Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende Gossens

Jane Canning

On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a bloody coup against President Salvador Allende in Chile. Allende died in the Presidential Palace as it was attacked by Pinochet’s army. Controversy still surrounds the role of Washington and the CIA in the overthrow of the popularly elected government of Allende, a self-proclaimed Marxist. For decades Allende’s name and the experience of the Popular Unity government was all but erased from history, not only in Chile but internationally. This first-ever anthology presents Allende’s voice and his vision of a more democratic, peaceful and just world to a new generation. "“I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist because of the irresponsibility of its own people.” Henry Kissinger, on the prospect of Allende’s electoral victory in 1970. "This anthology is the first collection in English of Allende’s speeches and interviews . . . and will be of value for academic collections on Latin America."—Library Journal Features a substantial biographical introduction on Allende and an extensive chronology and bibliography.

Chile's Voice of Democracy

Salvador Allende Reader

Jacob Pointon

A compilation of speeches and articles by Salvador Allende after he was elected president. This volume was compiled for the 112th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Allende.

Speeches & Articles

Salvador Allende was a physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile. He was the first socialist to be elected president in Latin America. As president, Allende nationalized major industries, expanded education, improved living standards for workers, and distributed free milk to children. Allende was in office from November 1970 until his death in a US-sponsored coup on September 11, 1973.

The Selected Works of Salvador Allende

Regis Debray

The election in Chile of the Marxist leader of the Socialist Party, Salvador Allende, to the presidency in October 1970 inaugurated a political situation unique in Latin America and of world-wide significance. Allende’s Popular Unity coalition embraced Socialists and Communists and campaigned on an election programme of unprecedented radicalism – nothing less than the abolition of monopoly capitalism and imperialism in Chile. In this book Régis Debray, recently released from his Bolivian gaol, questions President Allende about his strategy for socialism. These discussions range widely over the history of the workers’ movement in Chile, the strength of imperialism in Latin America, the experience of the first months of the Allende government, the role of the Chilean armed forces, Allende’s personal background and friendship with Che Guevara, the seizure of land by peasants since the Popular Unity victory, and the international outlook of the new Chile. In an introductory essay Debray furnishes an analysis of Chilean history and politics which situates Allende in the past and present of the country, and explores the dynamics of the class struggle now unfolding there.

Socialism in Chile

Conversations with Allende

Chile's Road to Socialism

Salvador Isabelino del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 - 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America. Allende's involvement in Chilean political life spanned a period of nearly forty years. As a member of the Socialist Party, he was a senator, deputy and cabinet minister. He unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in the 1952, 1958, and 1964 elections. In 1970, he won the presidency in a close three-way race. He adopted the policy of nationalization of industries and collectivization. Amidst strikes by the far-right Patria y Libertad and CIA opposition under the Nixon administration, protests were held in Chile against Allende's rule. The Supreme Court criticized Allende for subordination of the judicial system to serve his own political needs; and the Chamber of Deputies formally implored the military to intercede and restore rule of law on 22 August 1973. Less than a month later, on 11 September Allende was deposed by the military, thus ending the Popular Unity government. As the armed forces surrounded La Moneda Palace, Allende gave his last speech vowing not to resign, but he was said by the U.S. to have committed suicide later in the day. In 2011, new evidence relating to the cause and manner of Allende's death has led to an official inquiry, including an autopsy. The investigation is still underway. After Allende's ouster, General Augusto Pinochet did not return authority to the civilian government, Chile became led by a military junta, and then as a dictatorship by General Pinochet.

Salvador Allende

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