"The hands of the United States are stained with the blood of Chileans" - At the beginning, the United States conspired to overthrow the Allende government. The Allende government | Latin America | United States

Santiago, September 11th (Xinhua) - "The hands of the United States are stained with the blood of Chileans" - The United States conspires to overthrow the Allende government from the beginning to the end

Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Yubo

"I will defend the precious principles of my motherland with my life."

On September 11, 1973, in Santiago, the capital of Chile, Chilean President Salvador Allende from the left-wing camp delivered a radio speech in the presidential palace surrounded by coup soldiers, expressing his determination to fight to the end. Later that day, the Presidential Palace was captured and Allende died in service.

"This coup opened one of the darkest chapters in Chilean history," said a report by the Cuban Latin American news agency.

September 11th this year marks the 50th anniversary of the coup overthrow of the Allende government. For half a century, many historical studies and declassified archives have shown that the United States has spared no effort or means in preventing Allende from coming to power and overthrowing the Allende government. This year is also 200 years since the United States proposed "Monroe Doctrine". For a long time, the United States has adhered to hegemonism, manipulated the rhetoric of "democracy and freedom", and used methods such as coup intervention and economic sanctions to cause deep suffering to Latin American countries and people. Nowadays, more and more Latin American countries and people are awakening, and the voices opposing US hegemonic intervention are growing louder.

On September 11, 2022, in Santiago, the capital of Chile, a man holds a red carnation to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the death of former President Allende.

"The only chance of success is to launch a military coup"

"It is obvious that no form of political or constitutional means can succeed in preventing the Allende government from exercising its power. The only chance of success is to launch a military coup immediately before or after Allende comes to power... It is hoped that the intelligence station will establish direct contact with as many influential military figures as possible."

On September 9, 1970, the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States sent a secret telegram to its intelligence station in Chile. Previously, the presidential election voting in Chile had just ended, and the candidate of the left-wing political party Alliance People's Solidarity Front, Allende, received the first vote, which made the US government very angry.

The US government's crackdown on Allende can be traced back to 1964. This year, Allende, who lost in the previous Chilean presidential election, ran again. At that time, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was raging, and the US government, which viewed Latin America as its own backyard, did not want to see this left-wing leader elected as the President of Chile.

So, the United States secretly supported Allende's opponent, provided millions of dollars in campaign funds to Allende's opponent's party, and funded Chilean right-wing groups and media through the CIA, releasing a large amount of information attacking and smearing Allende, encouraging the public not to vote for him.

The intervention of the United States was successful, and Allende was defeated in the 1964 presidential election. These behind the scenes manipulations clearly contradict the "democracy" rhetoric that the United States has always advocated, but the absurd reason given by American politicians is that American intervention causes less harm to Chile than the harm that a left-wing government elected by the people may bring.

On September 4, 1970, Chile held a presidential election, and Allende, who ran again, received the first vote but did not receive more than half of the votes. According to the law, Congress is required to vote for the President from the top two candidates who receive the votes. Seeing that a "second Cuba" is about to emerge in Latin America, the panicked US government has decided to increase its intervention and make every effort to prevent Allende from winning the congressional vote. On September 15th, then US President Nixon issued instructions to CIA Director Richard Helms and others: "Don't consider risks, don't involve the embassy, $10 million in available funds, increase if necessary. Work all day, select our best people... Let Chile's economy scream in pain, come up with an action plan within 48 hours."

The plan proposed by the CIA is to instigate a military coup in Chile. According to documents later declassified by the CIA, the US promised some Chilean military officers that if they launched a coup, the US would provide any assistance other than direct deployment. Former Chilean Army Commander Rene Schneider firmly opposed the coup, making him a thorn in the CIA's side. On October 22, 1970, he was attacked by a group associated with the CIA and died a few days later. This move by the United States has backfired, shocking the entire country of Chile and raising calls against foreign intervention. In the parliamentary vote held on October 24th, Allende won by a clear margin and was elected as the President of Chile.

On September 11, 2022, people gathered in Santiago, the capital of Chile, to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the death of former President Allende.

"Anyone who affects American interests will automatically become their enemy."

As a major Latin American country, Chile's political changes are one of the important indicators of regional politics. The United States is afraid that the model of Allende coming to power through popular elections will spread, leading to the rise of the left-wing wave in Latin America and challenging America's hegemonic position in Latin America. Therefore, after the first attempt to incite a coup in 1970 failed, the United States decided to weaken the Allende government from three aspects: politics, economy, and military, in order to create conditions for promoting a coup in Chile.

