Editing Salvador Allende (section)

==Legacy==
Salvador Allende remains a global symbol of democratic socialism and resistance to imperialism. His presidency inspired movements worldwide but also highlighted the limits of reform in the face of U.S. intervention. The Pinochet dictatorship’s atrocities underscored the cost of his overthrow, galvanizing human rights campaigns. Allende’s image endures in Chile, with statues, memorials, and his former home in Santiago as a museum. His story is documented in works like Peter Kornbluh’s The Pinochet File and declassified U.S. records.

CIA's Project FUBELT
 
Key actions included:

Funding Opposition: The CIA provided $6.5 million to opposition parties (Christian Democrats, National Party), media (e.g., El Mercurio), and labor groups to foment strikes and protests (web:2, web:5).

Economic Sabotage: The U.S. blocked Chile’s access to international credit, devalued copper prices, and supported Anaconda/Kennecott lawsuits to seize Chilean assets abroad (web:7, web:10).

Military Contacts: The CIA cultivated ties with Chilean military officers, including General Augusto Pinochet, providing intelligence and encouragement for a coup

US Corporation's Role in the Coup of President Allende:

ITT (International Telephone and Telegraph Corp.)
ITT played a central and highly publicized role in the efforts to prevent Allende's election and then to destabilize his government.

Financial Offers to Prevent Allende's Election (1970):

ITT, anxious about the potential nationalization of its Chilean telephone company (Chitelco), offered to contribute as much as $1 million to support any U.S. government plan to block the election of Salvador Allende in 1970. This offer was made to presidential adviser [[Henry Kissinger]] and then-CIA Director [[Richard Helms]] by [[John A. McCone]], an ITT board member and consultant to the CIA.

ITT's CEO, [[Harold Geneen]], without board approval, approached McCone and made the offer to support efforts to forge an anti-Allende coalition.
A CIA official, [[William V. Broe]], later admitted to a congressional committee that he discussed CIA staff proposals for creating economic chaos in Chile with an ITT officer to influence the 1970 election. While the CIA apparently turned down ITT's direct offer of $1 million to influence the election, ITT was kept informed of CIA efforts.

Lobbying and Destabilization Efforts Post-1970:

After Allende's election, ITT continued its efforts to destabilize his government. ITT's holdings in Chitelco were nationalized in September 1971, and ITT filed a large claim with the [[Overseas Private Investment Corporation]] (OPIC).

ITT formed the [[Ad Hoc Committee on Chile]], a lobbying group bringing together large corporations with Chilean interests, to pressure the Nixon administration for intervention. An ITT memo sent to White House adviser Peter B. Peterson contained 18 recommendations aimed at ensuring "Allende does not get through the crucial next six months." These proposals included cutting off U.S. credit to Chile and subsidizing the anti-Allende press, aimed at threatening economic collapse to force Allende to pay for expropriated property.

A 1975 U.S. Department of State report stated: "In addition to providing information and cover to the CIA, transnational corporations also participated in covert attempts to influence Chilean politics."

Anaconda (Anaconda Copper Mining Company)
Anaconda, along with Kennecott, was a major U.S. copper company with significant investments in Chile. The nationalization of the copper industry was a key policy of Allende's government, which directly threatened these companies' interests. Both Anaconda and Kennecott put immense pressure on the U.S. government to intervene in Chile to protect their assets. They feared the nationalization of their mines. These companies, along with ITT, were seen as being "the force behind suspension of aid and credits, the continuing military aid to the generals, and the policies of economic aggression" against Allende's government. The nationalization of copper was a primary driver behind the Nixon administration's directive to "make the economy scream" in Chile. This involved an aggressive campaign of economic warfare, diplomatic isolation, and covert action by the U.S. through the CIA.

PepsiCo
PepsiCo's involvement is less about direct covert funding, but more about high-level lobbying and pressure on the Nixon administration. Donald Kendall, then Chairman of PepsiCo and a personal friend of Richard Nixon (who had once been PepsiCo's lawyer), directly telephoned President Nixon to plead for U.S. intervention to prevent Allende from taking power. PepsiCo was part of a group of U.S. transnational corporations, including Anaconda and ITT, that formed the [[Business Group for Latin America'' (later the [[Council of the Americas]]). This group unsuccessfully offered to put up $500,000 to persuade members of the Chilean Congress not to confirm Allende. After Allende was confirmed, this group pressured the Nixon administration to impose an unofficial embargo on the Chilean economy.

Agustín Edwards, a prominent Chilean capitalist and media owner (of El Mercurio), was a close associate of Nixon and PepsiCo chairman Donald Kendall. Edwards was made vice-president of Pepsi-Cola just before Allende took office and reportedly organized a "worldwide money pipeline to the Chilean insurrectionists used by the CIA from his estate in Florida."

Dow Chemical had a joint venture with the Chilean government, called Petroquimica-Dow, for petrochemical production. While not as overtly involved in political manipulation as ITT, Dow Chemical's relationship with the Allende government became strained due to the his nationalist policies and the Chilean government's increased control over industries. There were protests against Dow Chemical (and the CIA) on U.S. university campuses in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as Dow was known for producing Agent Orange and Napalm, and the CIA was reportedly plotting a coup in Chile. This highlights the perceived connection between U.S. corporations, government, and controversial foreign policy.

The "Business Group for Latin America" (later the Council of the Americas), was created by David Rockefeller. This group collectively pressured the Nixon administration to take action against President Allende. As Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank, David Rockefeller had a vested interest in ensuring Anaconda, ITT, PepsiCo and the others were not shut out of Chile, afterall, they did business at his bank.