Salvador Allende

[Psy]

Did Salvador Allende tell the people not to rebel against the coup of 1973 (to avoid bloodshed)?

If so why? Did Salvador Allende underestimate US imperialism? Did Salvador Allende forget what the US did in Guatemala after the fall of Jacobo Arbenz?

[The Grey Blur]

Salvador Allende died trying to defend himself and Socialism...

[Psy]

Originally posted by Permanent [email protected] 09, 2007 11:25 pm
Salvador Allende died trying to defend himself and Socialism...
I know but I heard that Allende over the radio asked the people to stay in their homes instead of ordering the military units still loyal to him to distribute rifles to the people as quickly as possible to ensure Pinochet would have to pay with rivers of blood to take control.

Here is a quote from Che "I don't know if the Cuban revolution will survive or not. It's difficult to say. But don't come looking for me among the refugees in the embassies. I've had that experience, and I'm not ever going to repeat it. I will go out with a machine gun in my hand, to the barricades. I'll keep fighting to the end.". To my understanding Allende didn't spread the idea of armed resistance in his final speech during the coup.

During the coup did Allende changing his tune of a peaceful road to socialism, to calling on the people to fight the coup by any means necessary? If so why didn't the Chilean people fight back like the Spanish (with help from people around the world) against Francisco Franco (sure they lost but you can't say they didn't put up a fight)?

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Che was talking about his experience in Guatemala there, not the coup in Chile, in 1973, six years after he died.

Allende's last words to the people of Chile were: “This will surely be the last time I speak to you. Magallanes Radio will be silenced, and the reassuring tone of my voice will not reach you. It doesn't matter. You will continue hearing it. I will always be with you. At the least, your memory of me will be that of a man who was loyal to the country... The people ought to defend themselves, but not sacrifice themselves. The people ought not let themselves be subdued or persecuted, but neither should they humble themselves... I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other people will be able to transcend this sad and bitter moment, when treason tries to force itself upon us...I'm sure that my sacrifice will not be in vain... Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!”

Here's a good article on Allende and Chile (http://www.freepeoplesmovement.org/ry/rya6a.html)

[Psy]

Originally posted by Compañ[email protected] 10, 2007 04:33 am
Che was talking about his experience in Guatemala there, not the coup in Chile, in 1973, six years after he died.

Allende's last words to the people of Chile were: “This will surely be the last time I speak to you. Magallanes Radio will be silenced, and the reassuring tone of my voice will not reach you. It doesn't matter. You will continue hearing it. I will always be with you. At the least, your memory of me will be that of a man who was loyal to the country... The people ought to defend themselves, but not sacrifice themselves. The people ought not let themselves be subdued or persecuted, but neither should they humble themselves... I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other people will be able to transcend this sad and bitter moment, when treason tries to force itself upon us...I'm sure that my sacrifice will not be in vain... Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!”

Here's a good article on Allende and Chile (http://www.freepeoplesmovement.org/ry/rya6a.html)
I already knew Che died in 1967, I was questioning if Allende was talking US imperialism seriously enough. Here is a broadcast from Allende during the coup from the link you posted.

"Confirmed reports indicate that a sector of the Navy has rebelled and is occupying Valparaíso. Santiago is normal and [the soldiers are] in their barracks. I'm here defending the government that I represent by the will of the people. Be alert and vigilant...I wait for the soldiers of Chile to respond positively and defend the laws and the Constitution. Workers must go to their workplace and wait for new instructions"

"I wait for the soldiers of Chile to respond positively and defend the laws and the Constitution"? No order to the troops to shoot all their officers involved with the coup?

"Workers must go to their workplaces and wait for instructions"? Allende didn't order the people to arms? Didn't order people to stock up on Molotov cocktails? To barricade streets? To get ready for urban warfare?

[Tekun]

Im not sure exactly what Allende was thinking or decided on
But I can tell u for sure that in Guatemala in 54, Arbenz Guzman did not take up the people's offers to protect him and the country
In fact, many student and workers organizations (which would later engage in a civil war against the gov) even went as far as they offered to organize and protect the country from any invaders
They asked the government to distribute weapons amongst the country, but the government refused
Arbenz Guzman refused to believing that the military would be sufficient, he even convinced most of the country that the military would easily defeat Castillo Armas
And even in the days before the actual coup, a few student/workers organizations armed themselves, but they were no match for the US trained and funded forces that brought about the coup
In addition, the Guatemalan military ended up betraying Arbenz Guzman (which facilitated the coup) when high ranking generals were paid off and began to support the invading force led by Castillo Armas
There were reported incidents of house to house fighting between students/workers against the invaders, but these were too isolated and far too weak/disorganized to resist the onslaught
The government and president of Guatemala never considered arming the population, who held the government of Arbenz in high esteem, because they confided far too much in a corrupt and easily influenced military

Unfortunately most of the aspects and decisions in Guatemala 54 were then repeated in Chile 73

[Psy]

Originally posted by [email protected] 10, 2007 11:49 am
Im not sure exactly what Allende was thinking or decided on
But I can tell u for sure that in Guatemala in 54, Arbenz Guzman did not take up the people's offers to protect him and the country
In fact, many student and workers organizations (which would later engage in a civil war against the gov) even went as far as they offered to organize and protect the country from any invaders
They asked the government to distribute weapons amongst the country, but the government refused
Arbenz Guzman refused to believing that the military would be sufficient, he even convinced most of the country that the military would easily defeat Castillo Armas
And even in the days before the actual coup, a few student/workers organizations armed themselves, but they were no match for the US trained and funded forces that brought about the coup
In addition, the Guatemalan military ended up betraying Arbenz Guzman (which facilitated the coup) when high ranking generals were paid off and began to support the invading force led by Castillo Armas
There were reported incidents of house to house fighting between students/workers against the invaders, but these were too isolated and far too weak/disorganized to resist the onslaught
The government and president of Guatemala never considered arming the population, who held the government of Arbenz in high esteem, because they confided far too much in a corrupt and easily influenced military

Unfortunately most of the aspects and decisions in Guatemala 54 were then repeated in Chile 73
Another thing was the US army was bogged down in Vietnam in '73 and the US public was already growing tired of the Vietnam war, Nixon wasn't in a good position to deploy ground troops into Chile at the time.

[Les Enragés]

From what I know Allende tried without success to get the Soviet Union to bankroll his revolution. The USSR sent diplomats to Chile to observe what was going on. They went back to Russia saying Chile wasn't a good investment because in their words "this is a government which will soon be toppled."

Remember what Che said, "A revolution which doesn't go all the way is no good."

[metalero]

from the article linked by CdL:


Here, Marx was saying that when workers take power, they shouldn’t, and can’t, be afraid to fight back when attacked by the bourgeoisie. And indeed, as a result of the gains they had made under Allende, the Chilean workers were not afraid to respond to just such attacks. When the capitalists called strikes, workers organized manufacturing and transportation without them. They also took over workplaces and even formed workplace and farmers councils. The problem was that these bodies should have been strengthened and supported; but instead they very often were not.

and that was Allende big mistake, refusing to arms the workers so long as he naively trusted some "sectors" from the military to defend the government.