In trying to document the Pink War, it quickly becomes apparent that documenting a covert war is a difficult endeavor. The U.S. will not admit to doing it, and it takes years for the paper and money trails to become apparent.
It is, however, very useful to look at history, to find the pattern of U.S. conduct in the region.
It turns out that the misuse of the U.S.'s power to wage Economic warfare in support of narrow corporate interests is not new.
One example, mostly culled from the U.S. Government's own documents: Chile's election of a re-distributist leader, Salvador Allende.
Chile was most interesting to U.S. business due to vast deposits of copper. The copper lobby of that time was a nub of families including the Guggenheims, Rotschilds, and Rockefellers; who had basically cornered the Chilean copper market and enforced an inequitable distribution of the proceeds. Another chunk of U.S. business in Chile concerned telephone communication, a market which was dominated by a U.S. company - ITT. Pepsico also had a sizable presence in Chile.
ITT, Pepsico, and the Copper interest group was what some would consider a prelude to today's overly greedy multinationals. ITT had a long history of illegal and antidemocratic behavior, aiding the rise of Fascist Franco in Spain, investing in the Nazi war machine throughout WWII, and aiding the toppling of Brazil's democratically elected President, Mr. Goulart. ITT also bought the president of the U.S. in order to squash a DOJ lawsuit against it, as shown in the Dita Beard scandal.
As for the copper cartel's known misdeeds, other than creating massive toxic waste dumps, one does stand out: the crash of the U.S. stock market. They had engaged in a massive "pump and dump" fraud which ultimately triggered the Great Depression. Despite the national economic devastation they created, their concerted actions were ruled as not illegal "at the time."
Sound familiar ?
The U.S. copper interest group in Chile had also been selling Chilean copper to the U.S. and allied markets at well below market prices. This was a way to avoid taxes and profit sharing, while benefiting its associated corporations elsewhere. So Chileans had, unbeknownst to them, generously subsidized U.S. and allied markets to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Accordingly, a Mr. Allende, a Chilean Politician, advocated that Chile should own the entities that extracted copper from Chile. Allende also advocated for the nationalization of Chile's telecom industry. His efforts would imply a fairer deal for the locals.
Alarms rang: plundering Chile might become more difficult. It actually appeared that prominent U.S. families might have to tighten their belt.
As Mr. Allende gained popularity, so did the U.S. ramp up its interference with that country's elections. Mr. Allende's political opponents were thus flushed with at least 26 million U.S. taxpayer dollars (all sums inflation adjusted). ITT board member John McCone (former director of the CIA) offered the CIA another 6 million dollars from ITT, in order to derail Allende's election. With the CIA's help, another 5-6 million private dollars were funneled into Allende's political rivals. CIA expertise and intrigue were further unleashed, all bent on derailing Mr. Allende's election. A vast propaganda campaign flooded the media with anti Allende propaganda.
The Chairman for the United States Senate Committee charged with investigating the Chilean sabotage compared the U.S. population with that of Chile. He observed that just the U.S. Government's effort in Chile was the equivalent of another country spending 60 U.S. million dollars (300 million in today's dollars) to thwart the democratic process in the U.S.
(This document is a part of a transcript of a congressional hearing on Chile)
One would think that a candidate facing such finances would have failed any election. But the Chileans had a democratic tradition going back several decades. They were known to be democratic and not prone to corruption. A real "model democracy." Chileans elected Mr. Allende anyway.
Summon more U.S. government powers to the rescue. One of the leading Guggenheims, for example, had supported Nixon for president. While in private practice, Nixon had been Pepsico's attorney. Pepsico's Chairman called directly on President Richard Nixon, and laid out the distress. Could something be done to thwart democratic processes ? Apparently, such concerns resonated deeply with Nixon.
There some obstacles to direct action. Nixon had requested and reviewed the CIA report on Chile. That report had concluded that Chile was no threat of any kind, and that it was unlikely to become so after Mr. Allende's election. Chile's population at the time was a mere 10 million, and they were not a belligerent people. So there was no actual cause for the U.S. to undermine the Chilean government.
Then there were the obvious legal and ethical obstacles to having the leader of Democracy manipulating and thwarting the democratic process, which were pointed out by Henry Kissinger's top deputy at the time, Mr. Viron Vaky:
(This document is a piece of Viron Vaky's memo to the administration)
Mr. Vaky also pointed out that thwarting Allende from becoming president would result in violence in Chile.
(This document is a piece of Viron Vaky's memo to the administration)
Nonetheless, the pressure continued. Agustin Edwards, one of the richest people in Chile and a media tycoon (who also owned the Chilean Pepsico bottler) had participated in earlier U.S.'s attempts to keep Allende from being elected, and knew his day of reckoning was fast approaching. He would probably lose all his property, given his illegal activities against the Chilean electoral process.
