In military terms the battle on 11 September 1973 in Santiago only lasted a day, but in ideological terms it had been raging for three years since Marxist thinker Salvador Allende found himself President after obtaining the highest vote in the 1970 elections. Although that was only 37%, that it was via the ballot box at all made it a rarity in a continent where elections were traditionally held at the end of a gun barrel if not a bullet.
Thus the news of a military coup was greeted by dismay internationally, including in the US where Congress was keen to find out what role Nixon and his foreign affairs adviser Henry Kissinger had played in the affair; the secretive misuse of government agencies was a hallmark of the Nixon presidency. Ironically, Nixon himself was forced to resign over the Watergate scandal just under a year later and in the last few days rumors spread around Washington that Nixon was planning his own military coup: Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger took the extraordinary step of telling the Joint Chiefs of Staff that they were to take no orders from the White House without his clearance.
The Chile coup became a cause celebre for leftists everywhere, claiming that Allende's massive nationalisaton program was behind Nixon's opposition to him; however, there is little doubt that it was Allende's friendship with the Soviets and Cuba's Castro that got up Nixon and Kissinger's noses.
The new boss of Chile, General Pinochet, proceeded to neutralize opposition in the standard totalitarian fashion with the usual human rights abuses - but on the other hand it is certain that the economy eventually emerged a lot stronger from it all.
For those interested, the 4-disc DVD set shown is worthwhile viewing.
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