1973 Chilean Coup Explained | The Fall of Salvador Allende | Cold War History

In the 1960s, Chile was a democratic nation despite many of their neighbors being under dictatorships in the midentth century, but the Americans became heavily involved in politics in Latin America. Since the Cuban Revolution and through projects like the Alliance for Progress, millions of dollars were sent out to their allies like Bettin Court in Venezuela. Plus,

the CIA also helped start coups in countries like Bolivia and Brazil. And in Chile in 1964, they sent money to help Montalva win an election against Salvador Alendia, a socialist. [music] However, in Chile, no presidents can serve two terms. So in 1970, Montalva was forced to step down. His party, the Christian Democratic Party, was taken

over by Radimoto. He however came in third during the election, losing two former presidents, George Allesandre and Salvador Alende. But no candidate won an outright majority. So the National Congress had to pick a leader. The CIA tried to get the National Congress to select George Alisandri only to have him later resign and bring Montalva into

power once again. But the National Congress chose Alende and he began to implement many socialist reforms. These helped bolster his popularity. But the Americans withdrew aid to Chile and the country suffered through mass inflation. Plus his close connections with socialist leaders like Castro worried many on the right. [music] So in parliament they united to form the

confederation of democracy and stopped further reforms and the CIA helped fund opposition to Alende like the Elmer Curio newspaper which called for him [music] to be overthrown. He also had very little support from the largely right-wing military officers who lived in a relatively closed off community. But these officers still had a great