Chile: the balanced view : a recopilation of articles about the Allende years and after

we have become all loo familiar. What was new was Allende's bold attempl lo use Ihe powers of the Executive Branch lo neutralize and by-pass Ihe Congress and Supreme Court, gaín control of the major segmenls of the national economy, destroy the economic base o( the 'middle class opposition lorces, transform the political system, and eventually impose a lorm 01 lotal itarian socialism with all power in Ihe hands 01 a new ~/ite which wou Id rule in Ihe name 01 the Chilean people. V.S. POLICY President Nixon stated in February, 1971, that U.S. relations with Chile during the Allende regime would be based on the principie 01 non-intervention and largely shaped by Chilean Government actions lowards American interests and the inter-American system.(4) A carelul review 01 U.S.-Chilean relations during the rule 01 the Popular Unity coalition will reveal that -with minor exceplions- this was essentially the policy lollowed by the Nixon Administration. There is no evidence whatever that the American Government sought either a conlron– tation with Chile or waged anything tha! can be described as a "war 01 economic attrition" against the Allende regime. In view 01 the considerable hostility shown by President Allende aad officials 01 his government towards the United States, American economic interests, and the inter-American system, the Nixon Administration exercised considerable restraint in its relations with the Popular Unity Government. The United States kept open the lines 01 communication and continued its Peace Corps, Food tor Peace Program and Ex-1m Bank credit guarantees and insurance, despite !he Allende Government's delault on over $100 mili ion in debt to the U.S. Government and the expropriation without compensation 01 over $700 million in U.S. private investment. Not only was there no U.S. "economic blockade" 01 Chile -as some claim- but Allende's Chile considerably diversilied and expanded its trade, aid and political relations during the 1971-73 periodo U.S. diplomatic, commercial, and military relations were main– tained throughout the thirty-two months 01 the Allende regime. U.S.-Chilean relations, il not close and Iriendly, were certainly correc\. This non-provocative posture towards Chile was partly a rellection 01 the pragmatic Nixon-Kissinger policy 01 mainlaining a low prolile in Latin America and 01 not attempting to impose our legal and political structures on others. But it was also pursued lor the very practical reason that the opposite policy would have been counter-productive under Chilean circumslances. The U.S. Embassy in Santiago and Washington policy-makers knew that it was in America's interest lo avoid laking any actions, or even appearing to take actions, that could be interpreted as interfering in Chile's internal affairs. In lact, according to Edward Korry, the U.S. Ambassador to Chile at that time, the United States took "an extraordinarily soft line" towards the Allende Government during the lirst year, and tried hard to work out a modus vivendi with the Allende Government(5) . Anyone with an elementary understanding 01 the Chilean situation was aware tha! any overtly hostile behavior on the part olthe United Stales would be used by President Allende to rally support behind his faltering regime by enlisting Chilean nationalism against "U.S. imperialism". This did not mean that the U.S. Government was restrained Irom acting to protect legitimate American interests, such as obtaining fair compensation lor American properties expropriated by the Allende regime in 1971. Since "prompt, adequale and effectíve" compensation for expropriated American properties in Chile was not lorthco– ming, the Nixon Administration naturally cut-back bilateral U.S. development assistance (4)See President Richard t;lixon's Foreign po/icy Report 10 Congress. February 21. 1971. (5)See New York Times. September 16. 1974 lor Korry inlerview and the generous olfer made on behall oflhe U.S. Government lo settle amicably lhe dispute over compensation lor properties 01 Anaconda. Kennecott. and ITT seized by Ihe Allende Government 155