Chilean Military Coup (1973)

</image> <label>Performers</label> <label>Date</label> <label>Location</label> </infobox>Not to be confused with 9/11 in the US The Chilean Military Coup of 1973 was an overthrowing of the democratic socialist government (led by Salvador Allende) by the Chilean army (led by Augusto Pinochet) with extensive support from the CIA (US), ASIO (Australia), the UK and Brazil on the 11th of September, 1973. The coup led to the creation of the brutal Pinochet Dictatorship and an end to the most stable and democratic government in South America.

Background

After World War I, the British Empire was in decline, and soon the US pushed out British companies out of Chile and replaced them with US ones who controlled much of the countries GDP, preventing it from developing as a nation as wealth was funneled to wealthy americans. Trade unionists became active around the country, pushing for increased wages, social democracy, and, in extreme cases, workers' control or a communist revolution.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the US government (alongside large corporations and banks) funded centrist and right-wing opposition candidates in Chilean elections as well as anti-communist media outlets and groups. The US successfuly persuaded the Chilean government to lower tariffs in order to reduce inflation, leading to the Chilean market to be overwhelmed by American products. Thus, the idea of electing a leftist candidate became popular, and Salvador Allende (a communist) became more popular with each election.

In this environment of economic crisis, US interference and political corruption, people became increasingly radicalised towards communism and fascism. Various groups attacked each-other, assasinations occured and strikes broke out across the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Salvador Allende won the election in 1970, and proposed to nationalise US-owned copper mines, pursue foreign relations with Cuba and the USSR and introduce measures of workers' control, angering US business interests.

Preparations

The US (with the assistance of Brazil, Australia and the UK) began to plan the coup. The US placed an embargo on Chile, US banks in the country froze assets, the US paid trade unions to strike, opposition leaders were paid to speak against him and media outlets ran furious anti-Allende campaigns. This led to a lot of division and anger in the country, but Allende remained in power. Leading to Project Fubelt, where the CIA identified disgruntled military officers and promised to assist in a coup, and threatened to cut off military aid if a coup did not occur.

Coup

At 7am on the 11th of September (chosen to match the coup 49 years earlier, on the 12th of September, 1924) the military defected from the government, the Navy stationing ships and marine infantry across the coast to prevent Allende's escape or reinforcements from the USSR. The army ordered all radio and TV stations to close down, and the air force bombed the ones that refused. Military leaders that remained loyal to the government had their telephone services cut and their cars sabotaged to prevent their movement and communication, any who made it near the presidential residence were arrested by the soldiers. In just 2 hours, the military took control of the whole country, except the city centre of Santiago and University of Chile (where fierce leftist student militias fought soldiers).

Allende's advisors from Cuba and the Socialist Party advised that he escape the presidential residency, to the outskirts of Santiago, where he could organise a revolution against the army, but he refused, citing his nonviolent principles. He refused all offers to negotiate with the military, citing his duty to the Chilean people. The military began bombing the residence with fighter jets and a helicopter gunship before tanks broke the gate and soldiers stormed the residence. A 4-hour long firefight between Allende's guards and the Chilean soldiers occurred, and Allende shot himself in the head with a revolver to escape capture.

Results

The coup was a resounding success, the army quickly took control of the streets, defeating the few leftist popular militias based out of the University of Chile with street-by-street gunfights and battles and the use of the air force on its own population. All democratic institutions in Chile were dissolved and the army took complete control of society, converting former offices of leftist groups and the National Stadium into concentration camps where the execution of political dissidents began.

Libertarian Socialist Analysis

The Chilean Military Coup of 1973 unfortunately exposes some of the weaknesses inherent to the politics of social democracy and centralised/authoritarian socialism (unfortunate as we'd wish these programs had worked historically, as then we'd be living in a much more just and fairer world). If you organise any organisation, even a revolutionary one, from the top-down, it's relatively easily for counter-revolutionaries to identify the 'head' of said organisation and destroy it. People below them have not been trained in (or may not even be aware of) the principles of direct democracy, and are thus completely dependent on taking orders from above. If the 'above' is killed, then it just results in confusion, power plays, paranoia, corruption and infighting, which have destroyed so many efforts to build a socialist society before and is one of the main criticisms of other forms of socialism and representative democracy made by libertarian socialists.

See Also

• Australian Coup (1975)