Chile

Would the American Right Crash the Economy for Political Advantage? Ask Chile

by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

From the moment socialist Salvador Allende was declared the winner of Chile's 1970 election, Henry Kissinger and CIA director Richard Helms were at work to "make the economy scream" to create favorable conditions for a right-wing coup. 

This Year Marks the 50th Anniversary of a Dark Episode in the History of Sports Stadiums

by Matthew Kastel

As Americans return to stadiums with hope and joy at baseball's Opening Day, it's worth remembering that stadiums have been the sites of absurd moments of political theater and dire human rights abuses. 

Who Poisoned Pablo Neruda?

by Ariel Dorfman

"In retrospect I wonder if perhaps I was so tired of tales of torture and disappearances, so full of death and grief, that I could not deal with one more affront. I preferred to shield the sacred figure of Neruda from the violence."

Forensic Experts: Chilean Poet and Pinochet Opponent Pablo Neruda Killed by Poison in 1973

The poet, a Communist and ally of democratically-elected President Salvador Allende, died shortly after the coup that installed General Augusto Pinochet as dictator. There had been longstanding suspicion of the official explanation of his death. 

The Long Shadow of Pinochet Over Chile's Constitutional Referendum

A protest movement against inequality and oligarchy convinced almost 80 percent of Chileans to vote for a constitutional convention, and led to the election of a young leftist president. Why did more than 60 percent of voters then reject the new charter? 

49 Years Later, Nixon's Knowledge of Pinochet Coup Remains Secret

It is beyond time for the Biden Administration to declassify presidential records related to American operations in Chile around the overthrow of democratically elected President Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973.  

"Time We Can't Get Back": Chilean Adoptees Uncover Their Past

Chile's right-wing dictatorship took hundreds – possibly thousands – of infants from their families and concealed the facts of their birth from them. 

Voters Choose Young Leftist Gabriel Boric in Chile by Wide Margin

"At 35, Mr. Boric will be the nation’s youngest leader and by far its most liberal since President Salvador Allende, who died by suicide during the 1973 military coup that ushered in a brutal 17-year dictatorship."

Chile at the Barricades

"To walk the streets of Santiago was to read a collective, anonymous scroll of inchoate rage: Abort the police, Die Piñera, ACAB, Bankers to the gallows. The graffiti was on seemingly every wall and sidewalk in the central districts of the city."

I Danced in the Streets after Allende’s Victory in Chile 50 Years Ago. Now I See its Lessons for Today

by Ariel Dorfman

The Chilean author Ariel Dorfman warns that while his country elected a democratic socialist in a landmark election, it was unprepared to deal with violent and ruthless efforts to maintain the status quo. Joe Biden is no socialist, but if he wins, his administration and Americans at large must be similarly prepared. 

Chile’s political crisis is another brutal legacy of long-dead dictator Pinochet

by Paul W. Posner

After weeks of intense, sometimes violent nationwide protests, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera has relented to demands to rewrite the Chilean Constitution. The protesters say they want a new constitution to address Chile’s severe social and economic inequities.

30 years ago Pinochet proposed using violence to change the outcome of a plebiscite on his dictatorship

Officials refused to implement his plan. He lost and the dictatorship ended. 

Chile and Its Scientists Protest Research on Tiny Mummy

The Chilean government said it would start an inquiry into whether the remains of a tiny baby girl were illegally exhumed and smuggled out of the country.

Documenting U.S. Role in Democracy’s Fall and Dictator’s Rise in Chile

An exhibition at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago displays once-secret documents that describe covert operations and intelligence gathering on the Pinochet dictatorship.

Documents show how CIA connived with Chilean publisher to overthrow Allende

Declassified CIA and White House documents posted today by the National Security Archive show conclusively what media mogul Agustin Edwards repeatedly denied – that he and his newspaper, El Mercurio, became a critical part of U.S. plans to foment a military coup against President Allende.

Secret CIA Report: Pinochet "Personally Ordered" Washington Car-Bombing

Secretary of State Schultz to President Reagan: "It is not clear whether we can or would want to consider indicting Pinochet."

Chile Is Still Littered with a Dictator's Unexploded Landmines

Pinochet, convinced that a ground invasion was imminent, purchased landmines from the US and Belgium and buried them at a feverish pace.

U.S. Covert Intervention in Chile: Planning to Block Allende Began Long before September 1970 Election

Nixon Alerted in Advance to Date of Coup, Retired CIA Operative Writes in Foreign Affairs.

Our Other September 11

by Rick Perlstein

What the hell were we doing in Chile?

Legacy of Chilean president grows 40 years after military coup that toppled him

Forty years after his death, Salvador Allende remains considerably more popular than the U.S.-backed dictatorship that followed.