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Salvador Allende (1908–73)Chilean president. Born on 26 July 1908, in Valparaiso, the son of wealthy parents, he qualified as a doctor in 1932 and – a year later – helped to found the Chilean Socialist party, a Marxist organisation that was independent of the Communist party. In 1943, he became its leader and ran unsuccessfully for the Chilean presidency in 1952, 1958 and 1964. Then, in 1970, he won as leader of an alliance of socialists and Communists, the first Marxist to win a Latin-American presidency in a free election. At the same time, his narrow majority (36.3% of the popular vote) encouraged critics to condemn his government as lacking a mandate for its ambitious projects. Allende nationalised the copper mines and several other, mostly foreign-owned, businesses without compensation. This resulted in strong protests from foreign governments and a halt to investment from abroad. Land reforms, aimed at breaking up the large hacienda estates, resulted in turmoil in the countryside. Allende's government also introduced pay rises and a price freeze, which resulted in a thriving black market for essential goods and increasing economic chaos. Violent industrial unrest in 1972-3 culminated in a national strike by lorry owners. Alienated from the regime, the élites and middle class supported a coup by General Augusto Pinochet, which was backed by the US Central Intelligence Agency. On 11 September 1973, Allende died in the burning presidential palace, trying to fight off the military attack. His image as a left-wing hero was enhanced internationally as Pinochet's regime brutally suppressed Chile's trade unions, student activists and working-class organisations. |
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