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Gabriel Salazar
(CHILEAN HISTORIAN)

Gabriel Salazar: "El ejercito chileno realizó 23 masacres a la clase trabajadora"

National History Prize 2006 winner Gabriel Salazar: "The Chilean army, between 1818 and Pinochet's coup d'état, carried out 23 massacres of the working class". And this is common for feudal-capitalist armies around the world.

Bourgeois armies and police represent an ever-standing danger to the life and freedom of popular majorities around the world. They represent one the toughest challenges to those who would change a nation toward genuine democracy. And countries that have disarmed this threat and built a successful revolution —Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, Iran—remain but a handful of nations in the iast 150 years, since they also have to battle the counter-revolution from without. The case of the genocidal US/Iran war and equally criminal strangling of the Cuban revolution illustrate this point rather well.

Every year during its celebration of "independence day" (18-19 September), Chile's armed forces stage a grand military parade. Most Chileans remain proud of this well-trained army, which, like all bourgeois institutions, pretends to represent the interests of the whole nation.

Special addendum:

Augusto Pinochet: The Coup, the Torture & the West

Best Documentary

Nov 11, 2024 CHILI

2023, marks the 50th Anniversary of the military coup that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power in Chile. The dictator took power – and kept i t – with the support of "democracies", including the United Kingdom and the United States, through the use of terror & sadistic torture. The West chose to look the other way. This documentary will reveal the shocking depth of that support, using archive footage, expert analysis & personal accounts of torture, and declassified government files to tell the story of Pinochet’s uprising, the brutal regime he led, and the Western allies who enabled it all.

This documentary explores the rise, brutal reign, and eventual decline of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. It highlights how he seized power through a military coup in 1973, toppling the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende with support from the United States and other Western nations (2:18-16:31).

Key themes include:

State Terror: The regime is infamous for its widespread use of torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings, as detailed by survivors' personal testimonies (16:33-22:15).
Economic Policy: Pinochet implemented radical neoliberal reforms guided by the Chicago Boys, privatizing state assets and slashing public spending, which profoundly impacted Chilean society (22:16-26:23).
International Support: The documentary examines the complicity of foreign powers, noting the close relationship between Margaret Thatcher and Pinochet, particularly during the Falklands War (26:24-31:20).
End of the Regime: The 1988 plebiscite, where voters rejected Pinochet's continued rule, eventually led to the transition back to democracy (31:21-36:27).
Accountability: The film covers Pinochet's 1998 arrest in London, his return to Chile, and the long legal battles that followed, ending with his death while under house arrest. In effect, Pinochet was never brought to justice, nor did he serve any time in prison for his numerous crimes. (36:28-40:45).

Feature image: Dictator Pinochet and wife in London, visiting with a fawning Margaret Thatcher, who aided Pinochet escape justice, among other crimes her own.