Chile’s Coup and Authoritarian Period

1. Chile’s Coup and Authoritarian Period LSJ/SIS 322 Spring 2009

2. Chile in the 1960’s • Period of social and political tumult • Nueva canción movement • Three major political forces: Marxists/Socialists, Christian democrats, Conservatives • Eduardo Frei elected 1964: major social and economic reforms • Agrarian reform to redistribute land • “Chileanization” of copper mines • (Chile produced 25% of world’s copper)

3. Unidad Popular Socialist coalition aimed to establish “via chilena al socialismo”, socialism without armed revolution

4. El pueblo unido jamás será vencido,
el pueblo unido jamás será vencido... De pie, cantar
que vamos a triunfar.
 Avanzan ya
banderas de unidad.
 Y tú vendrás
marchando junto a mí, 
y asíverás
tu canto y tu bandera florecer,
 la luz
de un rojo amanecer
anuncia ya
la vida que vendrá.

 The people united will never be defeated,
The people united will never be defeated. Arise, sing,
we are going to win.
 Flags of unity
are now advancing.
 And you will come
marching together with me,
 and so you'll see
your song and your flag blossom.
The light
of a red dawn
already announces
the life to come. “El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido”

5. De pie, luchar
el pueblo va a triunfar.
 Será mejor
la vida que vendrá a conquistar
nuestra felicidad
 y en un clamor
mil voces de combate se alzarán,
dirán,
canción de libertad
con decisión
la patria vencerá.
 Y ahora el pueblo
que se alza en la lucha
con voz de gigante
gritando: ¡adelante! Arise, fight
the people are going to win.
 The life to come
will be better.
 To conquer
our happiness.
 and a clamor
of a thousand fighting voices will rise,
speaking
a song of freedom.
With determination
the fatherland will win.
 And now the people,
who are rising in struggle
with the voice of a giant
crying out: Forward!

6. El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido! La patria está forjando la unidad de norte a sur, se movilizará Desde el salar ardiente y mineral Al bosque austral, unidos en la lucha y el trabajo irán, La patria cubrirán Su paso ya anuncia el porvenir. The people, united, will never be defeated!The people, united, will never be defeated! The fatherland is forging unity, from north to south people will mobilize. From the burning minerals of the salt mines to the southern forests, united in struggle and labor they go, Covering the fatherland. Their footsteps announce the future.

7. De pie, cantar, el pueblo va a triunfar. Millones ya imponen la verdad De acero son, ardiente batallón, Sus manos van, llevando la justicia y la razón, Mujer, con fuego y con valor, ya estás aquí junto al trabajador. Arise, sing, the people are going to win, Millions now are imposing the truth. Their steel battalions are on fire, Taking in their hands justice and reason. Woman, with fire and valor, you are already here alongside the worker.

8. Allende’s economic reforms • Continued “Chileanization” of copper, nationalized mines owned by Anaconda and Kennecott in 1971 • Turned over land in large estates, and some factories, to workers • Audio: Inti-Illimani on the reforms

9. Ya no serán los campos Sólo de algunos Va a recibir el pueblo Todos los frutos Nacionalizaremos Muchas riquezas Sistemas financieros Grandes empresas The fields will no longer belong Only to a few The people will now receive All the fruits. Let´s nationalize Our riches Financial systems Big businesses “Canción de la propiedad social privada,” Inti Illimani

10. Con esta economía Será el estado (bis) Quien domine el control De los mercados (bis) Y se irán expropiando Carbón y yodo Salitre y otras yerbas Poquito a poco Toda la minería El hierro y cobre Con las demás riquezas De nuestro norte. With this economy It will be the state (repeat) That dominates the control Of the market (repeat) Carbon and iodide Salt and other minerals Will be expropriated Little by little All the mines Steel and copper And the other riches Of our north.

11. El poder de los señores Que hablan en gringo (bis) Y unos pocos criollos Que dan lo mismo. Hay algunos propietarios Los pequeños y medianos Agrícolas e industriales Que también son explotados. Son víctimas directas De monopolios Que por todo les pagan Menos que el costo. The power of the men Who speak in “gringo” (repeat) And of a few criollos Who are basically the same thing. There are some owners Small landowners and middle sized Agriculturalists and businesspeople Who are also exploited. They are direct victims Of monopolies For everything they get paid Less than cost.

