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On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a bloody coup against President Salvador Allende in Chile. Allende died in the Presidential Palace as it was attacked by Pinochet’s army. Controversy still surrounds the role of Washington and the CIA in the overthrow of the popularly elected government of Allende, a self-proclaimed Marxist. For decades Allende’s name and the experience of the Popular Unity government was all but erased from history, not only in Chile but internationally. This first-ever anthology presents Allende’s voice and his vision of a more democratic, peaceful and just world to a new generation. "“I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist because of the irresponsibility of its own people.” Henry Kissinger, on the prospect of Allende’s electoral victory in 1970. "This anthology is the first collection in English of Allende’s speeches and interviews . . . and will be of value for academic collections on Latin America."—Library Journal Features a substantial biographical introduction on Allende and an extensive chronology and bibliography.

This book is a fascinating collection of carefully handpicked key texts and speeches from Chile’s 1,000 Days of Revolution, previously unpublished in English. Twenty-three texts embodying the activity of Unidad Popular and Salvador Allende’s government in the early 1970s are structured around five thematic sections, which tell the story of the common challenges for progressive political organizations and social movements today. The themes of participatory democracy and sovereignty, economy and social rights, women and gender equality, indigenous people, and worker-class syndicalism and political organization guide the reader through the multidimensional and global vision of Popular Unity’s socialist project. Ideal for students, scholars, and general readers, this book introduces an extraordinary period in Chile’s history to a new generation of readers interested in the resurgence of democratic socialism around the world.

The election in Chile of the Marxist leader of the Socialist Party, Salvador Allende, to the presidency in October 1970 inaugurated a political situation unique in Latin America and of world-wide significance. Allende’s Popular Unity coalition embraced Socialists and Communists and campaigned on an election programme of unprecedented radicalism – nothing less than the abolition of monopoly capitalism and imperialism in Chile. In this book Régis Debray, recently released from his Bolivian gaol, questions President Allende about his strategy for socialism. These discussions range widely over the history of the workers’ movement in Chile, the strength of imperialism in Latin America, the experience of the first months of the Allende government, the role of the Chilean armed forces, Allende’s personal background and friendship with Che Guevara, the seizure of land by peasants since the Popular Unity victory, and the international outlook of the new Chile. In an introductory essay Debray furnishes an analysis of Chilean history and politics which situates Allende in the past and present of the country, and explores the dynamics of the class struggle now unfolding there.

Salvador Allende was a physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile. He was the first socialist to be elected president in Latin America. As president, Allende nationalized major industries, expanded education, improved living standards for workers, and distributed free milk to children. Allende was in office from November 1970 until his death in a US-sponsored coup on September 11, 1973.

"In this book Régis Debray, recently released from his Bolivian gaol, questions President Allende about his strategy for socialism. These discussions range widely over the history of the workers' movement in Chile, the strength of imperialism in Latin America, the experience of the first months of the Allende government, the role of the Chilean armed forces, Allende's personal background and friendship with Che Guevara, the seizure of land by peasants since the Popular Unity victory, and the international outlook of the new Chile". -- Publisher.

The election in Chile of the Marxist leader of the Socialist Party, Salvador Allende, to the presidency in October 1970 inaugurated a political situation unique in Latin America and of world-wide significance. Allende’s Popular Unity coalition embraced Socialists and Communists and campaigned on an election programme of unprecedented radicalism – nothing less than the abolition of monopoly capitalism and imperialism in Chile. In this book Régis Debray, recently released from his Bolivian gaol, questions President Allende about his strategy for socialism. These discussions range widely over the history of the workers’ movement in Chile, the strength of imperialism in Latin America, the experience of the first months of the Allende government, the role of the Chilean armed forces, Allende’s personal background and friendship with Che Guevara, the seizure of land by peasants since the Popular Unity victory, and the international outlook of the new Chile. In an introductory essay Debray furnishes an analysis of Chilean history and politics which situates Allende in the past and present of the country, and explores the dynamics of the class struggle now unfolding there.