On September 11, 1973, the Chilean military overthrew the country’s socialist dictator and president, Salvador Allende. What led the military to such a dramatic step? The Allende regime, in its colossal scope of rights violations, was rapidly becoming intolerable.
The military in Chile, in accordance with the country’s general attitudinal trend, was willing to be swayed by a diverse range of ideologies so long as they were implemented gradually and within constitutional bounds. Although Allende had claimed to uphold such an approach, the reality of the matter far too frequently painted another picture. Speaking to the U.N. general assembly, Vice Admiral Huerta gave five primary reasons for the leftist regime’s overthrow:
1. A “gross economic catastrophe”: Inflation rates had soared to 323% by mid-1973, and the amount of money in circulation was increased twenty-threefold. The economy incurred a major trade deficit of $438 million in 1973, as opposed to a surplus of $78 million in 1970. National debt reached $1 billion. Moreover, nationalized copper firms were functioning at far below capacity (only 13 of 112 facilities generated a profit) and were unable to meet international market demands due to mismanagement and pressure groups seeking a “share of the industrial pie”.
2. Law and order deteriorated. Allende opponents were assassinated, and rightist reporters were frequently harassed by pro-government forces.
3. Property rights were not protected through wanton sprees of nationalization and arbitrary seizure of private industries, frequently without the approval of Congress, which constituted a breach of executive authority.
4. Allende had virtually ignored the Supreme Court and its judgment of expropriation and statist nationalization as unconstitutional.
5. Allende tolerated and tacitly supported radial leftist militias, such as the MIR, a Communist organization advocating mass upheaval and overthrow of the industrialist/middle class, aided by agents from Cuba and the Soviet Union.
The United States government, standing behind the interests of its citizens in two major copper companies, Kennecott and Anaconda, was outraged at the nationalization of the copper industry by Allende’s government. Moreover, Chile had become yet another ideological battleground of the Cold War as Communist influences from the Soviet Union, North Korea, China, Cuba, North Vietnam, and Albania seeped in via foreign aid to encourage centralization and expropriation.
The Chilean middle class, one of the largest in Latin America, was thoroughly disgusted and alarmed with the inflation policies of Allende’s government. To boost morale, Allende first artificially sliced prices and inflated consumer spending while actual productivity languished. As a result, money lost its value at a devastatingly swift pace and savings, the primary tool for living of the middle class, were especially decimated. As early as 1970, 66.4 % of middle classmen stated that they would not vote for Allende. 92% believed that there existed a climate of violence in Chile improper for a decent life.
Moreover, the coup was supported by the Chilean Congress, dominated by Allende’s opposition, which was wary of the militant activities of MIR guerillas, to whom Allende had given a moral sanction and who were feared to instigate uprisings in the lower ranks of the military. The CIA, which had lent financial and political support to Eduardo Frei and other moderates since 1962 and triggered Allende’s loss in the 1964 elections, also supported the coup. Opponents of socialism, in conjunction with the CIA, sought to undermine military support for the left wing through the kidnapping of General Rene Schneider, an avowed supporter of Allende, which was planned for October 22, 1970. Due to poor communication between the various forces involved, Schneider was mortally wounded in the thereby foiled and publicized attempt. The CIA participated in the 1970 Schneider association (although not physically and not expecting the actual outcome), but remained at the sidelines during the overthrow of Allende.
