Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 20:11, 12 March 2003

Salvador Allende Gossens (July 26, 1908 - September 11, 1973) was the democratically elected President of Chile from 1970 until overthrown in a United States supported military coup in 1973.

Born in Valparaiso, Chile, Allende was a co-founder of Chile's socialist party and served as minister in his party's governments and as the Chairman of the Chilean Senate. In his fourth Presidential election in 1970, he obtained the first place in the vote, but, as he didn't have the 50% of the vote, the Congress had to decide between him and the second place, Jorge Alessandri.

Once elected, the US CIA ran propaganda operations to incite Chile's president Frei to block Allende's ratification as President by the Congress. According to tradition, the Christian Democrat controlled Congress was supposed to ratify his victory; however, contrary to this historical principle, they first forced him to sign a Statute of Constitutional Guarantees. After his election, Allende began to carry out his platform of implementing socialist programs in Chile, which accelerated the process of polarization within Chile. His job was further complicated because he had to deal with the economical pressure that the US imposed on his government via multilateral organisations, and the more radical forces in his own coalition, that wanted to accelerate the changes even more. Allende, however, killed and tortured political opponents with his Plan Z, just like the regime that was to depose him. The death toll was much less, of course, as he ruled Chile for only three years of the six years assigned to Chilean presidents. He violated the constitution by torturing some political opponents:

"Case 1735, February 28, 1972, in which a prisoner claimed that, on being taken from Santiago to a prison in the city of Antofagasta, he had been subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment, such as being placed in shackles and deprived of medical care (his leg was broken) and of food."

"Case 1738, March 13, 1972, denouncing the arbitrary arrest and torture of Dr. Juan Ossa Bulnes, a Chilean lawyer, allegedly by the Investigation Service of that country. A copy of the resolution adopted by the Chilean Bar Association with regard to this case was enclosed."

In 1973, when high inflation and food shortages affected the country, the Chilean military staged a coup against President Allende, led by Augusto Pinochet Ugarte. Although the CIA denies actively supporting in the coup and claims that it was merely informed of it, declassified documents have shown that the CIA was much more actively involved in the coup than it has admitted. As the country became more polarized, Allende's opponents in Congress accused him of violating the Constitution and implicitly demanded that the military overthrow him; ironically, after the military did overthrow him, it violated many elements of the constitution, including the prohibition against torture. However, Allende himself violated this.

During the capture of the Presidential Palace, Allende was said by his personal doctor to have committed suicide, with a submachine gun given to him by Fidel Castro, although many communists and socialists believe he was killed in the defense of the Presidential Palace. Pinochet's regime destroyed left-wing remains and many communists and socialists fled the country, although they were never forced to.