So Mr. Edwards pulled some strings and got successive meetings with Henry Kissinger (National Security Advisor/Secretary of State), Richard Helms (CIA Director), John Mitchell (U.S. Attorney General), and President Richard Nixon. It is important to note that though the most acute threat was to the insider's purse, it was the U.S. national security personnel that were approached. The reason for this is called the 'secrecy card.' When the U.S. is going to do something blatantly illegal and immoral, it helps them afterwards if they can say it never happened.
Mr. Edward probably made some heady promises at those meetings, because the Nixon administration sprang into action.
Nixon summoned Mitchell, Kissinger, and Helms into a joint meeting. There they hatched a covert plan to destroy the re-distributist threat in Chile. The plan described economic warfare in a now infamous quote, which was memorialized in CIA Director Helm's notes of the meeting:
(This document is a piece of CIA Director Helm's notes of the meeting)
"Make the economy scream."
"Make the economy scream."
U.S. Ambassador to Chile Edward Korry had to admit that upon Allende's election Chile's economy was in the "best shape ever." Copper prices were good, and the country had more financial reserves per capita than even the U.S. As it soon became apparent, the U.S.' sabotage capabilities could bring that to a crashing ruin.
Mr. Korry had let slip the nefarious details of economic warfare:
"[n]ot a nut or bolt shall reach Chile under Allende. Once Allende comes to power we shall do all within our power to condemn Chile and all Chileans to utmost deprivation and poverty".
All Countries allied with the U.S. and all business entities doing business in Chile were informed of the program to crush Chile: The expectation was that they would also make life difficult for Chile, in any way possible.
The plan was partly laid out in Nixon's "National Security Decision Memorandum 93". Again, note the national security apparatus being employed. When a plan involves eviscerating democratic principles and sabotaging a country for the benefit of a few, it really helps to have "National Security" secrecy to cover it up. The plan might as well have been titled the "Insider's Purse Protection Plan," or the "Thwart the Democratic Processes Plan." Among the steps taken, the U.S sought to cut off any sources of income. As Chile was dependent on copper sales for its economy, the U.S. planned to strike a deleterious blow to the copper market:
(This document is a piece of President Nixon's NSDM 93)
The U.S. flooded the copper market by selling its strategic reserves, causing a drastic drop in copper prices.
At the same time, the U.S. caused international finance institutions like the Export-Import Bank, the Bank for International Development, and the World Bank, to call existing financing for repayment, and deny new loan applications; dropping some credit extensions by 90%.
(This document is a piece of President Nixon's NSDM 93)
The U.S. went beyond. At least another 7 million U.S. taxpayer dollars were spent to sabotage the country. Among other things, the U.S. funded labor strikes with cash, disrupting the labor force. The U.S. instructed private entities to engage in economic "disruption," which brought hoarding and sabotage of production. The U.S. directed political operatives to wrest control of political and student movements, sowing animosity towards Allende. Soon the economy was in tatters. Extreme shortages of standard replacement parts idled vast quantities of cars and trucks. Food became scarce, schools stopped giving classes.
As shown in this CIA document, the U.S. government also supported militant right wing groups:
(This document is part of a CIA review of the Chile coup)
For their part, the right wing groups engaged in a terrorist bombing campaigns, which wrought violence onto the peace loving country.
All the while a shrill misinformation campaign blared lies like wildfire, with CIA propagandists admitting to 700 stories being cranked out against Allende. The propaganda operation was similar to their ongoing Operation Mockingbird in other countries, with lies and fabrications blaming all manner of ills against Allende.
The below CIA HQ cable instructed their Chilean personnel to use all assets to generate desperation, i.e. a "coup climate"
(This document is part of a CIA HQ cable to their agents in Chile)
It also notified the coup platter in the Chilean military that the U.S. would support them not only initially, but for the long haul.
(This document is part of a CIA HQ cable to their agents in Chile)
Finally the cable concluded that the desperation would create an excuse for the military to seize power, a "sponsored" coup.
(This document is part of a CIA HQ cable to their agents in Chile)
Another "obstacle" had earlier presented itself: The Chief of all the Chilean armed forces, Rene Schneider. He was a loyal military officer who could not be bribed. He was also obedient to the constitutional premise that military forces are at the command of the elected leader.
As a result of the sabotage and violence the Chileans were soon made desperate and dispossessed. As had been planned by the U.S. the "sponsored" military coup followed.
The military was unleashed on the presidential palace. It was somewhat telling that during the coup there was no mass movement or protest to remove Allende. Rather, as a U.S. military officer noted, people were kept indoors by armed personnel who threatened to shoot anyone wearing the wrong "color jersey:"
(This document is part of a U.S. Military Report on the day of the coup)
Chileans ultimately watched helplessly as flames sprang from their presidential palace, under dive bombing and strafing attacks from jet airplanes. Inside was their elected president, who was ultimately carted away, dead.
