Image by Planet Volumes.

As they often did, the headlines in the New York Times brought more bad news the morning of September 12, 1973: “Allende Out, Reported Suicide. Marxist Regime in Chile Falls in Armed Forces Violent Coup.” I read the article while waiting for my professor to appear in the Fordham University classroom where my Political Science class was held. The coup leader and new president of Chile was a military officer named Augusto Pinochet. As one would expect from the Times in 1973, the article mostly repeated the media releases filtered through Washington. In other words, no mention was made of Washington’s role in fomenting the right wing unrest leading to the coup nor was any suggestion made that Washington had foreknowledge of the incident. Most people who had been following the situation in Chile assumed differently; of course the US knew about the impending coup. In the days to follow, supporters of the Allende Popular Unity government began to talk on WBAI radio and at rallies and forums about what they knew. I made it to a rally at Union Square later that week where speakers condemned the coup and the US involvement. A couple of weeks later a bomb placed by the Weather Underground blew out an office or two in a building occupied by the International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) corporation because of the company’s intimate involvement with the Chilean groups and individuals involved in the coup.

Meanwhile reports were coming over the wire describing mass arrests, torture and murder. Embassies friendly to the overthrown government were providing space for those seeking asylum and fearing for their lives. The US Embassy was not among them. In fact, as individuals left the country and began to tell their stories,........

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