History 414 Exam 2- Chile and Nicaragua

MILPAS

A Milpa in spanish is a corn field. This was a popular anti-Samoza militia. Sandinistas organize an Agrarian reform. Many MILPAS members were small farmers. MILPAS rebelled against the Sandinistas because they were afraid their land would be taken and they joined the contras. The S in MILPAS changed from Samoza to Sandinista.

1992 Coup Attempt

Carried out by the leader's conspiracy. Before 1992 attempt, nobody in Venezuela outside of the army had really heard of Hugo Chavez. Of all of the conspirators, he became the leader. This was an attempt to overthrow Carlos Andres Perez who had come to office promising everything would be better. By 92, Perez was very unpopular and the coup attempt had various objectives. Some of the participants in the coup were stationed outside of Caracas. Chavez was one of the coup leaders who was stationed in Caracas. His mission was to take the presidential palace. Their plan was to take Carlos Andreas Perez prisoner and put him on trial for corruption. The coup failed and to a large extent, it failed because Hugo Chavez did not carry out his objective. Chavez hesitated at a moment when he should have acted. During that moment of hesitation, the government saw that a coup was happening and Perez was able to escape. Chavez was one of the first major leaders of the coup to surrender. He then went on TV and this moment made him a national figurehead. People said it was wrong for him to be on tv in his uniform. But, he did a very good job in front of the camera. He said that the coup attempt had failed for now and he was calling on the other conspirators to lay down their arms and minimize the bloodshed. He took responsibility for the failed movement. There were several things that stuck out in people's minds. Up until then, no political figure had ever taken responsibility for something that had failed. Also, people remembered that he said "for now". This phrase started showing up all over the place. Chavez was sentenced to prison and he said that he used it as a school. Chavez gets out of prison and begins to campaign for president. In 1998, elections were in December. At the beginning of the campaign, Chavez had a following, but was very low in the polls. But over the course of 98, he kept going up in the polls. The candidates of the traditional parties kept going down. The race boiled down to Chavez. The opposition coalition was called project Venezuela and they ran a candidate who was perfectly credible. But, he ran on a neoliberal platform. Chavez was against the campaign. He was against neoliberalism. At this time, Venezuela was rated #10 as the most politically corrupt country in the world. The economy was in such bad shape because of all of the oil wealth that was lost due to corruption. When Copay and AD fell apart, they ended up endorsing the opposing candidate, but that really actually hurt that candidate because everyone saw them as toxic. New Social Movements- refers to local organizations that are not tied to political parties. They represent autonomous civil society. most are neighborhood organizations. In the election in 1998, Chavez got 56% of the vote. The main opponent got about 40% and the other candidates got the other votes. The percentage of Venezuelans living in poverty was close to the vote that Chavez got. Chavez was elected and took office in early 1999. One of his first initiatives was to oversee the writing of the new constitution. He wanted a new one. Was written through democratic means and the constitutional assembly was elected and overwhelmingly, these followers were in favor of Chavez. In the time of office, his popularity was usually pretty good. Things started to become more controversial and he had clashes with his opponents in 2001. By 2001, the new constitution was in place and Chavez had been re-elected. Won by a large majority. In 2001, he was well into his newly elected term and was giving direction to the government. In early 2001, he put into place a series of new laws that many people would say were the beginning of a hybrid regime (more and more power invested in the executive or the president). Basically a regime that joins together democratic and autocratic elements. Basically, in general, follows democratic procedures but concentrated a lot of power in the hands of the president. Some of these new laws were designed to accelerate land reform. They also wanted to increase taxes on foreign oil companies. This also allowed foreign companies to operate in Venezuela on a basis.

Chile; Reform or Revolution

Catholic social thought. Marxist policy. Wanted to offer an alternative. Don't have to rely on the left to improve your lives. Drew on radical ideas of the Catholic Church. Proclamations criticized industrial capitalization. Concentrated wealth. Industrial class was living in poverty. Compared industrial capacity to slavery. In 1931 during the depression, the policy was to promote social justice. Church criticized the free market capitalism. What did Christian democrats stand for?

