73 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
73 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
*Not to be confused with [9/11 in the
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US](9/11_Attacks_\(2001\) "wikilink")*
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The **Chilean Military Coup of 1973** was an overthrowing of the
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democratic socialist government (led by [Salvador
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Allende](Salvador_Allende "wikilink")) by the
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[Chilean](Chile "wikilink") army (led by [Augusto
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Pinochet](Augusto_Pinochet "wikilink")) with extensive support from the
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[CIA](CIA "wikilink") (US), [ASIO](ASIO "wikilink")
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([Australia](Australia "wikilink")) and [Brazil](Brazil "wikilink") on
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the [11th of September, 1973](Timeline_of_US_Imperialism "wikilink").
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The coup led to the creation of the brutal [Pinochet
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Dictatorship](Pinochet_Dictatorship "wikilink") and an end to the most
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stable and democratic government in South America.
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## Background
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After [World War I](World_War_I "wikilink"), the [British
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Empire](British_Empire "wikilink") was in decline, and soon the US
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pushed out British companies out of Chile and replaced them with US ones
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who controlled much of the countries GDP, preventing it from developing
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as a nation as wealth was funneled to wealthy americans. [Trade
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unionists](Trade_Union "wikilink") became active around the country,
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pushing for increased wages, [social
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democracy](Social_Democracy "wikilink"), and, in extreme cases,
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[workers' control](Workers'_Self-Management "wikilink") or a communist
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revolution.
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During the 1950s and 1960s, the US government (alongside large
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corporations and banks) funded centrist and right-wing opposition
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candidates in Chilean elections as well as anti-communist media outlets
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and groups. The US successfuly persuaded the Chilean government to lower
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tariffs in order to reduce inflation, leading to the Chilean market to
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be overwhelmed by American products. Thus, the idea of electing a
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leftist candidate became popular, and [Salvador
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Allende](Salvador_Allende "wikilink") (a communist) became more popular
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with each election.
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In this environment of economic crisi
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## Preparations
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## Coup
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## Results
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The coup was a resounding success, the army quickly took control of the
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streets, defeating the few leftist popular militias based out of the
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University of Chile with street-by-street gunfights and battles and the
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use of the air force on its own population. All democratic institutions
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in Chile were dissolved and the [army took complete control of
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society](Pinochet_Dictatorship "wikilink"), converting former offices of
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leftist groups and the National Stadium into concentration camps where
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the execution of political ibents began
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## Lessons
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The Chilean Military Coup of 1973 unfortunately exposes some of the
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weaknesses inherent to the politics of [social
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democracy](Social_Democracy "wikilink") and [centralised/authoritarian
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socialism](Authoritarian_Socialism "wikilink") (unfortunate as we'd wish
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these programs had worked historically, as then we'd be living in a much
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more just and fairer world). If you organise any organisation, even a
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revolutionary one, from the top-down, it's relatively easily for
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counter-revolutionaries to identify the 'head' of said organisation and
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destroy it. People below them have not been trained in (or may not even
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be aware of) the principles of direct democracy, and are thus completely
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dependent on taking orders from above. If the 'above' is killed, then it
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just results in confusion, power plays, paranoia, corruption and
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infighting, which have destroyed so many efforts to build a socialist
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society before and is one of the main criticisms of other forms of
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socialism and representative democracy made by [libertarian
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socialists](Libertarian_Socialism "wikilink"). |