Class Struggle – Cosmos|Hearth

June 26, 1908 – September 11, 1973

Salvador Allende was the 56th president of Chile. What differs him from other presidents, however, would be that he was the first democratically elected president with a socialist and openly self-proclaimed marxist agenda. His presidential term was between 1970 to 1973, the Cold War era.

To understand his significance, it would probably be key to understand the political and social situation of Chile during his time in politics. The political structure in Chile is similar to the one in the traditional western model, with a left, right and centre spectrum (Navia & Rodrigo, 2017). There were numerous presidents before Allende’s election, all offering different solutions to the different problems the Chilean public faced, such as economic issues like housing and inflation that was still prevalent during Allende’s campaign (Drobny, 1983). When looking at the limited available Chilean voter data, Allende had high popularity amongst low income workers, and those with both lower and higher educational status, but not those in the middle (Navia & Rodrigo, 2017). Looking at this information alone, it is very easy to make the assumption that Allende’s support and victory came from a class based one. Allende represented something different for Chile than the more western based ideologies. Socialist and communistic ideas from figures like Fidel Castro were prominent in Latin America (Power, 2008). Their influence caused guerrilla warfare in many places in Latin America, looking for change and an uprising, except for Chile, which heavily stayed towards its electoral voting process as a method for change (Power, 2008). Allende and his marxist ideologies were alluring to the struggling classes and scholars of Chile demanding change and not receiving it from the western model.

It is important to note that Allende’s campaign and election was a part of the Cold war era Latin America’s front, with the Soviet Union supporting Allende, and the United States opposed to him. The U.S invested millions into an anti-Allende campaign (Power, 2008), while the Soviets funded Allende’s candidacy, marking this as a clear Cold War confrontation between socialist and western ideals (Kedar, 2015). Allende’s presidency was almost a clear cut example of how the Cold War is usually described: Allende was a socialist, which immediately made him an enemy of the United states and allies with the Soviet Union, which resulted in a large political battleground to be set. The United States demonized socialism and Allende himself throughout his campaign through radio, newspaper and other outlets (Power, 2008). When Allende did obtain presidency, United States President Nixon stated to his advisors to ‘Make the (Chilean) Economy Scream’ to combat Allende’s government (Navia & Rodrigo, 2017). Inflation rose more in Chile and people either blamed the chilean government, or the governments opposition on the situation (Navia & Rodrigo, 2017). Despite the Soviet Unions economic aid and support towards Allende’s government (Power, 2008), Allende was cornered in a CIA and upper class influenced coup d’etat, where he proceeded to kill himself. This Cold War conflict reinforces the idea of the modern ‘age of aggression.’ Conflict between western ideologies and socialist beliefs creating angry men and conflict between people.

Gurwinder Sidhu

Works Cited:

Drobny, Andres. “THE INFLUENCE OF MINIMUM WAGE RATES ON THE LEVEL AND DISTRIBUTION OF REAL WAGES IN CHILE, 1960-1972.” Bulletin Of Latin American Research 2, no. 2 (April 1983): 17-38. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost

KEDAR, CLAUDIA. 2015. “Salvador Allende and the International Monetary Fund, 1970– 1973: The Depoliticisation and Technocratisation of Cold War Relations.” Journal Of Latin American Studies 47, no. 4: 717-747. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost

NAVIA, PATRICIO, and RODRIGO OSORIO. 2017. “‘Make the Economy Scream’? Economic, Ideological and Social Determinants of Support for Salvador Allende in Chile, 1970–3.” Journal Of Latin American Studies 49, no. 4: 771-797. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost.

Power, Margaret. 2008. “The Engendering of Anticommunism and Fear in Chile’s 1964 Presidential Election.” Diplomatic History 32, no. 5: 931-953. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost