The dark side of Salvador Allende

[luiz]

The image that most have of Salvador Allende was formed because of the events of a single day: September 11th of 1973. The coup that outsed him and his consequent suicide made him an idol of the international left and widely admired by people from all over the political spectrum.
The traditional arguments against Allende did little or no harm to his image. Leftists either don't care or blame on "reactionary forces" facts like shortage of food caused by nationalization of coutless land properties(the agricultural production of Chile fell 25% during his presidency), or a record inflation, or the fact that the commercial debt increased amazing 14 times.

A recent book based on Allende's thesis during his medical course, however, promisses to finally change the heroic image of a martyr. Turns out Allende was a hardcore racist and homophobe, and his methods of "cure" would make Josef Mengele proud.
The book in question is called Salvador Allende, Anti-Semitism and Euthanasia, and was written by chilean historian Víctor Farías. Farías had access to Allende's medical thesis, and we can read them in the book.
I'll post here the exact words of Allende, and then a short translation.

On Jews and Gypsies:

Los cíngaros constituyen habitualmente agrupaciones delietuosas, en donde impera la pereza, la ira y la vanidad. Los hmocicidios son muy frecuentes entre ellos
Los hebreos se caracterizan por determinadas formas de delito: estafa, falsedad, caluminia y, sobre todo, la usura

Basically he is saying that gypsies form criminal groups where all sorts of crimes are common, including murders("very frequent"). The jews are accused of been liers and cheap.

On homossexuals and their treatment:

El homosexual orgánico es un enfermo y, en consecuencia, deve merecer la consideración de tal.
...
Por otra parte, los trabajos de Steinach, Lipsohutz, Pézard y otros no haoen sino corroborar lo antes expuesto. Aún más, estos autores han logrado curar a un homsexual, en cuya familia había otros pederastas, que presentaban un grande número de caracteres sexuais feminos, ingertándole trozos de testículo en el abdmomen.

He is basically saying that homossexuality is a disease, and must be treated. He is excited about a method of cure that consists on inserting pieces of testicule in the abdomen of the patient.

He actually put his nazi-esque ideas in practice when he became Minister of Health. He created a law that forced the state to sterilize people with mental disabilities and alcoholics. A third of the people sterilized died, due to terrible hygene conditions and brutal methods.

Everyone who wants an accurate vision of Salvador Allende should buy this book. Unfortunately, IIRC it is only avaiable in spanish. Portuguese speakers can also check out a stroy on Veja about this book.

 

[Winner]

I am glad you're posting this, Luiz. Too little is known about the other side.

Unfortunately, in CZ, many people do the opposite - they idealize Pinochet as an example of someone who did the right thing with leftists - which means to kill them.

 

[Yom]

I don't idolize Allende, nor do I consider him to be a good leader, but at least he didn't commit democide like his successor.

 

[Richard Cribb]

Well,I have heard about this book, and since Victor Farias is a most respected historian( I am old enough to remember the Heidegger controversy), it is indeed something one should take seriously.
But have in mind that those ideas on certain ethnical groups and sexual minorities were common back then. Even in my country conservatives, social and main-stream academics alike had similar notions.
It strikes me as a bit unfair then to single out Allende for being a child of his time.
Anyway I am quite aware that Allende was no angel,and that his reign hard can be critized at certain points. If your point is that Western intellectuals has glorified him undeservedly, I fully agree.
However if somebody think that this justifies the coup d'etat and the horrible reign of Allende aided by the Chicago boys then I must cry out loud in protest.
What Winner mentions is certainly similar to the reactions I have observed in rightist groups in Poland, and that worries me more.
That said, I will most certainly check his bookout as soon as it comes on a language I master. I must to my eternal shame confess that I don't speak the lovely Spanish language.

 

[nonconformist]

I've never heard of this guy.
Background info please?

 

[luiz]

@Winner, Yom and luceafarul

Indeed, the fact that Allende was a bad leader does not in any way justify what Pinochet did. Allende should have been ousted democratically, by Congress, and not by a violent military coup. Furthermore there is no doubt that Pinochet was a more brutal leader than Allende.

I hope it is clear that the point of this thread is not to provide some moral justification for Pinochet; it is merely to de-construct the myth created around Allende.
No matter how bad Allende was, or how wrong the communists were, nothing justifies what Pinochet did.

 

[Richard Cribb]

@Winner, Yom and luceafarul

Indeed, the fact that Allende was a bad leader does not in any way justify what Pinochet did. Allende should have been ousted democratically, by Congress, and not by a violent military coup. Furthermore there is no doubt that Pinochet was a more brutal leader than Allende.

I hope it is clear that the point of this thread is not to provide some moral justification for Pinochet; it is merely to de-construct the myth created around Allende.
No matter how bad Allende was, or how wrong the communists were, nothing justifies what Pinochet did.

I am happy to conclude that we basically agree then!
@nonconformist: I am a bit too tired now, but I will try to find some more information about Victor Farias tomorrow. All I can say now is that his work on Heidegger was excellent and a revelation at its time (the very late eighties I think).

 

[luiz]

I've never heard of this guy.
Background info please?

Víctor Farías is a respected chilean histrorian. Although the chilean left is quite furious because of the book, nobody could dispute the main issue, Allende's thesis. They are open for public, and can be found in the Library of the Medical Department of the University of Santiago.

Farías is a professor at the Latin American Institute in the Free University of Berlin since 1974. As luceafarul correctly mentioned, Farías is the author of the book "Heidegger und Nationalisozialismus", that brought some embarissing informations on the german philosopher.
He also wrote "Die Nazis in Chile", on the influence of nazi immigrants in Chile.

