September 11th: The Anniversary

Today is the 11th September, or 11/9 if you prefer, a day to remember those who suffered and died at the hands of a murderous, vile, and completely undemocratic man. It is of course the anniversary of the Chilean coup d'état, in which a democratically elected and supported government was overthrown by an American backed dictator, who wanted to seize power and control of a country primed for exploitation by American interests and remove those darned socialist policies getting in the way of US economic gains.

Over the course of his reign as supreme lord of Chile (chief underling to the president of the United States) he was responsible for the torture of an estimated 40,000 people, with a further 3,000 killed or 'disappeared'. Go USA, Go Democracy!

I know for a fact a lot of people have not heard of this military coup in Britain, particularly true if you are quite young. Why would you know about it? After all is was a while ago and the people involved do not speak English. So they sort of are not real people right? At least not like you and I. Because of this bias towards only remembering white European tragedy, I will briefly run over the facts about the situation for you.

Early morning, September 11th 1973, the US backed Chilean military flew jets over the presidential palace and bombed it. Hours later the socialist president Salvador Allende was dead. He was replaced by General Pinochet who set about opening the country up to foreign 'free-market' interests, whilst torturing and executing anyone who dared express and opinion in opposition to his illegitimate, but powerfully backed, dictatorship.

Some people hold the belief that his dictatorship was a necessary evil, that it was required to alleviate the poverty of socialist Chile. In doing so they ignore the fact that this poverty was falsely created by the American capitalist system, who sanctioned the last drops of life out of the country in an attempt to "make the economy scream".

Britain does not get out of this smelling of roses either. As was the case with the US government (and its business interests) we too had something to gain from this coup. The UK government and that bastion of left-wing solidarity the BBC both went out of their way to support this murderous thug, solely because his control was good for our economic interests abroad both in Chile and the rest of Latin America. You know the man is a wrong'un when Maggie actually liked the person.

I guess it says all there is to say about the west, and our governments attitudes towards murderous and dictators in pursuit of quick buck, when you see a quote like this attributed to 'that woman' about another murderous dictator by the name of Suharto, stating that he is "one of our very best and most valuable friends". Why was he such? Well because all those guns he was using to murder his own people, they were of course British made.

That brings me onto the final point (yes I am finally going to mention it), why remember this coup and the lives lost on 9/11 in the world trade centre building attacks?  It is because of this aforementioned widespread, and popularly supported, brand of western imperialism that those attacks took place. We have been dominating and systematically installing brutal, puppet governments throughout the developing world. Controlling their economies and taking down anyone who stood in the way of western economic interests.

It is because of this that Thatcher, Reagan and countless others like them across all sectors of the political landscape are "staunch supporter(s) of many of the world's most brutal regimes, propping up and arming war criminals and dictators in service to Western imperialism, anti-communism and (the) neoliberal hegemony". By association they are as responsible for the countless numbers of deaths and tortures throughout the developing world as those carrying it out, and by supporting the politicians we too are legitimising the action of the dictators they support and prop-up. (brackets added myself)

So yes, mourn the tragic loss of life that day. But do not forget to remember the lives lost and ruined in pursuit of the "American dream" that got rocked that day. Like those in Chile's 9/11.