Chile
While the United States often justifies interventions abroad as a means to establish elected governments, the rhetoric surrounding those interventions loses its luster when considering that the United States also has intervened to overturn elections and to install dictatorships, as the case of Chile illustrates.
Ever since losing Cuba to Castro in 1959, the United States vigilantly guarded against further socialist gains in Latin America. One Latin American country where the United States played such a role was Chile, whose abundant copper mines mattered greatly to companies such as International Telephone and Telegraph (“ITT”). Salvador Allende, an aspiring socialist politician, had run for president of Chile in 1964 only lose to Eduardo Frei, the candidate backed by the United States. Much to the chagrin of the United States, though, Allende returned to win the presidential election of 1970. This contravened the received wisdom that socialists could never win a free election, and it infuriated President Nixon’s National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, who summed up his estimation of elections as follows: “I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.”
Allende performed true to his socialist nature by nationalizing the precious copper mines along with various other industries, which spurred the United States to cripple Chile’s economy by encouraging companies and international banks to block loans and financial assistance to Chile. During this same period, however, the United States nurtured a close friendship with the Chilean military, showering it with supplies and training. Unsurprisingly, the military eventually overthrew the Allende government and ensconced itself as the governing authority for a full generation. Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean military leader, assumed political power and set to brutally quashing all dissent.
Allende was by all accounts a lousy president, and some say that he was oppressive in his own right. While that may be true, it does not legitimize the United States’ interference in Chile’s national sovereignty, a course of action that again violated fundamental norms of sovereignty and the lawful use of force -- yet demonstrating that elections are tolerated only to the extent that they further United States foreign policy.
While the United States often justifies interventions abroad as a means to establish elected governments, the rhetoric surrounding those interventions loses its luster when considering that the United States also has intervened to overturn elections and to install dictatorships, as the case of Chile illustrates.
Ever since losing Cuba to Castro in 1959, the United States vigilantly guarded against further socialist gains in Latin America. One Latin American country where the United States played such a role was Chile, whose abundant copper mines mattered greatly to companies such as International Telephone and Telegraph (“ITT”). Salvador Allende, an aspiring socialist politician, had run for president of Chile in 1964 only lose to Eduardo Frei, the candidate backed by the United States. Much to the chagrin of the United States, though, Allende returned to win the presidential election of 1970. This contravened the received wisdom that socialists could never win a free election, and it infuriated President Nixon’s National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, who summed up his estimation of elections as follows: “I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.”
Allende performed true to his socialist nature by nationalizing the precious copper mines along with various other industries, which spurred the United States to cripple Chile’s economy by encouraging companies and international banks to block loans and financial assistance to Chile. During this same period, however, the United States nurtured a close friendship with the Chilean military, showering it with supplies and training. Unsurprisingly, the military eventually overthrew the Allende government and ensconced itself as the governing authority for a full generation. Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean military leader, assumed political power and set to brutally quashing all dissent.
Allende was by all accounts a lousy president, and some say that he was oppressive in his own right. While that may be true, it does not legitimize the United States’ interference in Chile’s national sovereignty, a course of action that again violated fundamental norms of sovereignty and the lawful use of force -- yet demonstrating that elections are tolerated only to the extent that they further United States foreign policy.
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