Prelude to a Dictatorship

What can be learned from Chile's experience with severe political polarization?

Many view Chilean President Salvador Allende as a tragic victim of heavy-handed U.S. policy thanks to declassified documents from the CIA, State Department, and other U.S. government agencies that show a concerted effort to undermine his government. But the documents also contain revealing accounts of deep political and social divisions that remind us that countries have their own determining factors over which foreign powers have limited influence. No society goes from peaceful to violent overnight, and in recent years a number of Chileans close to the Allende government have expressed circumspection about that period.

This book retraces key events of Allende's three-year government, including the nationalization of Chile's copper and other industries, Fidel Castro's 25-day visit, political assassinations, strikes, and shortages. It also examines role of the military toward the end of Allende's administration-lurking in the background is General Augusto Pinochet, Chile's future dictator and a man whom Allende trusted. Supplementing in-depth research with interviews with some of the few witnesses to key events during that period who are still around to tell the story, Mary Helen Spooner constructs a fresh look at the Allende years.