Word: chiles
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Week after week, as a succession of bitter strikes plunged Chile toward economic chaos, rumors had circulated in Santiago that the country was on the verge of a military coup. Even so, many Chileans dismissed the stories. True, Chile had large and well-trained armed forces. But unlike the colonels of neighboring Peru and the generals of Brazil, Chile's officers had by and large a non-political tradition...
Allende's downfall had implications that reached far beyond the borders of Chile. His had been the first democratically elected Marxist government in Latin America. Moderate Lathis will certainly want no more such experiments because of Chile's experience; leftists, on the other hand, will ruefully conclude that revolution is a surer route to power than the ballot box. The U.S. was embarrassed by the coup−though Washington insisted that it had taken no part. Anti-imperialists everywhere immediately assumed that Washington was behind his downfall. At week's end the U.S. had made no move...
...action from a window overlooking the palace. Early last Tuesday morning, armored cars rolled across Santiago's broad Plaza de la Constitucion to block the portals of La Moneda, the somber 18th century-style Presidential Palace. As army sharpshooters took up positions, at least 100 armed carabineros−Chile's paramilitary police−jumped out of buses and double-timed across the square. Their mission, according to the secret order of the day, was "to restore institutional normality" in South America's most democratic nation and "stop a disastrous dictatorship from installing itself...
Meanwhile, the junta moved rapidly to consolidate its rule. In a hasty ceremony at the Bernardo O'Higgins Military School−named in honor of Chile's founding father−a military government that included two right-wing civilians for political window dressing was sworn in. Ominously, the new leaders took an oath of allegiance not to Chile's constitution but to the junta. General Pinochet headed the Cabinet as President of the junta. Its other members: Admiral Merino; General Gustavo Leigh Guzman, air force commander in chief; and General Cesar Mendoza Duran, director general...
...military shut down all of Chile's airports and closed the borders to Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. A state of siege was imposed throughout the country, and Santiago was subject to a round-the-clock curfew. Violators were warned that they would be shot on sight. While the army struggled to rid Santiago of leftist snipers, householders kept their heads down because itchy soldiers fired whenever a window went up too fast. There were rumors that pro-Allende army units were in command of the southern part of the country. By week's end, the military officially declared...