12/09/2025
On September 11, 1973, the President of Chile Salvador Allende was killed in a CIA-backed coup orchestrated by General Augusto Pinochet.
Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (1908 – 1973) was a Chilean physician and politician who served as the President of Chile from 1970 until his death during a military coup in 1973. A lifelong socialist and founding member of the Chilean Socialist Party. He was the first democratically elected Marxist head of state in the world and the architect of a bold, peaceful transition to socialism known as "The Chilean Path to Socialism" (La vía chilena al socialismo).
Unlike the Bolsheviks in Russia or Mao in China, who took power through revolution, Allende believed socialism could be achieved peacefully and within Chile's existing democratic framework. His strategy was to use the state's legal powers to transform the economy and society.
Allende ran for president four times (1952, 1958, 1964, 1970). He finally won in 1970 as the candidate of Popular Unity (Unidad Popular), a coalition of socialist, communist, and other leftist parties. His victory was narrow (with just 36.6% of the vote), forcing him to make a deal with the Christian Democrat party in congress to be ratified as president, in which he promised to uphold the constitution.
Once in power, Allende moved quickly to implement his socialist program:
Nationalisation: The government nationalised (took state control of) key industries, most notably the massive copper mines (which were largely U.S.-owned, through companies like Kennecott and Anaconda). This was popular in Chile but caused major international friction.
Land Redistribution: He accelerated the expropriation of large estates and redistributed the land to peasant cooperatives.
Social Programs: He dramatically increased spending on health, education, and housing. He provided free milk for children and massively expanded access to healthcare.
Economic Measures: He raised wages and froze prices to increase purchasing power for the poor.
For the first year, the economy boomed, consumption increased, and Allende's popularity soared. However, the reforms soon triggered severe problems:
Hyperinflation: Massive government spending and wage increases, without a corresponding rise in production, led to rampant inflation and huge budget deficits.
Shortages & Black Markets: Price controls disincentivized production, leading to critical shortages of basic goods (food, medicine). Long lines and a thriving black market became common.
Capital Flight & Investment Strike: The business class and foreign companies, alarmed by nationalisations, pulled capital out of the country and refused to invest, crippling the economy.
Political Polarisation: Chilean society split into fiercely opposed camps. The right and center saw Allende as destroying democracy and the economy. The far left criticized him for not moving fast enough. Strikes, protests, and violence became commonplace.
Chile became a major flashpoint in the Cold War.
United States (Nixon Administration): President Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger were determined not to let "a second Cuba" emerge in Latin America. They famously declared they would "make the economy scream" to prevent Allende from succeeding.
Covert Action: The CIA funneled millions of dollars to opposition media, political parties, and groups that fostered economic destabilization and military coup-plotting.
Socialist Bloc: Allende received economic and moral support from the Soviet Union and Cuba, but not the level of financial aid needed to offset U.S. pressure.
The Coup and Death
On September 11, 1973, the Chilean military, led by Army Commander General Augusto Pinochet (whom Allende had recently appointed, believing him to be loyal), launched a coup.
The military bombed the presidential palace, La Moneda. After giving a final, defiant radio address to the nation, Allende died in the palace.
The coup was exceptionally violent. The military suspended the constitution, dissolved Congress, and began a brutal campaign of repression, torturing and "disappearing" thousands of Allende's supporters.
His overthrow and Pinochet's subsequent dictatorship became a defining event of the Cold War in Latin America, demonstrating the lengths to which the U.S. would go to prevent the spread of Marxism. It also served as a brutal laboratory for neoliberal economic policies later adopted under Pinochet.
