Salvador Allende: how to overthrow the "presidential comrade"
Forty-two years ago General Augusto Pinochet came to power in Chile
11 September 1973 was overthrown by Salvador Allende as the result of a coup, the first and only “comrade president” of Chile.
We dedicate this material to the anniversary of the death of Allende, especially since the important aspects of the 1973 events of the year have not lost their relevance so far.
Let's start with the fact that in the election for the head of state 1970 of the year, the candidate from the left bloc “National unity” Salvador Allende scored 36,61%. The representative of the right of the National Party, Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez - 35,27%, and finally, the third place was held by the leader of the Christian Democratic Party Radomir Tomich - 28,11%.
Since no politician received the majority of votes, the National Congress (parliament) was to elect the head of state. Enlisting the support of the Christian Democrats, Allende became president of the country.
In any case, his victory was very uncertain, and the opponents kept their weight in the circles of the ruling elite, big business, and most importantly - in the army. Also, we should not forget that a significant part of the officer corps of Chile was trained by instructors from the USA. Pinochet himself, the man who overthrew Salvador Allende, worked for a while as a military attaché in Washington.
Despite the obviously precarious situation, Allende undertook to carry out a large-scale program of radical transformations that sharply touched the interests of very influential groups.
Land reform has quarreled with Allende latifundisty, the nationalization of natural resources - with foreign countries, and especially the United States, which had a large share in the primary sector of the Chilean economy.
Finally, the financial policy of Allende repeated the classic excesses of the Soviet-style socialist regimes. That is, the money pumping against the background of price containment led to an excess of demand over supply and emptying of store shelves. Inflation rates also jumped strongly, and then the world prices for Chile's main export commodity, copper, also fell.
Finally, on the international scene, Allende began a rapprochement with Moscow and Havana, which further angered Washington.
Note that Allende, like Yanukovych, did not control the media, most of which was in the hands of the oligarchic structures of bankers, landowners, metallurgists, etc. And after all, they were the first to suffer from nationalization, in many cases taking the form of real expropriation itself.
Thus, there were excellent prerequisites for the overthrow of the “comrade president”. The coup, of course, will be committed by the security forces, but camouflage will also be organized. This turned out to be easy, since there were also enough people among the broad strata of the population who were dissatisfied with the policies of Allende.
The offensive against the president began at the end of 1972 of the year. The rightists are leading their supporters to the streets, riots break out here and there with arson of transport, and strikes are organized. The media are conducting an aggressive campaign to discredit Allende, accusing him of all sins, including the intention to abolish democracy.
The leader of the right opposition Onofre Harpa is sent to the United States, where he consults with representatives of the American establishment.
It is difficult to say what Harpa specifically agreed on, but soon the opposition began a powerful transport strike that would paralyze the whole country and force Allende to resign. The main role in it was played by the Confederation of truck owners, who controlled the transportation of a significant part of the goods in the country.
The president acted decisively. He introduced a state of emergency in almost all regions of Chile, demanded the confiscation of transport and rationing the release of fuel. However, these measures gave the opposition a reason to accuse Allende of arbitrariness and violation of the rights of private owners.
Following the carriers, the Confederation of Commerce, as well as the Confederation of Production and Commerce, the National Front of Craftsmen and Liberal Professions, unions of doctors and lawyers, rose. Street clashes, pogroms, demonstrations did not stop. Bombs began to explode on the railways, and even public transport was embroiled in a fight with the president.
Seeing such a thing, Allende invited the military to the government. General Carlos Prats headed the Ministry of the Interior, Rear Admiral Ismael Huerta became Minister of Public Works, and Brigadier General aviation Claudio Sepulveda took the post of Minister of Mining.
This stabilized the situation, but of course, the enemies of the president did not even think about giving up.
The next onslaught on Allende was associated with the March 1973 elections. The united opposition hoped to get as many seats in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies that it would be possible to implement the impeachment procedure. And indeed, opponents of Allende won the election, but they still lacked several mandates to legally send him to resign.
Failing to achieve their goals through parliamentary means, the opposition returned to forceful tactics. In April, students associated with right-wing organizations threw stones at the presidential palace. Soon left-wing students arrived there, and a scuffle began between the two groups of young people. The Carabinieri police unit arrived to calm the students. Then the workers from among the supporters of the president got involved in the clashes. Shooting began on the streets of the capital, many people were injured in the hospital, one riot was killed.
As noted later, combat detachments of the far-right organization Homeland and Freedom played a prominent role in these events. Agree, the parallels with the "Maidan" more than obvious. By the way, the radicals were financed by industrial oligarchs and landowner circles. Moreover, as Cuban journalist Lisandro Ottero wrote, “Motherland and Freedom” was closely associated with the CIA.
In the summer of 1973, the second carrier strike began. In economics, things went far beyond brilliantly, and sabotage on the roads made the situation completely desperate. The situation reached the point that in the country began interruptions in bread. By the way, in Russia 1917, the Februaryists blocked the baking of bread in Petrograd, while there was enough flour in the warehouses of the city. As we see, the enemies of state power, that in Russia, that in Latin America they repeat the same technique.
And on June 29, 1973, the military, led by the commander of the armored regiment, Roberto Super, attempted a coup. Tanks surrounded the presidential palace and started shooting, but Allende himself was not in the building.
The putschists managed to seize the Ministry of Defense, but even this did not give them any serious advantages. Meanwhile, the head of state spoke on the radio, calling for the help of workers and carabinieros, and General Prats went directly to suppress the insurgency.
