Sabotage from Abroad? The Economic Impact of U.S. Interference in Chile 1970-73

Abstract

In 1973, Augusto Pinochet led a US-backed coup against Salvador Allende, Chile's democratically elected president. Pinochet's supporters argued that the coup was the only way to save the country amid statism and socioeconomic breakdown. But how much was Allende to blame for the crisis that precipitated his downfall? In this paper, I conclude that Allende's project of socialist transformation in hyper-polarized 1970s Chile was doomed regardless of external provocation. However, more research would be needed to fully measure the impact of US economic interference.

Keywords: chile, chile coup, allende, salvador allende, chile economy, economic interference, economic warfare chile, pinochet economy, us economic interference, united states economic interference, united states economic interference chile, allende economics, chile political economy, chile economic history

JEL Classification: F50, F51, F54, N16, N40, N46, N96, O10, O14, O49, O54, P16, P21, P24, P26, P33, P48, P52, Y80