New documentary by Patrizio Guzman, some comments I read in the Belgian press:
Why a new documentary on Salvador Allende, everything has been said ?
On the contrary ! People in Chile don't talk about him, the land is suffering from a total loss of memory. We must save Allende from oblivion.
What did you found out about him ?
Allende was a rather "classic" man, some kind of a serious teacher. He had these serious glasses and always wearing old-fashioned costumes. He spoke very slowly, a bit like an old man. On the other hand he was really a "bon vivant" he loved women, jokes and red wine. His speeches were highly ironic. He was charming and social but not a demagogue. He came from a wealthy family, but was capable of talking to everybody. He knew perfectly well how to communicate in politics. Furthermore he had his ethusiasm, even when he lost elections, again ( ! ), he shouted : "and tomorrow there's another day !" Little by little, the people in Chili started to appreciate him. By the time Allende became president, I was fully aware of the fact that he was living history.
Until the end Allende believed that he could accomplish social reformation in a legal way, wasn't that an illusion ?
Allende just saw an opportunity to live up to his ideals and he went for it. He was always in trouble, half of the country loved him, the other half could eat his guts. Even the army was divided. The USA have a large part in the failure of Allende, the responsability of Kissinger and Nixon is enormous. They played a real dirty game and used all the foul play they could think of. First Nixon spent millions of dollars in anti-Allende propaganda, when that failed the CIA organised the coup in Chili. Result : Allende shoots himself, Pinochet starts his terror.
Edward Korry, American Ambassador in Chili at that time, admits in the documentary that Nixon wanted to crush Allende. An AXIS Santiago - Havana was a horror-scenario for the White House.
Exactly, and the White House keeps using the same simple principles to ground its foreign policy. Certainly it is true that Allende admired Castro and Guevara, Allende was in a way revolutionary but he was truly opposed to violence. He condemned the Russian invasion in Prague and Hungary. In the end, when Castro wanted to send him armed troups to resist the coup, Allende refused and said to Castro that the last thing on earth he wanted was Cuban soldiers in Chili. The sad thing however is ; nothing has changed. Nixon and Kissinger were terrible but Bush and Rumsfeld are even worse.
I took the liberty of squeezing the interview ( in Dutch ) into my handicapped English. Not only I violated the copyright, I also messed with somebody's carefully formulated opinions... The responsability is all mine, but I think I respected the general idea of the interview; you have to trust me on that.
Abou the photo / it's one of these pictures that gives you the feeling history was happening right in front of that camera, right then and there. Try to imagine a recent history without photography
Extra : trailer
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