What Really Happened In Chile 30 Years Ago

Wall Street Journal ^ | Friday, September 12, 2003 | JAMES R. WHELAN

[presidio9]

Having recovered from the worst of his own socialist deliriums, George Orwell wrote, after viewing the carnage of the Civil War in Spain: "At an early age, I became aware that newspapers report no event correctly. But in Spain, I read for the first time articles which bore no relation to the facts, not even the relation implicit in an ordinary lie." Of no nation since would that doleful observation apply more keenly than to the Chile of Salvador Allende and of Augusto Pinochet.

[ClearCase_guy]

The worst revolution in the world was the Chilean Revolution because it was the one where the Marxists lost power.
The worst socialist in the world was Hitler, because he had the nerve to fight the Stalinists.
The worst war in US history was Vietnam, because we fought the Communists.
The worst senator in US history was Joseph McCarthy, because he fought the Communists.
The worst ...

[B-Chan]

Related FR Thread

[presidio9]

Dumbest President in US History: Tie Ronald Reagan/George W. Bush...

[daviddennis]

Thank you very much for posting this. The Chilean experience, widely spun as an undemocratic overthrow of a democratically-elected government, needs to be better understood.

Chile under Allende sounds a lot like Venezuela under Chavez. Do Latin Americans ever learn?

D

[narby]

The worst president in history was Richard Nixon, because he was a close ally with Joseph McCarthy in the 50's, and he bombed Communist Hanoi until they signed a piece deal.

[colorado tanker]

I would add to the article that Allende got barely more than 1/3 of the vote and did not have a majority in the congress, but despite the lack of any mandate he was going to take Chile communist.

[TopQuark]

Very well stated important perspective... Thanks.

[CatoRenasci]

Excellent article, and consistent with the view I have had of the Chilean situation all along. I have several Chilean friends and acquaintences who speak of the 1973 coup with sadness, because it was the first in Chile in the 20th century -- unlike most of Latina America, Chile had a relatively stable republic and middle class, and becaue they thought it was necessary.

The left has been remarkably sucessessful in portraying Allende as a social democrat (ala Mao's 'agrarian reformers' of the late '40s) when in fact he was a Castro wannabe.

[nickcarraway]

BUMP

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[TexasRepublic]

I look forward to a similar coup in Venezuela.

[presidio9]

Don't hold your breath.

[RippleFire]

bump

[Ohioan]

bump

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[WOSG]

wow, you say it that way, and it really makes a lot more sense ...

There is this difference between the visceral and the factual. The killing that Mugabe in Zimbabwe, the Rwandan genocide, or Saddam's genocide, those are mere facts ... but fighting marxists is visceral for the left. why?

because *they imagine that they were there*!!!

[WOSG]

Sadly, the continent's next castro wannabe - Chavez - got his rump electoral council to defy common sense and declare the call for refurendum on his rule invalid. the 3 million signatures were obtained 'too early'.

Venezuala's slide from democracy to tyranny continues ... sigh.

[happygrl]

Perhaps, as this article indicates, a civil war would have broken out with an associated loss of life. We don't know, as the coup trumped that potentiallity. It is most instructive to read of the role played by French and other operatives and trainers to the Chilean police and security. It was the activities engaged in by the security aparatus which gave the coup its black eye. These same tactics were employed in Uraguay and Argentina. It is still a black mark against the restorers that history will note. As you have pointed out, there were no easy choices at that time; the problem with those political movements of a totalitarian nature such as Islamicism or Leftism is that, once they are elected in, they are not inclined to be elected out.