Six months before the bombing of the La Moneda Palace the Chilean people are voting to renew parliament. The Battle of Chile I: The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie, 1975
‘The civil war is inevitable and fundamental … One one side the bourgeoisie and on the other the proletariat.’ ibid. worker
After two years of an economic boycott imposed by Washington and internal opposition. ibid.
Popular Unity [Allende] increases to 43.4% of the votes and increase their numbers in parliament. ibid.
‘It’s all rationed: coffee, milk, everything.’ ibid. shopper
‘We can’t work with the bosses.’ ibid. worker
‘It is also necessary to provoke violence and social chaos. That is the main aim of this organisation. ibid. right-wing Homeland Freedom
The opposition finds a pretext to continue the social agitation. ibid.
‘It’s a bourgeois state which we have to overthrow.’ ibid. frustrated worker
‘In April, 108 managers mainly from the transport sector receive training in the United States.’ ibid.
‘I will resolutely carry through the programme of Popular Unity.’ ibid. Allende
On 28th May retired officers of the high command sent a public letter to president Allende stating that the armed forces will consider themselves autonomous should the government violate the constitution. ibid.
Since 1950 more than 4,000 officers have been on training courses in the US and in the Panama Canal area. ibid.
They decide to move on the capital … The opposition calls out its troublemakers. ibid.
‘How long are those mummies going to fuck us up?’ ibid. worker
‘Allende! Allende! The people will defend you!’ ibid. popular support against agitators
‘We can’t put up with fascism any more.’ ibid.
Santiago de Chile 29th June 1973: unable to remove President Allende constitutionally the US government and the Chilean opposition opt for the strategy of a coup. The Battle of Chile II: The Coup D’Etat *****
The tanks exchange fire with the presidential guard. ibid.
Loyal troops begin the counter-attack to break the siege. ibid.
From the morning of 29th June left wing workers take control of factories, companies, mine and agricultural centres throughout Chile. ibid.
Some officers start to act against factory employees and workers. ibid.
The entire opposition joins the anti-government escalade. ibid.
Command of the army falls meanwhile on General Pinochet. ibid.
More than 800,000 people file past the president of the republic. ibid.
‘The time for reconciliation is over! It’s time to fight!’ ibid. workers’ demonstration
On September 11 the Navy unleashes the coup in the port of Valparaiso. At the same time four North American destroyers move close to the Chilean coast. ibid.
‘I shall repay the loyalty of the people with my life.’ ibid. Allende
At 2.15 p.m. President Allende dies in La Moneda. ibid.
‘The Junta will maintain political power.’ ibid. Pinochet
From 11th September all the army’s resources are used to repress the popular movement with the compliance of the US government. ibid.
Thousands of people lose their lives and the main sports stadiums are turned into concentration camps. ibid.
The Battle of Chile is not yet over. ibid.
Santiago de Chile 1972: In only 18 months Salvador Allende’s socialist government has carried out a large part of its social reform programme. Over a year and a half it has nationalized the big copper, iron, coal, nitrate and cement mines … It has also expropriated six million hectares of arable land and nationalized almost all national and foreign banks. The Battle of Chile III: The Power of the People
‘The mummies have never respected the present government. It’s the people who respect the government. They follow the government’s orders. But those rich guys, the moneybag men, the men who are losing their interests, they’re the ones who are complaining.’ ibid. worker
‘The fascist groups attacked the students and workers who were showing support for the government.’ ibid.
‘Let’s Create Popular Power!’ ibid. slogan
‘We’ve earned huge fortunes for those guys, the bosses. But the won’t do anything for the welfare of the workers. And now they want to destroy us. There’s a great persecution of trade union leaders.’ ibid. worker
In 1973 the people’s stores are feeding some 300,000 families in Santiago, more than half its total population. ibid.
A showdown with Britain that begins over a pig; an all-out war waged in Korea but not in 1950; a little known US invasion of Russia; and controversial interventions in Central America and the Caribbean. In Search of History s4e1: America’s Forgotten Wars, History 1999
1859: In the Pacific north-west a handful of angry farmers on tiny San Juan island are about to plunge the United States into a war against Great Britain: they’re not quarrelling over the issue of slavery or states’ rights, believe it or not they’re fighting over a dead pig. ibid.
The United States is invading Korea; as US sailors and marines approach the shore and attempt a daring assault landing, Korean guns open fire and blast the American force. But this is not the Korean war of the 1950s; the year is 1871. ibid.
America’s involvement in the complex and confusing Russian revolution in 1918 … Surprisingly, American soldiers would spend more time in combat than any American unit did in France during World War I. ibid.
A decade after the [Panama] canal is completed the interventions begin when the marines arrive in Nicaragua in 1914. ibid.
The American Embassy in London: home to the United Sates government on British soil. With unprecedented access Channel 4 has spent a year behind its closed doors. This is diplomacy in the age of Trump. Inside the American Embassy I, Channel 4 2018
We follow the Embassy’s controversial move across London. ibid.
Robert Wood Johnson: The 71-year-old billionaire is an heir to the Johnson and Johnson pharmaceutical giant and owner of the New York Jets. ibid.
To secure American interests, the Embassy has teams of political officers: experts on the British economy and Westminster. ibid.
Under this president, getting into America is tougher than ever. The US embassy is a US border within the UK. Inside the American Embassy II: Trump’s UK Border
Every day a further 800 people are approved or denied by the team of Consular officers. ibid.
The quarter of a million Americans living in the UK. ibid.
After September 11th I wondered if our national interest conflicts with the interest of others. What’s driven our national interest? In a globalised world is putting national interest over a broader human interest actually in our interest? And do the government and media tell us the realities of US foreign policy? In Whose Interest? 2002
The United States has had its hand in a lot of places since World War II … In whose interest were these interventions? ibid.