US warned Chile dictator over plebiscite

[Ken Burch]

4. After fifteen years of soul-crushing dictatorship, the U.S. felt confident

Last edited Sat Feb 23, 2013, 11:46 PM - Edit history (1)

that the people of Chile would never again disobey their Yanqui masters by voting for someone like Allende-especially since it was clear that any post-Pinochet settlement would involve the acceptance of the notion that the military now had an absolute right to overthrow a civilian democratic government that dared to show actual economic and social independence from what was now called "The Washington Consensus"-that is, an enforced agreement that austerity, inequality and a harsh form of market economics would remain in place no matter what party won the "elections".

In other words, they were sure that Chile had "learned its place".