On a political level, according to The New York Times, the US government allocated $815000 to create divisions among various parties within the Allende administration. Between 1970 and 1973, the CIA spent over 8 million dollars in Chile, most of which was used to fund strikes, demonstrations, and other activities organized by right-wing opposition groups. At the same time, the CIA's "black propaganda machine" that had been polished and matured in the 1964 Chilean elections was operating at high speed. According to information collected by Chilean journalist Victor Herrero, from September 15 to November 3, 1973 alone, the CIA published 726 smear articles through various channels both domestically and internationally, accusing Allende of attempting to exert control over the media.

On the economic front, the US government is cracking down on the Chilean economy by preventing international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund from providing loans to Chile. On the other hand, it is lowering copper prices in the international market and cracking down on copper exports, an important source of foreign exchange for Chile.

At the military level, the US government's report on "Operation Chile 1963-1973" shows that the US continues to provide assistance to the Chilean military, maintains high military sales to Chile, and trains a large number of Chilean officers to cultivate pro American forces within the Chilean military.

Under the influence of a series of destructive and oppressive measures in the United States, by the eve of the 1973 coup, the Allende government had fallen into a predicament: severe internal division within the government, soaring domestic prices, frequent protests, and increasing instability within the military. Finally, on September 11th of that year, Augusto Pinochet, then Commander of the Chilean Army, launched a coup and overthrew the Allende government.

"If it weren't for the support and financial assistance of the United States, the opposition forces in Chile wouldn't be so strong," Chilean historian Victor Brownier told Xinhua News Agency. The Chilean academic community generally believes that US intervention created conditions for the Chilean military to launch a coup, leading to the collapse of the Allende government.

Afterwards, the 17 year long military government rule caused enormous damage to Chile. According to official data from Chile, over 40000 people were arrested for political reasons during this period, over 3000 died or went missing at the hands of secret police, and at least 200000 were forced into exile overseas. The United States cannot shirk its responsibility for this. As an article in The Guardian said, "The hands of the United States are stained with the blood of Chileans."

Chilean Communist Party Congressman Luis Quillo said that US intervention has "profoundly changed Chile's historical process, violated international law's protection of the right of countries to choose their political and social systems, and is a systematic violation of human rights.". Former Chilean Senator Alejandro Navarro said, "The United States has never cared about the democracy of the American people, only about its own economic and political interests. The United States regards Chile and Latin American countries as its' property ', and anyone who affects American interests will automatically become its enemy."

On September 11, 2021, people gathered in front of the statue of former President Allende at the Constitutional Square in Santiago, Chile, to commemorate the 48th anniversary of Allende's death.

Monroeism is imperialist power politics

Allende's tragedy fully exposed America's hypocrisy and hegemony. The history of Latin America has proven that when some governments of countries do not comply with the will of the United States, politicians in Washington will not hesitate to plan and incite coups, and even personally go on stage with a butcher's knife.

In 1915, there was unrest in Haiti, and the United States sent troops to Haiti under the pretext of "protecting expatriates" and implemented comprehensive control over the country. It was not until 1934 that the troops withdrew. In the early 1950s, the Guatemalan government implemented land reform by distributing idle land from the United States Fruit Company to landless farmers. The US government, lobbied by the United Fruit Company, supported Castillo Armas in launching a coup to overthrow the government.

The various actions of the United States have sparked dissatisfaction in Latin America. In recent years, the will of Latin American countries to oppose US hegemony has become increasingly strong. In March 2022, the Panamanian government announced that December 20th will be designated as a "National Day of Mourning" to commemorate the victims of the US military operation against Panama in 1989; During the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in January this year, participating leaders jointly urged the United States to end its long-term blockade of Cuba; In June, Nicaraguan President Ortega wrote to United Nations Secretary General Guterres, demanding that the United States pay over $12 billion in compensation to comply with the judgment of the International Court of Justice in the 1980s regarding the United States funding the Nicaraguan Civil War.

Former Bolivian Foreign Minister Fernando Vanacouni recently pointed out in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that for 200 years, the United States has adhered to "Monroe Doctrine" and viewed Latin America as a "backyard", using hegemonic and interfering actions to hinder the development of Latin American countries and seize resources in the region.

"The essence of 'Monroeism' is to interfere with Latin American countries and promote hegemonism in Latin America," said Vanakuni. "There have been countless examples of the United States' blatant interference in the internal affairs of Latin American countries for 200 years. This is completely imperialist power politics, which is destined to fail because more and more countries hope to independently decide their own democracy, economic models, and national governance models."