The United States Contribution to the Rise of Pinochet

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The United States Contribution to the Rise of Pinochet

The date September 11th is not only a date of terror for the United States, but for the country Chile it also marks the anniversary of a new error of fear. On September 11th, 1973 General Augusto Pinochet overthrew President Salvador Allende, a democratically elected socialist. For seventeen years after this Pinochet dictated over Chile and caused for the murder of over three thousand Chileans, the disappearance of over a thousand, and the torture and jailing of tens of thousands more. What might be even more shocking though, is that the United States had a direct contribution to this brutal dictators rise. The United States’ fear of communist nations developing and the ignorance of secretary of state Kissinger to mention the human rights abuses that Pinochet was responsible for, allowed for the United States to assist in the brutal tyranny (Kornbluh 2003, pages 19-22).

The United States dire fight to end communism caused them to severely overlook the evil of Pinochet. In search around the globe for rising communism President Nixon instructed the CIA to cause the downfall of Allende, despite a 1970 CIA report that stated “‘the US has no vital national interest within Chile,’ and that the world ‘military balance of power would not be significantly altered’ if Allende came to power” (Kornbluh 2003, page 19). Even before Allende became President the fear of having a successful socialist or...

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