‘Under the United Nations flag Lumumba was killed in the Congo.’ ibid. Che Guevara
Under the auspices of the UN, the Belgiums insisted on retaining a strong military presence in the country [Congo]. ibid.
‘The Mafia Principle is correct: if you want to maintain order and discipline you have to make sure there is no disobedience.’ ibid. Chomsky
September 11 1973: the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in a violent coup-d’etat: it established a military dictatorship. ibid.
When the people of Greece rejected the return of the monarchy the British attacked. ibid.
The brutality of the Contras took its toll … The Contras had raped, tortured and killed unarmed civilians including children … burnt, dismembered, blinded and beheaded. ibid.
This film speaks of neo-colonialism and violence in Argentina and in most of the countries of Latin American not yet liberated … The geography of hunger: dispossessed, shut out, damned. We have been taught a false history. False hopes of wealth. A false international viewpoint. False economic beliefs. A false freedom. The Hour of the Furnaces ***** 1968
A plea for unity against the great enemy: USA. ibid.
Latin America is a country at war. For the ruling classes a war of repression; for the oppressed people a war of liberation. ibid.
British merchants took over. The national bank that issued the country’s currency, and in the name of free trade, their manufacturers invaded internal markets. From that moment on, England replaced Spain in dominating almost all of the continent. What it had not obtained before with armies, it now obtained with loans … This was the birth of neo-colonialism. ibid.
The unity of America was destroyed. ibid.
In less than a century the United States carried out 41 armed invasions of Latin America. ibid.
Argentina: an immense country practically deserted. 23 million inhabitants of which 70% are crowded in the cities, 45% in only one of its provinces Buenos Aires where 60% of industry is concentrated. ibid.
The violence visited on the Latin American peoples is a constant, planned, systematic violence. ibid.
75% of Argentine workers cannot satisfy their basic needs with what they earn. ibid.
80% of the population has no land at all. ibid.
The system: an internal enemy that throws open the country’s doors to neo-colonial penetration. ibid.
A common goal united this infiltration: the corruption of the national consciousness to facilitate the dominion of the country. ibid.
The first national form of resistance was crushed in the Massacre of the Monorena. Consequently, an anti-national foreign civilisation was imposed. ibid.
Names that in the mouth of the master deny the victim of exploitation his condition as a man. 80% of the Argentine native population has tuberculosis and syphilis. ibid.
So-called imperialist aid is an aid that always costs. ibid.
An intelligentsia has grown up that has no ties with the people or the reality of the country. ibid.
Censorship and ideological repression are total. ibid.
Violence, crime, destruction become peace, order, normality … Monstrosity disguised as beauty. ibid.
To choose through rebellion his own life and death. For the man who dies in the struggle for liberation, death is no longer the end. ibid.
Argentina 1966-1967: Act for Liberation: Notes, testimonials and debate about the recent liberation struggle of the Argentine people. The Hour of the Furnaces II
General Order 27th July 1819: Comrades in the Andes Army: we must fight however we can … or else let’s die fighting as brave men. ibid.
Revolutionary violence will put an end to imperialist crimes. Liberation or death! ibid.
The nature of imperialism is what turns man into a beast. ibid.
Chronicles of Peronism 1945-1955: national and popular movements were the first appearances in history of most Latin American peoples: they were the first actions of breaking the neo-colonial serfdom. ibid.
17th October 1945: the Argentinian masses burst for the first time on to the national political scene. ibid.
Peronism came to put an end to the effects of an infamous decade – the era that started in 1930 with the oligarchic military dictatorship that overthrew Irigoyen; the years of national corruption, soup kitchens, ignominious frauds and assassins paid by the committee. A time when Argentinian politics were managed between the British embassy and the army. A shameless handover of the national wealth. ibid.
Peronism displaced oligarchy and imperialism from positions of power. ibid.
He was the embodiment of a popular force. ibid.
The central bank is nationalized as are railways, gas, telephones. ibid.
Oligarchic economic power remained the same. The old regime’s institutions were not substantially modified. ibid.
In 1955 the National Front finally divided itself completely. The church, some sections of the army, and the whole of the bourgeoisie surrendered to the oligarchy and became an enemy of the revolution. ibid.
Peron resigned the presidency. The people took to the streets again. ibid.
Peron was isolated by a servile bureaucracy. ibid.
The army removed Peron from power … Peronism went down without a fight. ibid.
The Congress will be dissolved. Peronism will be persecuted and there will be a ban. ibid.
150,000 trade union leaders will be suspended. Tens of thousands will be arrested. ibid.
At the time of Peron’s fall there was no national debt. 10 years later the national debt reached 6 billion dollars. The IMF will start to influence national economic policy. The economy will start a de-nationalization process … the violent decade was about the start. ibid.
September 1955: We moved towards the bridge and started to shout, ‘Mayo Square! Mayo Square!’ As if we wanted to revive 17th October 1945. And we arrived at the bridge but the army was already there. On seeing the soldiers the people stopped. And the army began to shoot. ibid. textiles trade unionist
Often we even organised the resistance while in prison. ibid. trade unionist
After the 1955 coup d’etat the country seems to have been occupied by an invading army. ibid.
In the underground the proletariat organise the first few strikes … many national militants were shot. ibid.
The promotion of private free enterprise, and an open door for foreign capital, privatization of national enterprises, liquidation and removal of small industry, subjection to the International Monetary Fund, and a repression of the people. ibid.
In 1959 the fight for popular power became extremely violent. ibid.
The most important of these demonstrations – the occupation of the factories. ibid.
In March 1976 a military junta led by General Jorge Raael Videla seized power from President Isabel Peron. In the following years up to 30,000 opponents of the regime disappeared. Pele, Argentina & The Dictators, captions, History 2018
In 1964 the ruling Arab monarchy that had controlled Zanzibar for over a century was overthrown by a coalition of African parties. For many non-Africans, Zanzibar was no longer safe. Tens of thousands were forced to leave their homes. A Life in Ten Pictures: Freddie Mercury, BBC 2021
We now know that Pinochet’s 1973 coup, which overthrew an elected government, rounded up 70,000 of its supporters, burnt their books, raped the women, tortured and murdered at least 10,000 people, was planned in the dear old democratic US by an intelligence agency which was set up ostensibly to protect democracy. The reason for the coup was that investors in Chile had become sick and tired of laws which tried, usually unsuccessfully, to keep prices down. Low prices meant low profits, and low profits for any length of time were intolerable. Paul Foot, No Time to Make Up
Before the military coup in Chile, we had the idea that military coups happen in Banana Republics, somewhere in Central America. It would never happen in Chile. Chile was such a solid democracy. And when it happened, it had brutal characteristics. Isabel Allende
Allende was overthrown in 1973 and Pinochet was put in power to protect the copper industry from being nationalised. And these elites were given tremendous resources … 1954: Arbenz who wanted to challenge United Fruits … Arbenz becomes a communist in the eyes of the press … It’s a different kind of empire. Chris Hedges, interview Abby Martin, The Empire Files: War, Propaganda and the Enemy Within, Youtube 2015