On December 10, the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet died. He seized power in 1973 when his army organized a bloody coup d’état against the democratically elected, left reformist president Salvador Allende of the „People’s Unity“ (Unidad Popular). Thousands of people died or were tortured under Pinochet’s rule, while millions of others suffered from wage cuts, drastic increases in unemployment, the breakdown of social systems like health care and education, and the spread of disease and malnutrition in the country. That’s just an introduction to „Chile’s savior from communism“, as he is called by the conservative and fascist right.

Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was born on November 25, 1915 in Chile to a family of immigrants from Breton, France. He began his career in the military, following a wish of his mother, at the Escuela Militar, where he graduated as a second lieutenant in 1937. He was named Commander in Chief of the Army by Chile’s „socialist“ president in August 1973. Just 19 days later, the army carried out a putsch against President Allende. The putschists had the support of all top military officers (from the army, air force and navy), the police commanders, the big capitalists, the landlords, parts of the middle classes and the Catholic church. On September 11, 1973, the army encircled the Moneda, the presidential palace, and captured it after several hours of artillery fire. Allende killed himself during the surrender.

A military junta with four members took power immediately following the coup. It was composed of representatives of the army (Pinochet), the air force (Gustavo Leigh), the navy (José Merino) and the Carabinéros (César Mendosa). On September 13, the junta declared a state of emergency, banned all political parties and trade unions, and outlawed all opposition: Socialist and Communist Party members, Social Democrats, and soon also the bourgeois Christian Democrats – who had temporarily supported Pinochet. There were intensive raids in the workers’ neighborhoods of Santiago.

Pinochet established six main concentration camps, including in the Chilean National Stadium. The prisoners were tortured and „interrogated“ by army officers. Around 3,000 people were executed or „disappeared“ (unofficial numbers go as high as 15,000) and 30,000 people were imprisoned or forced into exile during Pinochet’s dic tatorship. After smashing the workers’ movement, Pinochet launched a policy of massive social cuts (for example, health spending decreased 60% between 1973 and 1988), privatization and neoliberal reforms, which all pauperized the majority of the country. Despite a short period of economic boom from 1984–1988 (however, there was a fall in the GDP of 19% from 1982–1983), Pinochet’s Chile fell into economic stagnation. Pinochet resigned under public pressure in 1990; however, he remained Commander in Chief of the Army and also a senator for life, which offered him immunity from prosecution.

What was the reason for Pinochet’s coup against Allende? Salvador Allende launched a series of reforms (unfortunately only reforms) after his election in 1970. These reforms benefitted Chile’s workers, peasants and poor, at the expense of Chilean, American and European big capitalists. Wages were increased several times under Allende, while the prices of essential goods were frozen. Allende nationalized the profitable copper mines owned by the American corporations Anaconda and Kennecott (51% of these mines had already been nationalized by the previous government – Allende nationalized only the remaining 49%), telecommunications (ITT), the chemical industry (Dow Chemical). He also continued the policy of land reform, which hurt the interests of the big landlords. Of course, these reforms provoked the resistance of the capitalists, the land owners and their servants: the leadership of the army, the police and – at least in the beginning – the church. The capitalists responded with a systematic disruption of production, financial intrigues and increasingly also with open terror by the fascist right (for example the terrorist organization Patria y Libertad – Fatherland and Freedom). It is clear that American and other multinational corporations were upset by Allende’s policy. For the US government, the last piece to complete the puzzle was Allende’s diplo­matic rapprochement with Castro’s Cuba. Washington decided that Allende must be forced out!

Today it is well-known that Augusto Pinochet had support, arms and ammunition from the world’s biggest “democracy” – the USA. The CIA worked towards the destabilization of Allende’s gover nment for a long time. The American ambassador in Chile, Edward Korry, demanded even more drastic steps: „Not a nut or a bolt should reach Chile under Allende. Once Allende comes to power, we shall do everything within our power to condemn Chile and all Chileans to the utmost deprivation and poverty.“ The CIA launched a massive campaign of threats in the run-up to the presidential elections in 1970. The CIA published 726 newspaper articles, radio broadcasts and pamphlets against Allende, who was portrayed as “soviet danger for Chile”. The main channel of CIA propaganda was the influential right-wing newspaper, El Mercurio, owned by an American company (ITT). All together, between 1970 and 1973 the CIA paid eight million dollars for anti-Allende activities. Additionally, the CIA was involved in the murder of the previous commander of army, René Schneider, whose hostility to the putsch and loyalty to Allende was well known. The CIA later established close collaboration with the army and police structures of the Pinochet regime, particularly with the Chilean secret police DINA.

Pinochet’s coup probably would have been successful even without American support. Allende played into Pinochet’s hands with his naive belief that the class struggle is concentrated on parliament and that right would never abandon the framework of the law. Allende didn’t understand – and as a strong believer in reformism couldn’t understand – that the real center of power under capitalism lies outside the parliamentary talking shop. Allende didn’t understand that even a “grand constitution” is nothing more than a rag to shine the boots of generals, once the capitalists face a revolutionary situation.

Due to his reformism, Allende’s social reforms weren’t based on organs of the working class – workers’ councils, committees in the poor neighborhoods or any other organizations of miners, peasants and working class communities. Allende, as programmatic opponent of revolution from bellow, didn’t seek to win a majority of “the street” (i.e. didn’t try to win the mass of the workers and peasants for revolutionary action) but of the bourgeois parliament, where he believed until the last moment he would get some support from the Christian Democrats – a party of small and middle businessmen. Despite the “strikes” of the truck owners, organized by the capitalists (by the way these strikes were very similar to the lock-outs in the oil industry directed against another democratically elected, left-wing president, Hugo Chavez, in Venezuela in 2003), despite the sabotage by the capitalists in industry and distribution and increased fascist terror against the workers, Allende even didn’t try to arm the workers in order to defend the social reforms in their interest. Instead, he left the weapons in the hands of the old, “democratic” state machine – the army and the police. And in turn he left the control over the army and the police in the hands of officers connected to the big capitalists, the landlords and the American embassy.

Due to his reformism, Allende wasn’t able to answer the economic attacks by the business sector and the maneuvers of the army leadership. He refused to answer, since such an answer would have required going beyond the limits of the capitalist system. As a warning against reformism, the workers should forever remember the words Allende uttered after a first, unsuccessful coup attempt against him in June 1973. Allende visited a huge, spontaneous demonstration of workers who supported him, and at the end of his speech he said these words: „Trust your government. Return to your homes and kiss your wives and children in the name of Chile”. Three or four months later, neither he nor many of these workers had a chance to kiss their wives, husbands and children. The “parliamentary-democratic road to socialism“ proved impossible due to the uncompromising violence of the capitalist class, determined to hold their power and privileges at any cost.

What should be said in conclusion? Pinochet died. A number of his officers who committed atrocities were persecuted. But many others, including people from the economic sector who stood behind his regime, suffered no persecution. And Pinochet himself died unpunished, as many other dictators before him. No attorney can deliver an indictment, no court can pass judgement on him.

However, the class that supported Pinochet and whose interests Pinochet defended, can be and should be accused and condemned. And it will be the class of Pinochet’s victims – the working class – that will pass fair judgment on the capitalist system.

Nikola and Adam, Revo Česko, December 17, 2006