Never Forget

Its that time of year again the eleventh of September where people around the world stop and remember the great tragedy that occurred on this date. Thats right today is the anniversary of the beginning of the 1973 coup against President Allende of Chile and the coming to power of General Augusto Pinochet.

In contrast to Allende's peaceful redistributive measures, Pinochet set up a brutal regime that combined the bitter repression of political freedoms with Milton Friedmans economic theories making a mockery of the Neo-Liberal claim that free markets and free people go hand in hand. Highlights of Pinochet's rule include a 26% unemployment rate due to the massive cuts in services and the preferences for military spending. Money which was often spent of weapons used against his own people. The turning of a lovely sailing ship the Esmeralda BE-43 in to a floating torture chamber one of many including football pitches. And operation Condor which on the face of it was a regional security policy against Guerilla's, but due to the wording of the agreement also legalised the targeting of "sympathisers" of banned groups throughout Latin America, leading to the harassment imprisonment and even murder of hundreds of problem peoples for the local Junta in the 1980's.


All of this was made possible thanks to some generous contributions by the US government of Richard Nixon and the support of Henry Kissinger. The CIA operation to topple Allende was given 10 Million at day one with the promise of more if and when it proved necessary.