Monday, December 16, 2013

Where Allende went Wrong

It is difficult to answer all questions regarding Allende's presidency--like how much the CIA actually influenced the coup, or whether the leftists were preparing to take up arms to defend their government.  What we do know is that there were many people both in and outside of Chile that wanted Allende overthrown.

Why was Allende--a man who had so much support from the workers--hated by many other groups?  Did he actually overstep the constitution as many of his opponents claim?  Why or why not?

8 comments:

  1. He simply wasn't popular enough from the start. He set plans to start a regime that was totally different and somewhat radical when only 36% of the voters said they wanted him in office. so the other 64% felt like they didnt have any sort of say in the matter despite their having the majority.

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  2. The tradition of Chile being a right leaning government with a capitalist society is still wired into those minds who continue to believe in it. For example, landowners were amongst the strongest opposers of Allende. All of a sudden their land was being seized and given to "unworthy" peasants and workers. With every popular candidate, there is always going to be people against him. You cannot please everyone while attempting to make advancements in society. Allende is very left leaning and trying to start a revolution. Therefore it is inevitable that the right leaning people (many of those still existed in Chile) will be strongly against him.

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  3. Allende was hated by so many other groups because he did not have enough support. Also, maybe the US played a role in the hatred towards him by putting things into the heads of Chileans. I guess he overstepped the constitution to a certain extent- it was against the law to run for a second term, however Allende did. Many people did not favor him because of the simple fact that he was Marxist- the CIA saw this as a threat of potential Communism.

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  4. He didn't hold the popular vote. With someone coming to office and effectively changing the society to a Communist - leaning nation. Unfortunately, most of the popular support of a leader comes from support of the wealthiest classes, something that Allende looked to remove entirely, so support would inevitably not trickle down. With only 36% of the vote, the people did not all agree on Allende in office.

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  5. Being a left leaning political leader, Allende had radical new views on how the government should be run. After losing the election 36% to 64%, the public made it obvious that they didn't want those ideas and changes instituted into the government. Other governments hated Allende due to his radical new policies that would threaten the relationship it had with Chile. These governments had gotten used to the fact that Chile's government was right leaning and that relied on that. with these new changes they couldn't rely on that anymore and that made them angry and i believe a bit scared.

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  6. The public didn't want a left-leaning leader. His new regime was so radical, that when Allende ran for office everyone was still set on Chile's right-leaning, capitalist policies. It is like with any society: if someone runs for office advocating an entirely new system, there is going to be a large portion of people who are against them. Take today, for example. We have conservatives who basically hate Obama, but we also have liberals who agree with his policies.

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  7. The age old, and bit cliche, idiom that you "cant please everyone" holds up to be extreme potent in the case of Allende. While the majority of Chile at the time were right-wing and working class, or upper working class with a sizable amount of land. While Allende was a leftist. Opposing ideals in politics rarely lead to a respect let alone mutual agreement. So it is understandable that despite his popularity, Allende has his share of vocal cynics.

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  8. Why was Allende--a man who had so much support from the workers--hated by many other groups? Did he actually overstep the constitution as many of his opponents claim? Why or why not?
    Allende still remains as an mysterious figure for me because he was beloved and hated at the same time, i can tell from his way of speaking during his speech we watched at class time he truly is a faithful believer in socialism, yet his way of apply his Communism could be seem rather harsh toward capitalists from with demos tic or foreign countries, also his used troops and progressive followers riot opponents which is unconstitutional in my eyes.

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