What Chileans didn't know is that their suffering was just beginning. The Chile coup would proceed exactly as Mr. Vaky predicted: through violence, while the extremist right wing officers did exactly what was expected of them.
The days following the coup thousands of people were rounded up and taken to their capital's soccer stadium. Once there they were separated into groups to be immediately executed, tortured, or imprisoned. This CIA document shows how the new military regime, the one bought and paid for with U.S. taxpayer dollars, targeted even perceived political enemies
(This document is part of a CIA review of the Chile coup)
(This document is part of a CIA review of the Chile coup)
Within two days of the Coup congress was "dissolved," political activity was officially declared "in recess," elections were discontinued, newspapers and TV stations fell silent, and labor unions were "closed,"
A extreme right wing military dictatorship had seized Chile and, exactly as predicted, "years" of widespread and sadistic political repression followed. The political victims amounted to 28,000 tortured, 2,279 executed, and 1,248 missing. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). A mass exodus began away from Chile, which some estimate at 200,000 people. Concentration camps were opened in the frigid lands of Atacama, and torture centers flourished.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, no condemnation was uttered for the killings. Successive administrations allowed the massacres, torture, and repression to continue. In 1976 U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited Chile. The details of the atrocities being committed by the U.S.-installed military junta were public and an overwhelming clamor arose, calling for the U.S. to do something about the disaster that had been created.
The following Department of State memorializes the discussion, where Kissinger thanked Pinochet for the "service" he had done, well wished the reviled regime, and then uttered a line which would have best been spoken when Allende was elected to power:
(This document is part of a Department of State memo)
"[W]e don't want to intervene in your domestic affairs."
Pinochet's confidence in his U.S. support was so high that he personally ordered the murder of Chile's former U.S. ambassador, Mr. Orlando Letelier. That murder was effected via a car bomb in the middle of Embassy Row in Washington D.C., which also killed a U.S. citizen and injured another. Pinochet's direct involvement was known to the U.S. Government by 1978, as can be seen from this Department of State document:
Nonetheless, the U.S. government did nothing. Pinochet was not extradited as a criminal, sanctioned, or even charged as such. In fact he stayed in power as a U.S. favorite for years afterwards, finally relinquishing power in 1990. The U.S. was repeatedly queried on any information on the murder, but chose to cover up what it knew.
Perhaps Pinochet's confidence stemmed from his knowledge of another, much wider and much more sensitive operation. It turns out that Chile was one of the members of a transnational terrorist enterprise that became known as Operation Condor. That program sought out people for their political beliefs and sympathies, including union organizers and people seeking better working conditions. That exodus from Chile ? It was followed wherever it went. It was targeted with a plan for political genocide.
One Chilean intelligence report admitted to 22,000 dead or "disappeared" from 1975 to 1978, in Argentina alone:
(This document is part of a Chilean Intelligence report on Plan Condor casualties in Argentina)
The disappearance was a euphemism for people being arrested without any of their family or friends being told of the act. The victims were then killed by being thrown in rivers, or discarded from airplanes in mid flight. Many of the victims also suffered grievous tortures. The documented dead number at "more than" 50,000 (1, 2).
One has to wonder if the U.S. taxpayers got their money's worth in this deal. The copper lobby, ITT, and Pepsico of the time certainly did. They took their profit and moved on to their next victim, probably without thinking of the consequences.
The average taxpayer would not have seen the benefits of this deal. Instead, millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars were spent in sabotaging a democratic country and a peaceful people, for the benefit of a few. The resulting right wing military regime seemed to kill merely for entertainment, and managed to victimize thousands of people.
The truth is that most U.S. citizens would not allow these types of behavior to occur. Fair trade and friendly relations can win the day just as well, and they provide long term stability and a clear conscience to all concerned. They also accord better with the maxim of doing "unto others as you would have done unto you." Yet the Chile example is only one of dozens of "interventions" by the U.S. in Latin America alone. See this map for some of them.
The more recent political example in Latin America was likewise about re-distributive politics, as years of plunder again took their toll. In the early 2000's for example, Bolivians received only 18% of the profits from oil and gas extraction from their country. Thus the Pink Tide also "threatened" a fairer distribution of profits in Latin America.
Several countries are now clamoring about ongoing sabotage from the U.S. and the region is now mired in want, violence, and desperation. Venezuela has been labeled by the U.S. as an "extraordinary" national security threat.
In the face of silence from U.S. taxpayers, it does appear that history will repeat itself and many thousands of people will pay the ultimate price for the financial benefit of a few.
