The United States did not even deny its participation in the planning of “September 11” in Chile
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CHINGING “FRIEND OF MOSCOW” MEANS “RESTORING DEMOCRACY”
The entire world remembers September 11 as the date of the horrible attack on the New York City towers in 2001. However, for the Chilean people this calendar page is full of its own meaning. On that day in 1973, exactly half a century ago, the pro-American army led by General Augusto Pinochet overthrew the Moscow-friendly government of Salvador Allende.
You can feel what you want about Allende, winner of the Lenin Prize, and his socialist experiments, but he was a legitimately elected president, had the support of a large part of the population, and seemed to sincerely want to improve the lives of the poor. He introduced mass medicine on Soviet patterns, took land from rich landowners in favor of poor peasants, and, most importantly, nationalized Chilean copper smelters, the main export industry… owned almost entirely by corporations. Americans.
However, along with Allende, a coalition of leftist forces came to power, some of which were even more radical than him, and organized a kind of “Latin American-style Makhnovshchina.” The ultra-leftists, weakly controlled by the president, took small factories and farms from medium-sized businesses, which did not contribute at all to national harmony.
It is not surprising that the CIA (American foreign intelligence) began planning to “save democracy” almost the day after Allende’s victory in the 1970 presidential election. Since the beginning of that year, the Forty Committee, named after the number of the directive of the United States National Security Council that approved it, operates in Washington. The head of the committee was the then White House advisor and later Secretary of State, the famous Henry Kissinger. From the name “Committee-40” it was impossible to understand what he was doing, because he was involved in CIA covert operations abroad. Read: coups d’état.
Salvador Allende
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CLASS “ONLY FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE USA”
And recently, the American archives declassified a part of the documents from that time. With reports from CIA agents from September 1973 Santiago (capital of the South American republic).
These are brief informative and analytical notes marked “only for the president,” a position then held by Republican Richard Nixon. Excerpts of major developments in countries where the United States had interests were placed on his desk every day. That is, throughout the world. “Libya is placing sea mines outside its territorial waters,” says, for example, one page of the report.
But let’s go back to South America. “Several messages have been received from Chile regarding the imminent possibility of a military coup,” printed in a report dated September 8, 1973. As we now know, there are only 72 hours left until “moment
“Naval officers [чилийского флота] negotiate with the land army [одним из лидеров которой был Пиночет — ред.] and the air force for joint anti-government action… Allende says his supporters do not have enough weapons to prevent a rebellion,” the document says.
At the same time, the anonymous CIA analyst who processed the reports of local agents did not hide his sympathy for the future junta. “Although army officers are strengthened in their desire to restore political and economic order, they may still lack a well-developed plan to exploit widespread civilian opposition. [режиму Альенде]”, says the report. And the supporters of the legitimate president were called “left-wing extremists” in the text.
The presidential palace, which almost no one defended, was attacked by planes and artillery
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THIS IS NOT A TEACHING
After reading such a report, put yourself in the shoes of Kissinger and Nixon. You know for a fact that a coup d’état is brewing in the most important country on the continent. What are you going to do? Declare that “freedom and democracy are threatened,” asking for support from the “legitimate current leader” (this is what the United States now does if the military takes power in some African republic, ousting a pro-Western government and reorienting itself toward Moscow )?
Of course not. The first shots were fired on the night of September 10-11, 1973, when the mutinous forces of the Chilean navy bombed and captured Valparaíso, a port city, the second most important in the republic. Some of the sailors who remained loyal to Allende were simply thrown overboard and died in the open sea. Coincidence: on the same day, joint exercises of the United States and Chilean Navy were carried out; It can be assumed that American military advisors directly led the “naval” part of the coup.
Then it was the turn of the capital, Santiago. The presidential palace, which was almost defenseless, was attacked by planes and artillery. According to the modern version, Allende committed suicide, not wanting to surrender (although then there were rumors that he was killed during the assault).
