ALLENDE

 

        Salvador Allende Gossens was elected the President of Chile in 1970.  He was and remains the only democratically elected socialist President.  Allende was a constitutionalist and believed in utilizing the legalized process as opposed to force to accomplish things.  During his term Allende nationalized big firms, raised social spending, and helped reduce unemployment.  However, some of his solutions were not permanent and the distention against him continued to rise, aided by generous support from the United States. In 1973, the military right lead a coup against Allende that ended with Allende dead and General Pinochet in charge of Chile for the next 17 years.
 
 
 

            This site is an assignment for the students of John Foran at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He provides relevant background which include the political and economic events leading up to Allende's election and the events during Allende's term.  This information is a valuable background and is also very similar to the information to be found in Benjamin Keen's A History of Latin America.
      This site is a short page on Allende which gives common information.  This site is interesting because its author is a British man who was a young man in the 1970's and he expresses view on Nixon's and the United States' involvement in Chile. He states how this involvement against the Allende government sparked not only his interest in the Allende government but his support for it.  The fact that American foreign policy can have this effect on people in different parts of the world is interesting and important to note.
      This site is an academic site out of the United Kingdom that spells out the internal opposition to the Allende government that began before Allende was even elected.  The information in this site is important because often the internal factors and power is underemphasized next to the role that the United States played.  It is important to remember that there were many people in Chile that were opposed to Allende, most of which were the upper class people, the people with the power.