On the 11th of September 1973, Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president of Chile, was deposed by a military coup that brought the dictator Augusto Pinochet to power. Allende died shortly after in what has been presumed to be suicide.2 The involvement of the American government and Kissinger in particular in these events has been a topic of heated debate. To what degree did American conceptions of democracy contribute? And how was its own democratic image hurt by it?
This paper explores the way American conceptions of democracy influenced its actions in the Chilean coup of 1973. In order to do this, it first discusses the debate surrounding its actions in Chile itself. Did the US intervene to protect democracy? Or was there a – to them – more important reason that took precedence over it? Then, it turns to a discussion of the US government's actions after the fact to bring more nuance to the topic and ask whether its ideal of democracy had anything to do with it.
At a glance
- Examines the Kennedy Amendment and the US arms embargo against Chile
- Examines Dutch and US solidarity movements supporting Chileans
- Discusses scholarly debate between Sigmund, Petras and Morley
- 22 sources in the bibliography
Contents
1. Introduction
1. American democracy as a reason for its intervention in Chile?
2. The American image as a guarantor of democracy
3. Conclusion
Objectives and Themes
This work examines how American conceptions of democracy related to US intervention in Chile and asks how that intervention affected the United States' image as a defender of democracy. It considers the 1973 coup and subsequent US actions in the context of the Cold War.
- Democratic ideals and US intervention in Chile
- Anticommunism and Cold War foreign policy
- Salvador Allende's government and the 1973 coup
- US relations with Augusto Pinochet's regime
- International solidarity and America's democratic image
- Scholarly debate over the extent of US involvement
Excerpt from the Book
1. American democracy as a reason for its intervention in Chile?
Chile is only one of several countries in which American influence or covert use of force has been reported in the past few decades. Other examples include Nicaragua, Iran, Guatemala, Indonesia, and Brazil. Within studies of Democratic Peace Scholarship, there have been debates on the role democracy played in these wars, arguing for example that these interventions were only natural since America, as a “highly democratic state”, and countries it interfered in, described as “extremely autocratic” or “near the middle of the democratic/autocratic spectrum” would of course come into conflict with each other. In this way, scholars like Bruce Russet have justified the American interventions in these countries. However, can this really be a satisfactory explanation? Or were there other, more crucial factors?
Notable for the argument presented by Russet and his colleagues is the fact that at first, American intervention mostly took place within Chile's democracy without destabilizing it outright. Early on, the American involvement was much less direct and primarily involved the so‐called “Scare Campaign”, meant to convince Chileans not to vote for Allende as he would allegedly prove disastrous for their country. Although American foreign intervention had already included force in the case of Communist takeovers or invasions, such as in Korea or Cuba, it seems as though deliberately destabilizing the democracy of another country was not on the table yet, suggesting that protecting democracy was indeed an important goal to the Americans. According to the CIA, Allende was harming the democratic process, supposedly justifying actions like the Covert Action Program, which involved support for his opponents in the military, political parties and the media especially from 1971 onwards. It is true that Chile faced political and fiscal problems in the years leading up to the coup and that Allende himself has been labelled “incompetent”, and his fiscal policy has even been described as “amateurish and disastrous”. Officially, the US intervened for democratic reasons.
Chapter Summaries
1. Introduction: The introduction presents the debate over US involvement in Chile and establishes the relationship between democratic ideals, the Cold War and America's international image as the central focus.
1. American democracy as a reason for its intervention in Chile?: This chapter examines arguments linking intervention to the protection of democracy and considers anticommunism and American regional interests as alternative explanations.
2. The American image as a guarantor of democracy: The chapter considers US policy after the coup alongside international solidarity movements and scholarly debate, relating these developments to America's public image.
3. Conclusion: The conclusion brings together the discussion of intervention, Cold War interests and the role of democracy in America's image of itself.
Keywords
Chile, United States, democracy, 1973 coup, Salvador Allende, Augusto Pinochet, Henry Kissinger, CIA, Cold War, anticommunism, foreign intervention, international image, solidarity movements
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work about?
It examines US intervention in Chile and its relationship to American ideas and representations of democracy.
What are the central themes?
The principal themes include the 1973 coup, Cold War anticommunism, US foreign policy, Chilean democracy and America's international image.
What is the main research question?
The work asks how American conceptions of democracy influenced US actions in Chile and how those actions affected America's democratic image.
What research method does the author use?
The author develops a historical argument through analysis of published scholarship and selected contemporary sources, comparing accounts of intervention and its aftermath.
What does the main discussion cover?
It examines explanations for intervention and then considers post-coup policy, solidarity movements and debates over US responsibility.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Chile, democracy, the 1973 coup, the Cold War, anticommunism, US intervention and international image.
How does the work address the US arms embargo?
It discusses the embargo and the Kennedy Amendment as part of the examination of American policy toward Pinochet's government after the coup.
What role do solidarity movements play in the discussion?
The work considers movements in the Netherlands and the United States as examples of public responses to the Chilean dictatorship.
How does the author approach scholarly disagreement?
The discussion compares differing accounts of US involvement, including the debate between Paul E. Sigmund and James Petras and Morris Morley.
- Quote paper
- Cornelia Jürgens (Author), 2021, The American intervention in Chile. The crisis of democracy, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/1119517
