Who was Salvador Allende?
Salvador Allende was born in Valparaíso in 1908 and qualified as a physician. In 1933 he helped found Chile's Socialist Party. He later served as health minister and sat for many years in the Senate. He ran for president three times and lost, then won in 1970 leading the Popular Unity alliance. That made him one of the first Marxists to take power in a free national election. His term brought inflation, strikes and secret American efforts against him. On 11 September 1973, General Augusto Pinochet's forces attacked the presidential palace, and Allende died inside it.
Political views
- He wanted the state to control Chile's copper, iron and steel, to hold the banks and to own the strategic industries on behalf of society.Source: marxists.org
- His plan kept a mixed economy, with a space for private firms next to the state sector.Source: marxists.org
- In 1971 he nationalized the copper mines. He defended the move and charged that foreign companies were working to weaken his government.Source: marxists.org
- He told the United Nations that Chile was building socialism while keeping civil liberties and a range of political views.Source: marxists.org
- He promised to obey the constitution and the law, and during the 1973 coup he refused to step down.Source: marxists.org
- Declassified US records show that Washington secretly tried to stop him taking office and later to undermine his government.Source: nsarchive2.gwu.edu
Legacy
Many on the left in Latin America and beyond see Allende as an elected reformer brought down with American help, and they still recall his last radio speech. Supporters credit him with bigger social programs and with the copper takeover, which later governments did not reverse. Critics, among them the Christian Democrats of the day, say his policies caused shortages and very high inflation and that his coalition pushed the constitution to its limits. Historians still argue over how far home-grown and foreign causes explain the coup and the 17 years of dictatorship that followed. US documents released by the National Security Archive show covert action against him, and they keep shaping that argument.
In their own words
“They have strength and will be able to dominate us, but social processes can be arrested neither by crime nor force. History is ours, and people make history.”