Farías himself fled Chile after Pinochet's coup, since at the time he was an admirer of Allende. Later, his studies led him to despise his old idol. If you master spanish or german you can do a google search for additional information.

 

[Yom]

@Winner, Yom and luceafarul

Indeed, the fact that Allende was a bad leader does not in any way justify what Pinochet did. Allende should have been ousted democratically, by Congress, and not by a violent military coup. Furthermore there is no doubt that Pinochet was a more brutal leader than Allende.

I hope it is clear that the point of this thread is not to provide some moral justification for Pinochet; it is merely to de-construct the myth created around Allende.
No matter how bad Allende was, or how wrong the communists were, nothing justifies what Pinochet did.

Great! I was fearing that you would hold that Pinochet was better than Allende.

 

[Yom]

Víctor Farías is a respected chilean histrorian. Although the chilean left is quite furious because of the book, nobody could dispute the main issue, Allende's thesis. They are open for public, and can be found in the Library of the Medical Department of the University of Santiago.

Farías is a professor at the Latin American Institute in the Free University of Berlin since 1974. As luceafarul correctly mentioned, Farías is the author of the book "Heidegger und Nationalisozialismus", that brought some embarissing informations on the german philosopher.
He also wrote "Die Nazis in Chile", on the influence of nazi immigrants in Chile.

Farías himself fled Chile after Pinochet's coup, since at the time he was an admirer of Allende. Later, his studies led him to despise his old idol. If you master spanish or german you can do a google search for additional information.

I think he means that he's never heard of Allende. I could be wrong, though (sorry for underestimating you, if this is not the case, noncon).

 

[GenMarshall]

I've never heard of this guy.
Background info please?

I to never heard of this person.

 

[Hitro]

I think he means that he's never heard of Allende. I could be wrong, though (sorry for underestimating you, if this is not the case, noncon).

He calls himself some sort of Socialist. It would be rather sad if he wouldn't know who Allende was.

But then, who knows...

 

[The Last Conformist]

I've never heard of this guy.
Background info please?

Allende? Left-wing President of Chile, ousted by Pinochet's coup. Any encyclopaedia should have an article on him.

 

[Winner]

@Winner, Yom and luceafarul

Indeed, the fact that Allende was a bad leader does not in any way justify what Pinochet did. Allende should have been ousted democratically, by Congress, and not by a violent military coup. Furthermore there is no doubt that Pinochet was a more brutal leader than Allende.

I hope it is clear that the point of this thread is not to provide some moral justification for Pinochet; it is merely to de-construct the myth created around Allende.
No matter how bad Allende was, or how wrong the communists were, nothing justifies what Pinochet did.

I know.

Guess the same can be said also about the Spain - even if we know Franco was a fascist authoritarian, the "republican" communists were no better. Or, in a broader sense, Nazi Germany vs. Stalinist Russia. These are the "evil vs. evil" conflicts, where it is very hard (for liberal democrats) to choose one side.

 

[h4ppy]

I've never heard of this guy.
Background info please?

Allende? He is the guy that the communists drag out on Sept. 11 to make the U.S. seem evil. basically he was a democraticly elected communist who ruled Chile in the early 1970's. However the country was begining to fall apart. A group of U.S. backed iinsurgents killed him and an even worse guy, Pinochet, took his place.

 

[OrpheusPrime]

Vary disturbing indeed. I'll have to brush up on my espanol and give it a read.

 

[Mungaf]

Well, what did you expect? I can't think of one Latin American leader from the time of Bolivar to the 1980's without a huge collection of skeletons in his closet, if not all over his house. Except maybe Oscar Arias Sanchez.

(Prove me wrong if I am, people with knowledge on Latin American politics.)

 

[luiz]

I know.

Guess the same can be said also about the Spain - even if we know Franco was a fascist authoritarian, the "republican" communists were no better. Or, in a broader sense, Nazi Germany vs. Stalinist Russia. These are the "evil vs. evil" conflicts, where it is very hard (for liberal democrats) to choose one side.

Exactly. The key is to able to criticise both sides. Unfortunately, in Brazil and in the rest of Latin America, only one side got to write history. The military dictatorships are widely regarded as evil, and that's great. But the communists who fought them are considered heroes, martyrs. Nevermind the fact that they were responsible for countless kidnappings of civilians, bombings that resulted in civilian deaths, robberies and other crimes. Nevermind the fact that while they criticised the oppression of our military rulers, they praised the much more oppressive Maoist regime.

 

[luiz]

Well, what did you expect? I can't think of one Latin American leader from the time of Bolivar to the 1980's without a huge collection of skeletons in his closet, if not all over his house. Except maybe Oscar Arias Sanchez.

(Prove me wrong if I am, people with knowledge on Latin American politics.)

This is a very broad generalization. Of course all leaders, not only in Latin America, have problems. They key is what do you mean by "skeletons in his closet". There were several decent latin-american leaders, even if they were the exception rather then the rule.

Several leaders had questionable political orientations, but were not racist or corrupt.

 

[Winner]

Exactly. The key is to able to criticise both sides. Unfortunately, in Brazil and in the rest of Latin America, only one side got to write history. The military dictatorships are widely regarded as evil, and that's great. But the communists who fought them are considered heroes, martyrs. Nevermind the fact that they were responsible for countless kidnappings of civilians, bombings that resulted in civilian deaths, robberies and other crimes. Nevermind the fact that while they criticised the oppression of our military rulers, they praised the much more oppressive Maoist regime.

The communists have always gained a credit by fighting the right-wing dictatorship and proclaiming they're fighting "for people". In fact, their goal is usually just another form of dictatorship.

Unfortunately many people hate one side too much, that they are blindly supporting the other one, even if it is the same, just reversed.