Dear John -- Annie and I (and the two kids, aged 1 and 2) had spent six weeks in Santiago (Chile) in May of 1970 --- there were banners for the election everywhere (and radio spots as well). I was working on my dissertation on the 19th century Chilean nitrate industry -- and its capture by British imperialism after the War of the Pacific ---
After we returned to the US and took up residence in Springfield, Mass, where I had been hired by a local college, we were of course THRILLED by Allende's victory and continued to be hopeful that despite the "strikes" by the truck drivers and petit bourgeois anti-Allende elements, his party - coalition would continue to retain the support of the majority of the people. The overthrow by Pinochet and his fascists was a PHYSICAL blow to both of us --- We have never been back though we followed issues related to Chile for years --- I made sure to include in my handouts to an Economic Development class Carter's claim during his debates with Ford (in 1976) that the "Republican Administration" overthrew the democratically elected government of Chile (later he did make sure that the Chileans surrendered Vernon Michael Townley the murderer of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffet -- hope Townley is still in jail --- though Carter never forced the Chileans to hand over the general who gave the orders). I am glad Pinochet lived long enough to see the trashing of "his" version of Chilean fascist-capitalism though I doubt he ever spent a day in prison ... (When I finally finished my Ph D in 1973, I got to add evidence of the US government "squeeze" on Allende's regime as a parallel with what happened when a Chilean Nationalist Balmaceda tried to "Chileanize" the British owned nitrate firms (in 1891) --- he was also squeezed (I argued) but by British imperialism.) (Mike Meeropol) On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 1:11 PM John A Imani <[email protected]> wrote: > It is not so much Allende winning that sticks in my mind and in my craw. > It is his overthrowal and murder. > > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#1168): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/1168 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/76629674/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES<br />#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.<br />#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.<br />#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
