Word: itt
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Marxist in history. It did by a majority vote of 78 per cent. On October 24, 1970 Chile inaugurated a constitutionally elected Marxist pledged to forge a socialist state. One of Allende's first moves was to open discussions on the expropriation of the Chilean Telephone Company, owned by ITT. Allende wanted more telephones for the poor and claimed ITT had run the telephone system carelessly. ITT denied the charges. ITT said the Chilean Telephone Company was worth $153 million; Allende offered $24 million to open negotiations. ITT officials felt that negotiations on that level were meaningless and sought other...
...ITT's pitch was strong. The corporation had a platform and a plan. ITT argued that it was illegal for Chile to expropriate U.S. owned property without just compensation. Besides being bad business and illegal, ITT investments were insured by the U.S. government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which offered ITT financial protection. However, if Chile expropriated without compensation the U.S. taxpayer would end up footing a $100 million bill on the insurance. This gave the U.S. government a financial stake in ITT's private investments...
Beyond all these legalistic cost/benefit analyses, ITT had another line to sell, one that spoke of ideology, not dollars and cents. ITT noted in its memos on Chile, which are cited in the Senate Multi-National Sub-Committee report, that "we must decide whether we, ourselves, are to return to fundamental principles on which this country [the U.S.] was founded, but also whether we are to stand firm for democracy for the sake of those friends of ours in Latin America who have based their hopes and aspirations on our strength. This is not a time to deny...
With this combination of economic and ideological argument ITT sought to stop Allende's election in 1970 and convince the U.S. government to help in the effort. But Allende was elected and ITT lost the Chilean Telephone Company properties to expropriation, as did other U.S. corporations. It seemed then that ITT had lost...
...ITT had not lost the war, however; it had in fact started it in earnest or given impetus to an ongoing conflict. Since 1961 the U.S. had spent $1.5 million on economic aid to Chile. This was in a continuing effort to "keep Chile from going Marxist," according to an ITT memo...