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Salvador Allende was was born July 26, 1908, in [[Valparaiso]]. Allende was a member of the [[Socialist Party of Chile]].   

Salvador Allende was was born July 26, 1908, in [[Valparaiso]]. Allende was a member of the [[Socialist Party of Chile]].   

Allende, representing a coalition of [[Marxist]] parties,  

Allende, representing a coalition of [[Marxist]] parties,  

came to power in 1970 after received narrowly beating his closest opponent with of 36.3 percent of the vote. [http://foia.state.gov/Reports/ChurchReport.asp]

came to power in 1970 after received narrowly beating his closest opponent with of 36.3 percent of the vote. [http://foia.state.gov/Reports/ChurchReport.asp]

During his government, Allende instituted a plan called "La vía chilena al socialismo" which lead to widespread disruption of the Chilean economy. The media wrote extensively of his failures. He "nationalized" many industries. Strikes and shutdowns caused massive inflation and unrest, and the conservative-controlled Chilean Congress sought to reject Allende's proposals whenever possible, causing considerable political gridlock.

During his government, Allende instituted a plan called "La vía chilena al socialismo" which lead to widespread disruption of the Chilean economy. The media wrote extensively of his failures. He "nationalized" many industries. Strikes and shutdowns caused massive inflation and unrest, and the conservative-controlled Chilean Congress sought to reject Allende's proposals whenever possible, causing considerable political gridlock.

In 1973, at the height of numerous [[Cold War]] crisis's occurring simultaneously worldwide, the socialist government was overthrown in a [[coup d'etat]]. The Chilean National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation concluded in its 1991 report,  "Within hours Chile's elected president, Salvador Allende, lay dead (this report concludes that he committed suicide), and a military junta presided by [[Augusto Pinochet]] took power."<ref>http://www.usip.org/library/tc/doc/reports/chile/chile_1993_introeng.html</ref> Many in the US vigorously protested both the CIA's alleged involvement in the coup, and the appalling human rights violations that followed, including the murder of Victor Jara, a popular songwriter and musician and ardent supporter of Allende. Jara was one of several thousand Chileans who were taken into custody the day after the coup. He was tortured for several days, then shot to death.<ref>http://www.usip.org/library/tc/doc/reports/chile/1993_pt3ch1_A2a2_153-167.html</ref>

US intelligence reports implicated Allende in the assassination of several opponents,<ref>http://nixontapeaudio.org/chile/517-004.pdf</ref> while KGB files smuggled out of Russia by Vasily Mitrokhin indicate that Allende received funds from the Soviet Union.<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/219461/pinochet-history/nro-symposium</ref> Allende was formally condemned by Chile's parliament for systematically destroying democracy in Chile.<ref>“Declaration of the Breakdown of Chile’s Democracy,” Resolution of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile, August 22, 1973.</ref> The Chilean Chamber of Deputies Resolution of August 22, 1973, accused Allende of support of armed groups, torture, illegal arrests, muzzling the press, confiscating private property, and not allowing people to leave the country. In the infamous "Cuban Packages Scandal" that precipitated the coup, large quantities of weapons were sent from Castro's Cuba to arm pro-Allende terrorists in Chile.<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/219461/pinochet-history/nro-symposium</ref> Kissinger privately told Nixon that Allende might declare martial law.<ref>http://nixontapeaudio.org/chile/517-004.pdf</ref> By 1973, as a result of covert US aid to Chilean dissidents and financing of pro-democracy protestors, US intelligence indicated Allende would likely lose the next Chilean election if it was held.<ref>http://archive.frontpagemag.com/Printable.aspx?ArtId=15648</ref>

 

Volodia Teitelboim, the chief ideologue of the Communist Party in Chile, declared that if civil war came, "it probably would signify immense loss of human lives, between half a million and one million."<ref>http://www.lyd.com/noticias/violencia/what_really.html</ref>

 

On September 11, 1973, Allende committed suicide during a military coup launched by Army Commander-in-Chief [[Augusto Pinochet]], who became President.

 

The Chilean National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation concluded in its 1991 report,  "Within hours Chile's elected president, Salvador Allende, lay dead (this report concludes that he committed suicide), and a military junta presided by [[Augusto Pinochet]] took power."<ref>http://www.usip.org/library/tc/doc/reports/chile/chile_1993_introeng.html</ref> Many in the US vigorously protested both the CIA's alleged involvement in the coup, and the appalling human rights violations that followed, including the murder of Victor Jara, a popular songwriter and musician and ardent supporter of Allende. Jara was one of several thousand Chileans who were taken into custody the day after the coup. He was tortured for several days, then shot to death.<ref>http://www.usip.org/library/tc/doc/reports/chile/1993_pt3ch1_A2a2_153-167.html</ref>

The Senate Intelligence Committee under Senator [[Frank Church ]]investigated US involvement and exonerated the Nixon administration of any unlawful activity. <ref>[http://www.foia.state.gov/Reports/ChurchReport.asp Church Report. Covert Action in Chile 1963-1973]. United States Senate. 94th Cong. 1st Ses. GPO 63-372. Washington. 1975.</ref><ref>Falcoff, Mark, [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=10612 ''Kissinger and Chile''], Commentary Magazine, 10 November 2003.</ref>

The Senate Intelligence Committee under Senator [[Frank Church]]investigated US involvement and exonerated the Nixon administration of any unlawful activity.<ref>[http://www.foia.state.gov/Reports/ChurchReport.asp Church Report. Covert Action in Chile 1963-1973]. United States Senate. 94th Cong. 1st Ses. GPO 63-372. Washington. 1975.</ref><ref>Falcoff, Mark, [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=10612 ''Kissinger and Chile''], Commentary Magazine, 10 November 2003.</ref>

[http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/09/19/us.cia.chile.ap/]

[http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/09/19/us.cia.chile.ap/]

[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/ch01-01.htm]

[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/ch01-01.htm]