Jak's View From Vancouver

9/11 -- Thirty Five Years On

Today is the thirty-fifth anniversary of the coup in Chile; a coup in which a terrorist superpower brutally overthrew a democratically-elected government.

Few Americans will remember this anniversary, they'll be solemnly remembering one of their own -- an anniversary brought about, in part at least, because of the kind of imperialist despotism that September 11, 1973 so clearly reminds us.

Long live the memory of Salvador Allende and the brave Chilean people!

9/11 -- Thirty Four Years On

Today is the thirty-fourth anniversary of the coup in Chile; a coup in which a terrorist superpower brutally overthrew a democratically-elected government.

Few Americans will remember this anniversary, they'll be solemnly remembering one of their own -- an anniversary brought about, in part at least, because of the kind of imperialist despotism that September 11, 1973 so clearly reminds us.

Long live the memory of Salvador Allende and the brave Chilean people!

Pinochet is Dead

There is breaking news that Pinochet has died.  Finally, the devil reclaims his own.

9/11 -- Thirty-Three Years On

Today is the thirty-third anniversary of the coup in Chile; a coup in which a terrorist superpower overthrew a democratically-elected government.

Few Americans will remember this anniversary, they'll be solemnly remembering one of their own -- an anniversary brought about, in part at least, because of the kind of imperialist despotism that September 11, 1973 so clearly reminds us.

Long live the memory of Salvador Allende and the brave Chilean people!

Chile's New President

Last week there was Evo Morales in Bolivia, this week we have to celebrate the historic victory of Michelle Bachelet as the newly elected President of Chile!  As The New York Times has it:

"Her political success has baffled many Chileans who thought a left-leaning single mother jailed during Pinochet's dictatorship stood little chance in this socially conservative country."

That being said, she was extraordinarily successful in her role as Minister of Defense, where she "became a popular figure among the admirals and generals."  Politically, she follows closely in the footsteps of outgoing President Ricardo Lagos who led a market-oriented center coalition, and her recent comments about Morales and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez were not overly sympathetic.  However, one can always hope that her Socialist Party regains some of the progressive attitude it had during the days that her father worked with Salvador Allende.  Adding Chile to the growing anti-imperialist movement in Latin America would be a great coup.

9/11 -- Thirty-Two Years On

Today is the thirty-second anniversary of the coup in Chile;  a coup in which a terrorist superpower overthrew a democratically-elected government.

Few Americans will remember this anniversary, they'll be solemnly remembering one of their own -- an anniversary brought about, in part at least, because of the kind of imperialist despotism that September 11, 1973 so clearly reminds us.

Long live the memory of Salvador Allende and the brave Chilean people!

Memories of 9/11

My memory of September 11th is of waking early on the morning of September 11th 1973 to discover that the government of Chile had been overthrown in a military coup; and that the democratically-elected President, Salvador Allende, had been brutally murdered by gangsters financed and organized by the United States of America. This American-inspired coup led directly to the deaths of thousands of innocent Chileans.

Maybe if we reflected more on the events of September 11th, 1973, we could better avoid the tragic events of September 11th, 2001.

Pinochet's a "Real" Crook, Finally

That blood-soaked tyrant Augusto Pinochet has generally been allowed to wallow in self-esteem and luxury, and in perfect liberty of person since stepping down from power. The fact that he, his henchmen, and his CIA allies, have murdered tens of thousands of Chileans without remorse during 1973 and for years thereafter was ignored, officially covered up in an act of "statesmanship". The SOB should have been hung up by his balls until dead many years ago, but realpolitik let him survive.

These acts of "statesmanship" where a vile dictator is allowed to live out his life in luxury in exchange for silence on the actions of certain accomplices -- especially American accomplices -- usually include the dictator keeping most of the proceeds of the larceny that invariably accompanies dictatorship. However, Pinochet has always stuck firmly to his line that whatever he did, he did solely for the good of the fatherland, for Chile. And, for a variety of reasons, his iconic image as the austere, selfless leader stuck in Chile and with Pinochet's supporters outside the country. It was all bullshit of course.

A newly released US Senate investigation into money-laundering at Riggs Bank in Washington, DC, suggests that Pinochet may have a net worth in excess of $50 million stolen dollars. The report specifically details a number of transactions that prove corruption. For example,

"During the year and a half Pinochet spent under house arrest in London facing extradition to Spain, Riggs secretly transferred $1.6 million to his accounts in the United States, the report said. Riggs ... "served as a long-standing personal banker for Mr. Pinochet and deliberately assisted him in the concealment and movement of his funds while he was under investigation and the subject of a worldwide court order freezing his assets ... Riggs officials set up and helped Pinochet move funds to assorted offshore accounts and changed the names on the accounts so they would not show up in electronic searches, the report said. In 2000, Riggs paid a banker to travel from Washington to Chile to deliver cashier's checks to Pinochet, who is now living in a seaside hamlet outside Santiago, the capital."

When Pinochet's wealth was previously estimated at only $8 million,

"Clara Szczaranski, president of the State Defense Council, an official watchdog of Chilean government funds, said it was mathematically impossible for Pinochet to have saved that much from his government salary and pension. He is not known to have had any other source of income."

Now, with his wealth estimated at many times that, the blatant corruption is even more obvious. The effect in Chile could be enormous.

"Now you can say we are the equal to the dictatorship of any banana republic, where presidents and their families leave the country with their suitcases stuffed with cash," said Alejandro Navarro, a congressional deputy with the ruling Socialist Party. "This is the funeral of Pinochet's legacy. The appearance of these accounts buries the myth of Pinochet's silent revolution."

So, we can forget the thousands of murdered students and intelligensia, the tens of thousands of grieving families. We can even forget the slaughtered nuns and priests and Americans. But, having stolen some cash AND got caught, Pinochet may finally lose it all. Maybe he will die in a cold dark cell after all.

But what his renewed troubles may hopefully remind us, this year, is that, while 3,000 Americans died on September 11th, 2001, at the hands of fanatical stateless terrorists, on September 11th, 1973, the United States of America itself planned, financed and led the overthrow of the democratically elected government in Chile, leading directly to the deaths of Salvador Allende and 20,000-plus Chileans. Maybe this year, we can celebrate the remembrance of September 11th, 1973, and all of America's other vicious September 11ths that contributed to the only 9/11 most Americans can think of.