He recounted the struggle of the man who won the elections as a candidate of the Chilean Popular Unity Party and proceeded to initiate “a unique revolutionary process that proposed profound political, economic and social changes to the benefit of the people within the canons of bourgeois democracy.”
Balaguer recalled Allende’s visit “to our country in the early months of the Cuban Revolution and his meetings with Che Guevara, Raúl Castro and Fidel.
A few hours after the Cuban military victory on the sands of Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs), Allende arrived on the island, as he himself said: “To be with the people who gave a lesson in heroism by defeating Cuban counterrevolutionaries organized, funded and armed by U.S. imperialism,” the Party leader explained.
He stated that “our country will never forget that the first measure decreed by the recently acclaimed Chilean president was the reestablishment of full diplomatic relations between our two countries, in defiance of the might of imperialism which, with the honorable exception of Mexico, forced the rest of the Latin American governments to break of such relations. Likewise, his valiant gesture of going to find and accompany the three Cuban and two Bolivian survivors of Che’s guerrilla force, in his condition as president of the Chilean Senate.”
In a packed public meeting during a visit to the island who years after taking up the presidency, Allende referred to Fidel’s visit to Chile by Fidel in December 1971, affirming: “Fidel’s presence and the masterly teachings of his speeches fortified the revolutionary faith of the Chilean people and the revolutionary faith of the Latin American people.”
Speaking of the events that gave rise to the fascist coup of September 11, 1973, Balaguer reflected: “What a similarity with what is currently occurring in Venezuela! The same pattern, the same actions, fascism against the peoples. Hatred and scorn of human beings and their ascent to happiness. The hypocrisy and Paraphrasing Allende, Balaguer concluded: “The peoples’ struggle will inexorably open up the grand avenues that lead to the future. At that moment the memory and history of Salvador Allende will shine out like an infinite sun.”
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Parallel with that, they set out to rebuild the economy and create a new and sturdy institutional framework; the Constitution created by a broad-based group of civilian experts, including two former presidents, is, by far, the most functional in Chilean history.
In our venture into Iraq we are banking heavily on being able to beat the post-Allende Chilean timetable by an order of magnitude. And we are being told by the French to accomplish that in a matter of weeks!Indeed, it remains in force 13 years after Pinochet voluntarily relinquished power to an elected government. The economy has made Chile the envy of all of Latin America. Altogether, the Chilean revolution of 1973 was the most successful in Latin American history.
It also was the least bloody of any major revolution. And it also is the most reviled. But that would be a story for another day.
Bush is trying to convert Iraq from a North Korea to a Canada. But I guess he can forget about winning a Nobel Peace Prize even, or especially, if he succeeds . . .
very lo-o-o-ong but lots of information
bttt