The Chilean president, Salvador Allende, delivered a dramatic speech to the UN General Assembly, in New York, on 4 December 1972, exposing U.S. transnational corporations, the U.S. government and other centres for international capital, and the Chilean oligarchy, as being engaged in bringing Chile to the brink of civil war by an economic blockade that deprived his Government of the commercial credits and financial help needed to keep it going. Nine months later, 11 September 1973, the Chilean president was assassinated by the army (the coup d'etat was supported by U.S. transnational corporations, the U.S. government and other centres for international capital, and the Chilean oligarchy) and thus the Chilean democratic system was replaced by a brutal right-wing military junta which ruled Chile until 1990, when the Army step aside giving way to a "guarded democracy". ( To examine this period in depth, read R. Rojas, "The Murder of Allende and the end of the Chilean way to socialism", Harper&Row, New York, 1975)

From World History Archives:
The retrospective history of Chile

Hartford Web Publishing is not the author of the documents in World History Archives and does not presume to validate their accuracy or authenticity nor to release their copyright.
The history of Chile in general

The Allende Era (to 1973)

Allende's Chile, 1972
By John Foran, Department of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara. A role playing learning project. The case visits the site of a meeting Allende held with his coalition partners in Lo Curro, in 1972, in which various proposals were put forward for dealing with social problems and sustaining the project of social transformation.

U.S. overthrows Chilean democracy (1963-1973)

A model operation - Covert action in Chile: 1963-1973
From Ralph McGehee. United States ran covert actions in Chile between 1963 and 1973 leading to the ascension of General Pinochet. The U.S. Government's official report of this covert action said this operation epitomizes CIA covert actions (worldwide).
CIA, AFL-CIO, and Pinochet
Kim Scipes. History of AFL involvement in South America since 1919, but especially, with CIA funding since the '60s, and the project to overthrow Chilean democracy from 1970. The work of the AIFLD network in labor penetration.
Hot Debate over Extent of US Intervention in Coup
By Gustavo Gonzalez, IPS. Right and left-wing senators in Chile argue over the extent of US intervention against the government of Salvador Allende. Also on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the coup, former US ambassador to Chile provided new information on CIA intervention in the 1964 presidential elections in Chile, when Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva - the father of current President Eduardo Frei - defeated Allende and his coalition of socialists and communists with the support of right-wing forces.
Still Hidden: A Full Record Of What the U.S. Did in Chile
By Peter Kornbluh, Washington Post. The historical record of U.S. support for the former Chilean dictator remains desaparecido--disappeared--like so many victims of his violent regime. In the wake of Gen. Pinochet's arrest in London a year ago, the Clinton administration has been conducting a special "Chile Declassification Project."
A selected list of some U.S. citizens, organizations, and intelligence officials who were involved in Chilean affairs in the 1970s
From Public Information Research, Inc. Each entry accompanied by citations to documentation (75Kb).
Castro Speaks On U.S. Role In 1973 Coup In Chile (excerpts)
By Fidel Castro.For the first time in history, a new experience was developed in Chile: the attempt to bring about the revolution by peaceful means, by legal means. And Allende was given the understanding and support of all the world in his effort - not only of the international Communist movement, but of very different political inclinations as well.
US Documents Confirm Destabilisation of Allende
By Jim Lobe, IPS. Declassified U.S. documents add new details to the Washington campaign of 25 years ago to destablise the government of President Salvador Allende of Chile which culminated in a bloody military coup.
Augusto Pinochet Report: Documents Show U.S. Knew of Pinochet Crackdown
By Karen DeYoung and Vernon Loeb. Washington Post. Days after the bloody 1973 coup that that overthrew Chilean President Salvador Allende, the CIA mission in Chile reported to Washington that the new government of Gen. Augusto Pinochet planned "severe repression" against its opponents and "the line between people killed during attacks on security forces and those captured and executed immediately has become increasingly blurred."
Declassified Documents Detail US Role in Chile
Weekly News Update on the Americas National Security Archive posted declassified US government documents on its web site which detail US attempts from 1970 to 1973 to prevent Allende from taking office and later to remove him from office. The documents include notes taken by Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms at a White House meeting with President Richard Nixon, Attorney General John Mitchell and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger.

The Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990)

Official secret documents from Chile prove the existence of Operation Condor
In El Pais. Official documents from the Chilean Exterior Relations Ministry prove the existence of Operation Condor, which was responsible of the extermination of thousands of civilians in South America. Operation Condor was established during the I Interamerican Reunion on Military Intelligence that took place in Chile on November 25, 1975.
Role of former high official in Pinochet dictatorship is now subject of pointed questions in United States
From Institute for Public Accuracy. Jose Pinera was Chile's Minister of Labor and Social Security from 1978 to 1980 and is now co-chair of the Cato Institute's Project on Social Security Privatization.
Pinochet arrest raises new questions in Washington
By Institute for Public Accuracy. The arrest of former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet has focused new attention on the record of his regime, which remained in power for 17 years after the 1973 coup that toppled Chile's democratically elected government.
Under the Dictatorship
Re the militarization of society after 1973; the creation in 1975 of the DINA secret police. The violation of the constitution and of human rights. The opposition and the 1988 plebescite (98 Kb).
ICFTU mourns death of Manuel Bustos, one of Chile's primary fighters against dictatorship
ICFTU Online. Manuel Bustos, a long-time champion and fighter against the Pinochet dictatorship and for democracy and workers rights in Chile died yesterday in Santiago. The government has announced three official days of mourning, followed by a state funeral, which will be attended by President Frei.
Preventing the pending release of Augusto Pinochet
Author recalls the cruel violation of women under the Pinochet dictatorship in support of a lobbying effort to have him tried in England.
US Inquiry May Link Pinochet to Letelier Murder
By Gustavo Gonzalez, IPS. The US Justice Department's decision to re-open investigations into the 1976 assassination of a former Chilean foreign minister, Orlando Letelier and his assistant, could mean the eventual implication of former dictator Augusto Pinochet in the crime.

World History Archives

• Los crímenes de los generales chilenos
  
• Testimonio de Manuel Cabieses -1975
  
• Testimonio de Orlando Letelier -1975
  
• Informe Rettig -1991
• Auto de Procesamiento contra Augusto Pinochet Ugarte -1998
  
• Mesa de Diálogo -1999
• Informe Valech -2004
• Caravana de la Muerte
• El asesinato de Victor Jara
• El asesinato de Orlando Letelier
  
• El asesinato de Carlos Prats
  
• Riggs Bank: algunos dineros del milico ladrón
  
• Operación Albania
• Operación Colombo
• Operación Cóndor
• Las torturas, los torturadores y sus cómplices
  
• Un modelo económico inhumano y grotesco
  
• La historia yanqui de un presidente chileno: Eduardo Frei Montalva
  
• La danza macabra de la globalización