The Chilean Revolution; An introduction

Contrasts well to Cuba. Democratic revolution. Conscious of a revolution. Chilean path to build a new society. Had a strong history of a multi-party democratic election.

The Economic Austerity

Economic Austerity- This was not generally considered neo-liberalism because there wasn't a selling-off of state enterprises or state property. But, there were austerity measures put into place. From reading Lancaster's book, you get a good sense of what was going on. The inflation was out of control. The number didn't even make sense. Some estimate it was 33000% of inflation. The government deficit was growing and the economy was completely out of whack. Was this because of the Sandinista's mismanagement? The US economic measures against Nicaragua like the embargo and the attempts to cut off foreign aid? Who was to blame?? But, the austerity measures that the Sandinista's put into place were things like cutting government spending. Ernesto Cardenal (minister of Culture). His ministry was basically cut off because it was decided that it was a luxury that the country could not afford. In 1987, Cardenal left the government. Also, attempts to hold down wages. Thought that if you held down wages, that would reign in inflation. The government began to offer more incentives to private sector investment. A number of people pointed out that the austerity measures were essentially hurting the Sandinista's political base more than anyone else... Kind of contradictory... In strictly political terms, people would say that austerity was not the best policy. But, this is what they had to do, given the economic circumstances. Inflation did become a little less severe, but a lot of people did have to tighten their belts. Some of the spending cuts affected the public services that Nicaragua had come to depend on... Like public health services. Actually, the infant mortality rate started rising again. Along with economic austerity, there were other things that we eating away at the popularity of the Sandinistas. Corruption. Together, austerity and corruption was a horrible mix. In a lot of places in Latin America, there is sometimes a tolerance for Latin American corruption. But, during times of economic hardship, people get much more upset. They don't have much to give. It gets old. The corruption under the Sandinista's were never as bad as the Samozas... But some examples of the corruption that became an issue was: textbooks in the public schools. These were in short supply. When people asked why there were not enough textbooks, the reply was, there is no money. Interestingly enough, some of the Sandinistian government officials published books. When their books were published, there were plenty. The public transportation systems. The buses were extremely old. The government said there was no money for new buses, but the government officials were always driving around in nice cars. Growing unemployment. Yet, the friends and relatives of top Sandinistan officials always seemed to be able to find a job. This just gnawed away at the support for the Sandinistan officials. All of these things are going on as the 1990 election approaches. In 1990, the Sandinista's decided to nominate Daniel Ortega. All sorts of austerity, discontent, and they decide to run Daniel Ortega again. Ortega did his best running as a politican. Hugged babies, held rallies. The slogan of his campaign was "Elect Daniel and everything will be better." But, everyone said, if Daniel has a way of making everything better, why can't he? It was a tough sell. But, the Sandinistas thought of themselves still as leading a popular revolution.

Division ONE- the Proletarian Tendency

Had their own vision. Said that for 15 years, they had been following rural strategy. Thought that the way to overthrow the Somozas was to use an Urban strategy. Said that FSLN need to follow the orthodox marxist movement.

The Nicaraguan Insurrection

Happened in the cities. Mostly poor neighborhoods. People decided that they were not going to let the national guard in. by this time, the national guard had a horrible reputation for human rights. The Nic, despised the National Guard. They armed themselves, made barricades, and in many cases, they took on the national guard. It was very unmatched though... The National Guard was very brutal... The more they were repressed by the National Guard, the more the people rebelled. They were rebelling against the Samozas, not necessarily for the Sandinistas. It is clear that Samoza's days are numbered; too much opposition.

Rise of Class Systems

Left= the socialists and the communists. Conservative party and the liberal party. These two often joined together and ran one candidiate for office. The liberal party believed in limiting power of the Catholic Church. The liberal party and the conservative party both believed in free market economics. Radical party was established in the 1860's. Made up of middle class Chileans. Wanted the right to vote, wanted to abolish land ownership, and they wanted to expand male suffrage.

