RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Operation Northwoods

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With all due respect, and I say this with full sincerity, who the fuck is the US to tell Chile how to do things? What gives you the right to decide what kind of goverment we have? What is it that makes your country superior to mine? I find it unlikely that the possesors of the universal truth are mostly people ignorant of anything that isn't within their proximity.

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I think what really happened here is that, since this was the world's first democratically elected goverment, and Chile was a fairly stable country (before you fucked it up for our own good, I mean), the circusmtances to find out if communism would really work under ideal conditions were finally given, and you were so scared that the answer might be yes that you decided it was worth it to send a small country to hell. After all, it wasn't your people dying with bolts pressed to their nuts. It was just a bunch of mexicans

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"Allende's increasingly bold socialist policies (partly in response to pressure from some of the more extreme members within his coalition), combined with his close contacts with Cuba, heightened fears in Washington. The Nixon administration began exerting economic pressure on Chile via multilateral organizations, and continued to back his opponents in the Chilean Congress.

As the economic problems heightened, Allende tried to rule by decree, using what he termed as resquicios legales (legal loopholes), ignoring thus Congress and the office of the General Comptroller. He also angered the Judicial branch when he refused to allow the use of public force to carry out the judicial sentences that he felt were against “the revolutionary process”.

His well-meant but misguided agrarian reform led to a massive shortage of basic foodstuffs. Big rural properties were broken up and handed to peasants, but there was no financial or technical support behind such move. Without money or knowledge on how to run the properties, production fell to almost nothing.

A similar process happened with the nationalized companies, which were supposed to be run by workers’s committees. Internal dissent and political appointments led to the collapse of production. Foreign interests had pulled out of Chile out of fear of nationalization.Lack of foreign currency also led to a shortage of spare parts and replacements, and many industries ground to a halt.

Runaway inflation led to a massive discontent from the middle-classes (that were the most affected by the lack of basic foodstuffs and daily necessities). Allende responded with massive price control measures and by a constant raising of the minimum wage, in order to keep pace with the inflation. For the bottom half of society, who never had anything before, it was a marked improvement to what had been before. But for the middle-classes and upper-classes, it meant long queues and total insecurity. The Chilean society became highly polarized. This discontent in turn led to two massive strikes that completed the destruction of the economy. Soon Allende began to lose control over the course of events, and what was worse, over his own coalition. Political violence became a daily occurrence. Hyper-inflation and shortages plunged the country into chaos."

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He began nationalizing copper mines (which received unanimous congressional approval) and nationalizing other industries such as steel and coal, and a majority of private banks. Foreign companies, especially from the United States were a frequent target of nationalization measures. The International Telephone and Telegraph Company (ITT) was one of the victims. The other economic measures implemented eventually led to the economic crisis behind the political one of 1973. The price freezes and wage increases led to a freeze in production orders due to fears of inflation, which brought about shortages and encouraged the development of black markets for what products the people could get.

Chileans today tell of days spent waiting in lines to buy kerosene for heating in the winter of 1973. By January of this year inflation had reached 150%. Economic troubles and lack of economic support from other socialist governments, led to political turmoil. A strike by the copper workers in April 1973 sparked strikes by groups such as lawyers, physicians and architects and led the forming of middle class resistance to Allende's government. These groups formed a multi-class resistance movement along with the upper classes and private property owners. Protests increased, and weakness within the Popular Unity government due to pressure from radical factions to rule by decree, led to Allende's weakening hold on power. (The Popular Unity party was a coalition of several leftist parties, including the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, and the party of the Popular Action Front. Some of Allende's advisors wanted more drastic action, rather than the slow transition favored by Allende.)

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