The United States and democracy in Chile

Description

Interrupted Only Twice since 1833, democracy in Chile suffered its greatest setback in 1973, when the Chilean armed forces led by Augusto Pinochet wrested power from the popularly elected Marxist president Salvador Allende in a military coup that ended in Allende's death. Seventeen years later, in March 1990, democracy was restored when Pinochet surrendered power to an elected president, Patricio Aylwin. Much international debate has focused on the extent of U.S. responsibility for these events. In The United States and Democracy in Chile, noted scholar Paul Sigmund steers a middle course, arguing that U.S. policy has been a significant, though not decisive, factor influencing recent Chilean political development. Examining the U.S. role in the overthrow of Allende, Sigmund presents new evidence that Allende was not murdered but committed suicide during the 1973 coup. He refutes the thesis that left-wing journalist Charles Horman was killed on U.S. orders because he "knew too much" - a view given credence by the popular film and book Missing. And he examines the investigation of the 1976 car-bomb murder of Allende's former ambassador to the United States, Orlando Letelier - including the capture of the man who actually pushed the button, Cuban fugitive Virgilio Paz, through a broadcast of America's Most Wanted. Sigmund also documents the Reagan-era policy change from support for Pinochet to pressure for the return of democracy. He concludes that U.S.-Chilean relations have contributed significantly to an overall shift in U.S. foreign policy toward supporting democracy as an end in itself, rather than as a means to an end. Although U.S. policy will continue to be characterized by the interplay between self-interest and idealism, Sigmund contends, future administrations will find it impossible to ignore humanitarian concerns.

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