Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Painful birthday present

On the anniversary of the day, forty years ago, that Augusto Pinhochet began the process that led to Chile's freedom and prosperity of today, send your favorite Marxist a copy of James Rolph Edwards Painful Birth; How Chile Became a Free and Prosperous Society.

It'll be fun to watch the steam pour out of their ears when they begin reading it. As was said in the review;
...the truth is that Salvador Allende and Fidel Castro were attempting to create a second Marxist-Leninist dystopia in the Americas. Ordinary Chileans were in open revolt against that, demonstrating in the streets, withholding their labor and services by the tens of thousands--truck drivers, shopkeepers, housewives, doctors, dentists on strike--petitioning for an end to Allende-ism. Their Supreme Court ruled the government was acting unconstitutionally in early 1973, in August the legislature voted 81-47 (63%) to remove the President. Allende made a defiant radio broadcast vowing never to leave office.
Amidst this chaos the military took the sadly necessary actions, and Allende committed suicide. His die-hard supporters fought on though (with arms supplied by Castro, and men trained by him), eventually killing over 700 Chilean soldiers, sailors and policemen. As late as 1986 they were able to launch a rocket attack on Pinochet's motorcade, killing five of his bodyguards. Still, Pinochet allowed a plebiscite to go forward in 1988, that he lost. Reluctantly, he heeded the will of the people and stepped down. Democracy restored. Fidel Castro, probably now on his deathbed, still nominally rules Cuba (through his brother Raul). Which is the happier country today?

That's something to celebrate.

No comments:

Post a Comment