refused all the securities it had, as well as profitable land and property that belonged to it.
During the first year of Allende's rule, more than 100 large enterprises and 80% of banks were nationalized. It is curious that at that time in Chile, for the first time in the world, an attempt was made to create a computerized economic management system (Cibersyn): enterprises were connected with the presidential palace using telexes. This experiment was curtailed after the fall of the Allende government - in September 1973.
Iron mines, coal mines, saltpeter mines, and hydroelectric power stations were nationalized. After the nationalization of the paper industry, Allende was accused of trying to establish a monopoly on printed publications.
American investors and banks, in whose hands were the shares of many copper-smelting enterprises, refused to accept compensation for the confiscated assets and demanded that the authorities of their country impose more and more economic sanctions against Chile and even direct military intervention.
Meanwhile, the Allende government, fulfilling its election promises, pursued a socially oriented policy, making education and health care more accessible, as well as deciding to provide free milk for children. Wages were significantly increased, new payments and benefits to the poor were established, but in the face of falling production, this led to a shortage of goods and an increase in prices. In 1970, inflation in Chile was 36,1%, in 1971 - 22%, in 1972 - 260,5%, in 1973 - 605,1%. And wage growth in the public sector amounted to 35%, in the private sector - 50%. Attempts to set prices administratively led to the emergence of a black market.
The situation in the country was heating up, now not only representatives of the bourgeoisie were dissatisfied, but also workers, doctors of state hospitals, and teachers. In Chile, strikes, strikes, "marches of housewives" ("marches of empty pots") began. In subsequent years, it turned out that the participants in such marches were not representatives of the urban poor, but by no means starving middle-class ladies, and they were organized by the ultra-right movement "Motherland and Freedom" - in addition to the numerous terrorist attacks that were staged by activists of this organization.
In October 1972, Chile was rocked by the so-called "national strike" organized by the Truck Owners Confederation. Transport workers were supported by trade unions of small traders, lawyers, and many peasant farms. The Soviet Union could not provide significant assistance, since it was a time of "detente of international tension", it was going to sign an agreement on mutual recognition of the GDR and the FRG, lucrative contracts were concluded with Western countries. The Soviet leaders did not want to start a new round of confrontation with the United States over a country located on the other side of the globe.
Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev at a reception in the Kremlin in honor of the signing of the SALT-1 treaty and the treaty on limiting missile defense systems. Photograph 1972
Yes, and the currency was not superfluous: of the 300 million dollars requested by Allende, only 80 million were allocated. As a result, in November 1972, the Chilean government declared a partial default, which accelerated the "capital flight". In a message to Congress in May 1973, Allende was forced to admit that "the policy of redistribution of income was carried out in isolation from the real possibilities of the economy." But at the same time, he still believed that he “made a few good moves”, only “there are no more pawns”.
In a situation of general discontent, he was now forced to rely on the radically inclined circles of the population, making calls for a revolutionary struggle within the country and against international imperialism. In turn, the fight against the government and its supporters was started by the far-right military-political organization "Motherland and Freedom" ("Patria and Libertad"), created in 1971 by Pablo Rodriguez, who later became Pinochet's legal adviser, and then - a lawyer for the dictator and his families. Sometimes up to 30 terrorist attacks were committed per day, causing great economic damage.
It is estimated that by August 1973, more than 200 bridges alone had been destroyed. In addition to them, railway tracks, oil pipelines, electrical substations and power lines were blown up. The cost of the destroyed facilities amounted to 32% of Chile's annual budget. Due to the impossibility of bringing food in the first half of August (winter in Chile) 1972, 10 thousand sheep and 500 thousand heads of cattle died. Constant interruptions in the supply of electricity during the hot season led to the shutdown of refrigeration units and the spoilage of a large amount of food.
And leftist radical groups carried out "expropriations" in shops and banks.
In the parliamentary elections of 1973, the pro-government "People's Unity" received only 44% of the vote. The political opponents of Allende turned out to be, though insignificant, but the majority. The voting results correctly reflected the balance of power in Chile: society was divided into two large camps, neither side of this confrontation wanted to make concessions and seek a compromise.
On August 22, 1973, the Chamber of Deputies, by a majority vote (81 to 47), declared the illegality of the government's actions and accused Allende
Thus, the legitimacy of Allende as president was called into question.
Rebellion of El Tanquetazo
In June 1973, for the first time in many decades, the Chilean military tried to intervene in the political life of the country. The rebels were led by Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Super, commander of the 2nd Tank Regiment stationed in the capital.
Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Super
This officer was known for his far-right views, and his brothers were activists in the infamous Motherland and Freedom association. The anti-government speech of the lieutenant colonel was provoked by rumors of an imminent resignation. Many officers of the regiment joined the conspiracy, among them was Edwin Dimter Bianchi, who would soon take part in the assassination of Victor Jara at the Nacional de Chile stadium.
On the morning of 29 June 16 tanks (one of which even refueled at a civilian gas station along the way) surrounded the presidential palace of La Moneda, which then did not include Allende. Their crews entered into a firefight with the guards. Among the 5 dead then in the palace was the Argentine cameraman Leonardo Henriksen, who managed to photograph the officer who shot him, Hector Bustamante Gomez. Soon the rebels captured part of the palace and the building of the Ministry of Defense. Pablo Rodriguez, the leader of Motherland and Freedom, declared support for the rebellion.
Allende made a radio address to the workers of Santiago, urging them to prepare for street fighting. Finally, the regiments loyal to the government also approached. One of them was headed by the commander-in-chief Carlos Prats, the second - Augusto Pinochet. Prats personally approached each tank, ordering the crews to leave the vehicles. The crew of only one tank did not obey - it was disarmed by soldiers of government troops. Pablo Rodriguez took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy, and then left for Quito, from where he returned after the fall of Allende - in September. At the same time, all the arrested rebels were released.
After the suppression of this rebellion, Allende ordered the disarmament of non-governmental formations, including "workers' cordons" and detachments of left-wing organizations allied to him. As a result, during the rebellion, his supporters were unable to resist the army units.
General Prats, appointed Minister of Defense on August 9, 1973, having been obstructed by the generals, dissatisfied with his participation in the suppression of the rebellion, resigned on August 23, 1973. In his place, he recommended Augusto Pinochet.
Pinochet and Allende in August 1973
After a military coup organized by a former subordinate, Prats emigrated to Argentina, where on September 24, 1974, he and his wife died as a result of a terrorist attack organized by members of the Chilean intelligence.
In the next article, we will talk about the military coup on September 11, 1973.
Information