Augusto Pinochet
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BLACK LIME FOR CHILE
But let’s go back to the United States. The most surprising thing is that they did not even deny their participation in the planning of “September 11” in Chile. The following year, 1974, it emerged that the CIA spent at least $8 million working with the Chilean opposition (essentially facilitating a coup).
This information was published by Democratic Senator Frank Church after a parliamentary investigation. Not because suddenly conscience spoke in Washington, but simply because the internal political struggle in the United States intensified; the Democratic Party, which considered the Soviet Union a lesser evil compared to its own Republican nationalists, was fighting for power.
To give you an idea of the prices, the CIA’s stated annual budget was $100 million; a good car could be bought for a few hundred dollars.
But 8 million dollars is only official data. The Church Commission’s reports on the work of the 40 Committee cite a note by then-CIA Director Richard Helms after a meeting with the Secretary of State and the President on Chilean affairs:
“10 million dollars in cash are allocated [на борьбу с Альенде]…highlight the best agents…deplete the Chilean economy…” Probably, we were talking about money from the “CIA black funds”, which can be spent “in the interests of the national security of the United States.” in anything without the need to inform.
Although the reports of the “Church Commission” also contain some oddities. Thus, in the summer of 1973, the Committee of 40 rejected the CIA’s request for $50,000 to support a truckers’ strike (probably the original plan was to paralyze Santiago’s food supply to embitter the people against Allende, but Washington considered the idea too far-fetched – editor’s note).
The money, although not on such a scale, was spent after the coup. “$9,000 was allocated for the trip of a Chilean politician (whose last name was not revealed) to Latin American capitals for complimentary interviews and lectures on Pinochet,” the report says.
Exactly half a century ago, pro-US military overthrew the government of Salvador Allende.
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Everyone knows what will happen next. After the junta’s victory, some three thousand supporters of the previous regime were executed. Tens of thousands were forced to flee the country. The liberals’ favorite, Pinochet, literally became a military dictator, having assigned himself executive, legislative and judicial powers at the constitutional level. He left his position only in 1990, after 17 years. Debates about his time still continue: is horseradish sweeter than radish? And to what extent was it justified to respond to left-wing radicalism with even bloodier right-wing terror?
EXPERT COMMENTARY
“States were willing to support even cannibals if they were against the Soviets”
Yaroslav Levin, candidate of historical sciences, author of studies on the history of American intelligence services:
– During the Cold War, a whole series of coups d’état in South America (and not only there), if not directly inspired by the Americans, occurred with their knowledge and to benefit their interests. Washington feared an attack by communism “from the rear”, on its own continent. At that time, the “house of cards doctrine” was popular: they say that if pro-Soviet forces came to power in at least one third world capital, a chain reaction would begin and the “red infection” would quickly spread to countries. neighbors. countries. In this logic, it was necessary to fight them on the distant borders at any cost.
Therefore, the White House preferred to support “its own”, no matter what kind of people they were, even up to the declared cannibals. The phrase “he is a scoundrel, but he is our scoundrel” has become a textbook phrase. Roosevelt supposedly said this in 1939 about Nicaraguan dictator Somoza, although other researchers attribute it to Nixon. Which illustrates once again the promiscuity of the “allies” of any White House administration in any era.
The history of Chile in this case is exemplary, with a minus sign, of course. The significant popularity of leftist ideas among the masses and the central government, which is weakening before our eyes due to radical and ill-conceived socialist reforms. And the third actor is the traditionally conservative army, dissatisfied with Allende’s policies. The CIA did not even have to look for a suitable candidate for a long time, since Augusto Pinochet was already an alternative center of power, confidently gathering followers. The favor of the White House only accelerated the coup.
Another question is: was it worth it? The eight presidents who have governed Chile since democracy was restored in 1990 have been, with a couple of exceptions, from the moderate left or the extreme left. That is, the “turn to the right” ended immediately after Pinochet left power. And their “economic achievements”, which are mainly talked about by liberal publicists, are greatly exaggerated: somehow the 1973 coup and the subsequent years of dictatorship must be justified.
