The 9/11 of the Global South: the 1973 US-backed fascist coup in Chile

How the US helped usher in the brutal Pinochet regime, which came to be known for murder, torture, disappearances and even international terrorism

Today marks the 52nd anniversary of the bloody coup that overthrew the democratically-elected socialist president of Chile, Salvador Allende, ushering in a brutal military regime which came to be known for murder, torture, disappearances and even international terrorism.

At a time when the US still unashamedly claims to uphold values such as sovereignty and democracy, it is worth recalling the crucial role played by the Nixon administration in that tragic event. Just a few days after Allende’s election on September 4, 1970, Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger decided that Allende had to be neutralised, by any means necessary. As Cristopher Hitchens wrote in his book The Trials of Henry Kissinger:

A series of Washington meetings, held within eleven days of Allende’s electoral victory, essentially settled the fate of Chilean democracy. After discussions with Kendall and with David Rockefeller of Chase Manhattan, and with CIA director Richard Helms, Kissinger went with Helms to the Oval Office. Helms’s notes of the meeting show that Nixon wasted little breath in making his wishes known. Allende was not to assume office.

In other words, even before Allende had taken office (which was scheduled to take place two months later), Nixon had already given the order to overthrow Allende. Among those pushing for a hard line was Henry Kissinger. In a memorandum sent to Nixon, Kissinger acknowledged that Allende had been legitimately and democratically elected — “the first Marxist government ever to come to power by free elections”.

This made even more of a threat because it risked emboldening left-wing and anti-imperialist democratic movements and parties elsewhere — including in the West:

The example of a successful elected Marxist government in Chile would surely have an impact on — and even precedent value for — other parts of the world, especially in Italy. The imitative spread of similar phenomena elsewhere would in turn significantly affect the world balance and our own position in it.

Kissinger therefore persuaded Nixon to adopt a clandestine destabilisation policy aimed at “prevent[ing] Allende from consolidating his power”. Almost immediately, the CIA launched a major covert operation to block Allende’s ascendance to the presidency. Ordered by President Nixon and overseen by Kissinger, the operation — code-named FUBELT — involved finding military officers willing to support a coup and supporting them. A CIA cable sent to its operatives in Chile on October 16 (Allende was to be confirmed a few days later, on October 24) read:

It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup. It would be much preferable to have this transpire prior to 24 October but efforts in this regard will continue vigorously beyond this date. We are to continue to generate maximum pressure toward this end utilizing every appropriate resource. It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG and American hand be well hidden.

This involved the kidnapping of Chilean General Rene Schneider, who was adamantly opposed to any military meddling in the electoral process — and therefore had to be removed. To assist in the planned kidnapping of Schneider, the CIA provided “$50,000 in cash, three submachine guns, and a satchel of tear gas, all approved at headquarters”. As Hitchens notes in his book:

Here one must pause for a recapitulation. An unelected official in the United States is meeting with others, without the knowledge or authorization of Congress, to plan the kidnapping of a constitution-minded senior officer in a democratic country with which the United States is not at war, and with which it maintains cordial diplomatic relations.

A group was formed, led by the retired General Roberto Viaux, who had ties to a quasi-fascist group called Patria y Libertad. On October 22, Viaux went ahead with the plan, which ultimately resulted in Schneider being gunned to death. As Hitchens noted, there is no doubt that “Henry Kissinger bears direct responsibility for the Schneider murder”, regardless of whether he personally green-lighted Schneider’s murder or not. It was subsequently established that the CIA paid “hush” money to those directly responsible for the Schneider assassination — and then covered up that secret payment for thirty years.

Indeed, despite the gruesome outcome of the plot his group had concocted, Kissinger continued to support a policy of economic and political destabilisation of Chile — especially after Allende’s confirmation as president. This included maintaining “close relations” with military leaders in neighbouring countries, in order to facilitate both the coordination of pressure against Chile and the incubation of opposition within the country. The aim was the same as always — to overthrow the Allende government by any means necessary, including a coup.

Washington’s plans came to fruition three years later, when the Allende government was overthrown in a bloody coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet. The actual extent of the US’s direct involvement in the coup is still a matter of debate to this day. Peter Kornbluh, director of the National Security Archive’s Chile Documentation Project, argues in his book The Pinochet File that the US was extensively involved and actively “fomented” the 1973 coup.

At the very least, US covert actions actively destabilised Allende’s government and set the stage for the 1973 coup. It’s also clear that the US knew exactly what was about to happen and did absolutely nothing to stop it. But we also know that US military and intelligence boasted about their role in confidential communications. Situation Report #2, from the Navy Section of the United States Military Group in Chile, and written by the US Naval Attaché Patrick Ryan, described his close relationship with the officers engaged in overthrowing the government, hailed 11 September 1973 as “our D-Day” and observed with satisfaction that “Chile’s coup de etat [sic] was close to perfect”.

What’s even clearer is that the US government — and Kissinger in particular — provided ample support to Kissinger’s murderous regime, which went on to murder or “disappear” thousands of political opponents. This included the US’s active participation in the infamous Operation Condor — a cross-border assassination, abduction, torture and intimidation, coordinated between the secret police forces of Pinochet’s Chile and other right-wing dictators in Paraguay, Argentina and other countries. This included the murder, ordered by Pinochet himself, of former Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier by a car bomb in Washington in September of 1976 — the first ever terrorist act sponsored by a foreign government in the American capital.

That same year, in a private meeting between Kissinger and Pinochet, Kissinger expressed the US government’s whole-hearted supported for the Chilean dictator: “We want to help, not undermine you”, he told him. US support for the regime continued throughout the most repressive phase of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, from 1973 to 1981. Unfortunately, the events in Chile were far from unique. Here’s a list (incomplete) of all US-backed regime change attempts just during the Cold War, often aimed at replacing left-wing, often democratically-elected, leaders with right-wing military juntas.

Today, we mourn and remember the millions of victims of US imperialism in Chile and elsewhere in Latin America and across the world. And as we witness the Global South finally rise up against US imperial hegemony, we may find some solace in the knowledge that the sacrifice of Allende and other patriots was not in vain.

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Thomas Fazi

Website: thomasfazi.net

Twitter: @battleforeurope

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