12. Son propiedad privada Y en el gobierno Con mejor garantía Seguirán siendo. Pero no hay que enchuecarse Con los empleados Y para los obreros Buenos salarios (bis) Yo me moriré cantando Porque he nacido chicharra Les doy también la partida Para la reforma agraria. They are private property owners And with the new government They will continue to be such With better guarantees. But they must not get stingy With their workers For all the workers, Decent salaries (repeat) I will die singing Because I was born a chatterbox But I also want to suggest we talk about Agrarian reform

13. Con arado se despiertan Tierras que estaban dormidas, Por eso hagamos, compadre Las formas cooperativas. Ya se acaba el latifundio El campo al quien lo trabaja Se hace la reforma agraria El momento es importante Nadie se ponga adelante. Y los técnicos agrarios Ya se ponen al servicio Del campesino chileno Que ha encontrado su destino Lands that had lain dormant Will awaken with the plow For this reason, brother, let´s make Cooperative forms of agriculture. The latifundio is finished The fields will be for he who works them The agrarian reform will be done This is an important moment No one should step ahead (of others). And the agricultural technicians Will place themselves at the service Of the Chilean peasantry Who have found their new destiny

14. Ya se acaba el latifundio El campo al quien lo trabaja Se hace la reforma agraria El momento es importante Nadie se ponga adelante. Con el pueblo en el gobierno Se descubren mil caminos Aceleran la reforma Los consejos campesinos Ya se acaba… The latifundio is finished The fields will be for he who works them The agrarian reform will be done This is an important moment No one should step ahead (of others). With the people in government A thousand paths will be discovered The reforms will be accelerated By peasant councils Repeat.

15. US reaction • Document 1: Sept 15, 1970 handwritten note taken by CIA director Richard Helms, recording orders of US President Nixon to foster a coup in Chile: • 1 in 10 chance perhaps, but save Chile! • Worth spending • Not concerned • No involvement of Embassy • $10,000,000 available, more if necessary • full-time job – best men we have • make the economy scream • 48 hours for plan of action

16. US reaction • “Not a nut or a bolt shall reach Chile under Allende. Once Allende comes to power we shall do all within our power to condemn Chile and all Chileans to the utmost deprivation and poverty.” • Edward Korry, US Ambassador to Chile • US began economic blockade of Chile • Intervened with World Bank, IADB to freeze Chile’s credit

17. US reaction • In first year, economy grew 8%, inflation low; but by 1973, inflation topped 300% (500%?) • Shortage of commercial goods • Society deeply polarized -> strikes, instability • Allende called for a popular referendum on his economic program, to be held Sept. 11, 1973

18. Allende’s last words

19. After the coup • Thousands of Chileans, members of Allende’s UP party, were rounded up by armed forces, placed in concentration camps • The Red Cross estimates that as many as 7000 were held in the National Stadium

20. In the National Stadium “Every night we would hear the screams of the workers who were executed in the east wing of the National Stadium in Santiago. The next day, the blood stains were washed away with hoses. Every day, observers would see a pile of shoes that had been worn by the victims of the previous night." • (Pablo Antillano, Venezuelan journalist in the Morning Star, September 28, 1973. Chile. Libro Negro)

21. Document 3 • Report by US Naval Attache Patrick Ryan on Chile’s coup: “close to perfect”. This was written on October 1

22. Document 4 • Dept of State Memo by Jack Zubisch Nov 16, 1973, sent to US Secy of State detailing post-coup executions. • Shows list of numbers killed, etc • Amnesty International and the UN Human Rights Committee: 250,000 Chileans detained for political reasons between September-December 1973, many tortured and executed • Testimony from the stadium

24. CIA support Well through the 1970’s, CIA continued funneling money to torturers and murderers in Pinochet’s government, because, as Secretary of State Kissinger told Gen. Pinochet, “In the United States, as you know, we are sympathetic to what you are trying to do here.”

25. The victims • Immediately after coup: • UP members, supporters of leftist parties, anyone affiliated with Allende • Students, professors, university personnel • Military who opposed to coup • Union members • Family and associates of the above groups • As dictatorship wore on, growing human rights movement also targeted

27. Growing resistance • Catholic Church, human rights groups, students’ groups, trade unions • First national protest May 11, 1983: “The Time Has Come to Say Enough!” • 1988 plebiscite on Pinochet rule: Pinochet voted out (53 to 44%) • Patricio Aylwin, first civilian president since Allende, took office 1990

30. The Rettig Commission • Truth Commission, created 1991 to investigate acts ending in death/disappearance • Concluded in 1996 that: • A total of 3,197 people died or went missing between September 11, 1973 and March 11, 1990. • Of these, 1,102 classify as disappeared and 2,095 as deaths. • Valech Report (2004): 27,000 were incarcerated without trials and subjected to torture • Latin American Institute on Mental Health and Human Rights (ILAS) estimates 200,000 directly affected by repression

31. Pinochet’s legacy • After stepping down as president, remained “Senator for Life” • Margaret Thatcher: Pinochet "saved Chile for democracy” • Presided over period of economic growth

33. Pinochet’s legacy • Detained in 1998 when visiting Britain, on warrant from Spanish judge • Eventually released on medical grounds in 2000, returned to Chile • When died in 2006, 300 criminal charges pending against him in Chile