perseus
Active member
"So, let’s imagine how [the US September 11th attacks] could have been worse for example. Suppose that on September 11, Al-Qaeda had bombed the White House and killed the President, instituted a murderous, brutal regime which killed maybe 50,000 to 100,000 people and tortured about 700,000, set up a major international terrorist center in Washington, which was overthrowing governments all over the world, and installing brutal vicious neo-Nazi dictatorships, assassinating people. Suppose he called in a bunch of economists, let’s call them the 'Kandahar Boys' to run the American economy, who within a couple of years had driven the economy into one of the worst collapses of its history. Suppose this had happened. That would have been worse than 9/11, right? But it did happen. And it happened on 9/11. That happened on September 11, 1973 in Chile. - Noam Chomsky
In 1970 President Salvador Allende won the Chilean election despite the United States spending around $430,000 on an anti-Allende propaganda campaign. Soon after hearing news of his win, Allende signed a Statute of Constitutional Guarantees, which stated that he would follow the constitution during his presidency. The first year of the Socialist Allende Government registered economic improvement; the GDP increased 8.6 percent, inflation decreased from 34.9 percent in 1970 to 22.1 percent, and industrial production increased 12 percent.
However, Mr Allende's Socialist socioeconomic government agenda was opposed by the rich and the U.S. which exerted diplomatic, economic, and covert pressure upon Chile's elected socialist government. Therefore, U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the CIA to depose President Allende in 1970, immediately after assuming office, with Project FUBELT.
Once Chile was plagued with inflation the United States conducted a campaign to deepen the crisis. Chilean economist Jacobo Schatan writes, "It was clear that the scarcity had been manipulated for political reasons, to create a climate favourable to both a coup and, subsequently, the total change of the economic system.
Onthe 11th September 1973, the government of President Salvador Allende was overthrown by the military in a coup d’état. Some 130,000 people were arrested in a three-year period, the dead and disappeared numbered thousands in the first months of the military government.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_Chile
The official US policy is confirmed by these statements.
"I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves." — Henry Kissinger
"Not a nut or 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 utmost deprivation and poverty." — Edward M. Korry, U.S. Ambassador to Chile, upon hearing of Allende's election.
"Make the economy scream [in Chile to] prevent Allende from coming to power or to unseat him" — Richard Nixon, orders to CIA director Richard Helms on September 15, 1970
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/ch26-01.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Chilean_coup_d'%C3%A9tat