The coup was extremely unfortunate. The putschists did not know where Allende was, they were unable to paralyze and broadcast communications, which allowed the president to turn to his supporters. Nevertheless, even in these conditions, Prats faced difficulties.
It turned out that the officers did not burn with enthusiasm to protect the legitimate authority. In the army, there was a dull discontent with the policy of Allende, and new military units could join Roberto Superu. For example, the Chilean officer Miguel Krasnov, the son of Ataman Krasnov, tried to persuade other military people to support the performance of the tank crews. Be that as it may, but the units under the command of Prats and Pinochet were able to disarm the rebels.
True, the clumsy 29 coup of June might well have turned out to be a tricky provocation by Pinochet himself, who was able to expose himself as one of their saviors to Allende and thereby gain the confidence of the president. And indeed, soon Pinochet gets the post of commander-in-chief of the army.
In addition, the failed coup was an excellent test of the strength of the regime. It turned out that his popularity in the army was low, and the appeal to the workers gave little.
In any case, it was the last victory of the president. The September 11 putsch deprived him of both power and life.
It all started on the night of 10 on September 11 with a rebellion of naval forces in the port city of Valparaiso. A little later, army units began to seize radio stations and administrative buildings in other provinces. On the morning of 6, units loyal to Pinochet began to take control of communications centers and government facilities in the capital.
Allende found out about it and in 8: 10 managed to speak on the radio. In his message, he said that he would resist to the end. Pinochet involved aviation and a radio station broadcasting the President’s speech, was destroyed from the air. But the television broadcasting of the coup was also able to paralyze, damaging the main television tower with an explosion.
Meanwhile, the radio stations, controlled by Pinochet's supporters, worked at their best and transmitted messages to the putschists. They said that the social achievements of the Allende period will continue, and the military and the Carabinieri are demanding the resignation of the president, since it is impossible to cope with the crisis in the country.
As we remember, the blame for the crisis lies only partially on the president, and to a large extent chaos was created by the hands of opponents of Allende. Pinochet knew this perfectly well, but even so obvious a rebellion he thought it reasonable to serve under the sauce of the national good.
Amazingly, the junta argued that its actions were dictated by a desire to prevent impending dictatorship. That is, the putsch generals positioned themselves as democrats, while not forgetting to threaten all those who would resist the new government on the radio.
At 9 in the morning, Pinochet tanks and infantry pulled up to the presidential palace “La Moneda”, and in the meantime in other parts of the capital there was an exchange of fire between supporters of the president and putschists. Allende, after all, had time to appeal to the people, firmly stating that he would not run away, and remained a living symbol of resistance to rebellion. But he did not have long to live.
The palace was bombed by airplanes, tanks were bombarded, artillery and infantry, and only a few personal guards were on the side of the president. in 14: 00 it was all over. Allende died, and perhaps committed suicide, when there was no strength to resist. Presidential supporters in other parts of the city were destroyed using helicopters.
Was the Pinochet insurgency solely an intra-Chilean amateur? Hardly. Subsequently, a lot of information about the role of Washington in these events. In particular, it was even reported that the airplanes attacking La Moneda were flown by American aces pilots. And indeed, shortly before the coup, a team of pilots from the United States arrived in Paraguay, and she also had a visit to Chile.
Lisandro Otero, who examined the coup in detail, in his book Mind and Power: Chile. Three Years of Popular Unity ”gives an impressive list of Americans involved in the overthrow of Allende. Let's call them.
Dean Hunton. He served in the CIA, was the head of the research department for Western Europe, then headed the department of political and economic problems of the Atlantic zone, worked as deputy chairman of the Council on International Economic Policy.
Daniel Arzak - from 1953 on his job at the CIA. Phnom Penh, Montevideo, Bogota, Asuncion - this is Arzak's business before he was sent to Chile as a political advisor at the embassy.
James Anderson. Since 1962, an employee of the State Department. He worked in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, in 1971 was transferred to Chile.
Another State Department spokesman, Daron Tipton, specialized in Latin America. He served in Mexico, Bolivia and Guatemala. In Chile, arrived in 1972 year.
Raymond Warren. An experienced special service. He worked in the intelligence of the Air Force, the State Department, the CIA. He was involved in a coup d'état against Guatemala President Jacobo Arbenz.
Arnold Isaac. Also an expert on Latin America. In the CIA with 1959 year, then in the State Department. He lived in Honduras, Argentina, and in 1970 was transferred to Chile. In June, 1973 returned to the United States, where he worked in the Department of State for Chilean affairs.
Frederic Latrash. He served in the 40-ies in naval intelligence. In 1954, on the instructions of the CIA, he was preparing a coup in Guatemala. In addition, he was involved in the coup against Gwana President Kwame Nkrumah. In 1971 year sent to Chile.
Joseph McManus. In the State Department with 1954 year. He worked as vice-consul in Bangkok and Istanbul, had connections at the Pentagon. Autumn 1972 of the year sent to Chile.
Kate Willock. In 1960, he was a CIA intelligence researcher. Worked in the Congo, as Lisandro Otero writes, Willock's task was to fight against supporters of Congo’s president, Patrice Lumumba. Then Willock worked at the State Department, engaged in diplomatic work in Chile. It was under his command that the operations of the ultra-right organization “Homeland and Freedom”, about which we spoke above, took place.
Donald Winters. He served in the US Air Force, spent several years in Panama. In the year 1969 transferred to in Chile.
Note that these are only those people who had an official cover in the American embassy. And how many more US agents worked in Chile illegally?
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