This is a political biography of one of the 20th Century's most emblematic left-wing figures - Salvador Allende, who was president of Chile until he was ousted by General Pinochet in a US-supported coup in 1973. Victor Figueroa Clark guides us through Allende's life and political project, answering some of the most frequently asked questions. Was he a revolutionary or a reformist? A bureaucrat or inspirational democrat? Clark argues that Allende and the Popular Unity process he led were a symbol of hope for the left during their short time in power. Forty years on, and with left-wing governments in power across Latin America, this book looks back at the man and the process in order to draw vital lessons for the left in Latin America and around the world today.

On 11 September 1973, President Salvador Allende of Chile, Latin America's first democratically elected Marxist president, was deposed in a violent coup d'état. Early that morning the phone lines to Allende's office were cut, army officers loyal to the republic were arrested and shortly afterwards bombs from four British-made Hawker Hunter jets began slamming into the presidential palace. Allende refused to leave his post, making broadcasts to encourage the Chilean people until the last pro-government radio station was silenced. Later that morning he was found dead, with an AK-47 that had been a gift from Fidel Castro by his side.The coup had been planned for months, even years before it actually happened. In fact, from the moment Allende's electoral victory in 1970 became a possibility, business leaders in Chile, extreme right-wing groups, high-ranking officers in the Chilean military and the US administration and the CIA worked together to secure a prompt and dramatic end to his progressive social programme.Why Allende seemed such a threat in the political and economic context of the time and how the coup was engineered is the story Oscar Guardiola-Rivera tells, drawing on a wide range of sources, including phone transcripts and documents released as recently as 2008. It is a radical retelling of a moment in history that even at the height of Cold War paranoia - a time when Henry Kissinger described Chile as 'a dagger pointed at the heart of Antarctica' -shocked the world and which continues to resonate today. As the uprisings of the Arab Spring and the global protests at austerity measures introduced since the crash of 2008 show, the world is struggling to deal with the economic and political dilemmas Allende faced at the time.

Fidel Castro described Salvador Allende's democratic election as president of Chile in 1970 as the most important revolutionary triumph in Latin America after the Cuban revolution. Yet celebrations were short lived. In Washington, the Nixon administration vowed to destroy Allende's left-wing government while Chilean opposition forces mobilized against him. The result was a battle for Chile that ended in 1973 with a right-wing military coup and a brutal dictatorship lasting nearly twenty years. Tanya Harmer argues that this battle was part of a dynamic inter-American Cold War struggle to determine Latin America's future, shaped more by the contest between Cuba, Chile, the United States, and Brazil than by a conflict between Moscow and Washington. Drawing on firsthand interviews and recently declassified documents from archives in North America, Europe, and South America--including Chile's Foreign Ministry Archive--Harmer provides the most comprehensive account to date of Cuban involvement in Latin America in the early 1970s, Chilean foreign relations during Allende's presidency, Brazil's support for counterrevolution in the Southern Cone, and the Nixon administration's Latin American policies. The Cold War in the Americas, Harmer reveals, is best understood as a multidimensional struggle, involving peoples and ideas from across the hemisphere.

Presents an account of the short rise and fall of President Salvador Allende, who died of gunshot wounds on September 11, 1973, following the military coup that deposed him.

On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a bloody coup against President Salvador Allende in Chile. Allende died in the Presidential Palace as it was attacked by Pinochet’s army. Controversy still surrounds the role of Washington and the CIA in the overthrow of the popularly elected government of Allende, a self-proclaimed Marxist. For decades Allende’s name and the experience of the Popular Unity government was all but erased from history, not only in Chile but internationally. This first-ever anthology presents Allende’s voice and his vision of a more democratic, peaceful and just world to a new generation. "“I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist because of the irresponsibility of its own people.” Henry Kissinger, on the prospect of Allende’s electoral victory in 1970. "This anthology is the first collection in English of Allende’s speeches and interviews . . . and will be of value for academic collections on Latin America."—Library Journal Features a substantial biographical introduction on Allende and an extensive chronology and bibliography.

A history of the build-up and the ultimate clash during the Chilean coup of 11 September 1973, featuring over 100 color photos, profiles, and maps. In 1970, Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens, a physician and leftist politician, was elected the President of Chile. Involved in political life for nearly 40 years, Allende adopted a policy of nationalization of industries and collectivization—measures that brought him on a collision course with the legislative and judicial branches of the government, and then the center-right majority of the Chilean Congress. Before long, calls were issued for his overthrow by force. Indeed, on 11 September 1973, the military—supported by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the USA—moved to oust Allende, and surrounded La Moneda Palace. After refusing a safe passage, Allende gave his farewell speech on live radio, and La Moneda was then subjected to air strikes and an assault by the Chilean Army. Allende committed suicide. Following Allende’s death, General Augusto Pinochet installed a military junta, thus ending almost four decades of uninterrupted democratic rule in the country. His repressive regime remained in power until 1990. Starting with an in-depth study of the Chilean military, paramilitary forces and different leftist movements in particular, this volume traces the history of the build-up and the ultimate clash during the coup of 11 September 1973. Providing minute details about the motivation, organization and equipment of all involved parties, it also explains why the Chilean military not only launched the coup but also imposed itself in power, and how the leftist movements reacted Illustrated with over 100 photographs, color profiles, and maps describing the equipment, colors, markings and tactics of the Chilean military and its opponents, it is a unique study into a well-known yet much under-studied aspect of Latin America’s military history. “The text is interesting and provides a very readable account and context to what happened and throughout the book, it is well illustrated with archive photos, maps and some fine colour profiles of armoured vehicles and aircraft which modellers in particular will like. I like this series of Latin America at War series from Helion, and have learnt a lot.” —Military Model Scene