K&R to insist that the CIA and the administration respect the results of Chile's election.
Forty years ago this September, the U.S. government committed an unforgiveable crime against the people of Chile...in the name of ideological and economic conformity, our leaders destabilized and did all they could to destroy democracy in that country, aiding and abetting the fascist coup that would not be overturned for eighteen years.
For the next twenty years after the nominal restoration of democracy, the people of Chile, the memory of the hell we had subjected them to still fresh in their collective memory, did what OUR leaders demanded...elected only those candidates pledged to putting the profits of American corporations above their own needs and their own dignity. They "stuck to the script", because they knew what would happen if they didn't.
Today, in a moment of great courage, the people of Chile elected to the presidency a candidate who, although centrist in a previous term in office, is now clearly committed to challenging and breaking with the "Washington Consensus"-Michelle Bachelet. Ms. Bachelet was elected by 63% of the voters.
There is only one thing our leaders today can do that can even begin to acknowledge the horrible wrong we did to Chile back then-accept the results of the election without hesitation and commit to never doing anything to exact economic retribution against Chile for it's steps towards genuine independence and democracy. We still need the administration to apologize to Chile on behalf of the American people and to pledge never again to intervene in a democratic country in the way we shamefully did in Chile(and had done in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala, and would do in Nicaragua), but the practical step of taking a major change in course right now towards Chile and ALL of the Americas is what matters now.
Granted, we at DU don't control what the administration does, but it is always the right thing to remember the wrongs done and speak out to make sure they are not repeated.
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