Revolution against neo-liberalism in a post-cold war (Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution)

Many things that produced the Venezuelan revolution besides Hugo Chavez. Movement or revolution against neoliberalism, but specially, in a post-cold war world. This makes it very distinct from all other revolutions. Limited by the Cold War context. Sandinistan revolution was limited by Cold War context as well. When the Cold War ended in 89, there were both opportunities and limitations for revolutions. One hand, the post Cold War world is less threatening. Hugo Chavez railed against the United States in favor of Socialism and the United States kept buying oil from Venezuela. Would the US have taken more decisive action? In the context of the post Cold War/Soviet world, what is the threat? From 2002 onward, both Obama and Bush did their best to avoid any confrontation with Venezuela. There are opportunities that would not have been there earlier. Also limitations that in a globalized economy, it is very difficult to have a fully socialist revolution. There is no Soviet Union to ally with. The Venezuelan revolution is different because of the post war context. In 1958, Venezuela was a large oil producer. The oil was controlled by foreign corporations.They started to see themselves as a different country than any others in the Latin American context. Had many more middle class citizens and Caracas was becoming cosmopolitan. BUT, there were also under a military dictator, Marcos Perez Jimenez. He was hard line... Lots of human rights abuses, no real political freedoms. Up until 1958, was very closely allied with the United States. By 58, had been in power for ten years. In 58, there was a popular movement against him, largely because the military dictatorship had gone on for so long and because people wanted freedom. Many members of the military thought that the country was ready for democracy. In January of 1958, there was a popular movement against Perez Jimenez. Street demonstrations and a few violent attacks on members. Most of the military ended up pushing Perez Jiminez out and he ended up fleeing the country. Part of this movement was lead by political parties. This becomes important for the kind of democracy, what some people call pacted democracy. One party was the Democratic party who was lead by Romulo Betancourt. Betancourt, the head of democratic action had been an important political figure since 1928, when he had developed democratic action into a reformist party. Had actually been in exile for most of the Perez Jimeniz dictatorship. Other main party was the Christian democratic party. Known as COPEI. As Christian democrats, they believed in a certain amount of social reformation. Another member of this movement was the Venezuelan communist party which had been organized since the 1920's. Had been very active in fighting against the Perez Jimenez dictatorship. When we get to January of 1958, Perez Jimenez flees and the new caretaker government is going to hold elections with a transition to democracy. Democratic Action and COPEI and other political groups form a pact known as the of Punto Fijo (the house where they negotiated). The communist party was not invited to be a part of this.

Division TWO- Prolonged Popular War

Said rural strategy should be followed. Yes, it had been 15 years, but keep fighting.

MLR

Stands for revolutionary leftist movement. 3000 supporters. Democratic road to socialism. Allende competed in 1970 election. Everyone thought Alessandri would win. Allende won and surprised many people. Three way race.. Increased gender votes. The US really started to pay attention to the Chilean election. Nixon's presidency. Henry Kissinger, Nixon's international advisor. Kissinger said the US should step in. They followed a 2 track policy. They worked with the nationalist party and tried to talk them into not voting for Allende. Wanted to encourage a military coup.

Depression of Decent on Pinochet's Leadership

Wanted to intentionally spread fear. They left people hanging. Other forms of repression- universities were purged from leftist activists, political activity was not allowed. Pinochet thought this was necessary to purify Chilean society of left wing society. Pinochet got support from other military government like Brazil. Pinochet got support from the United States. He had an exchange with Henry Kissinger in 1976. Some conservatives thought that Pinochet was rescuing democracy, but in 1976, it was clear that the wasn't going to hold elections. He was planning to stay in power.

The Chicago Boys

the idea that Chile was being turned over to economists that were educated in the United States (at the University of Chicago). Some were for this, some were against it. Neoliberal policies include enacting tariff protection for domestic industries. Had import tariffs. In 1973 during the coup, the government owned 500 national enterprises. Under the dictatorship, some were returned to their previous/private owners. Some were auctioned off. Some were kept. They kept copper especially because they had fought so hard to keep it and win it over. Foreign companies and new companies were allowed to come in.

Copper in Chile

the mines were owned by foreign companies. The mining sector had always dominated. 75% of the industry was from copper alone. Most of the copper mines were owned by foreign companies. Nationalized pats of industry. Frei nationalized 51%.. The problem was, many people said that 51% was not enough. Sure, they had the upper hand, but the people said, why not more? Why not 100%? As soon as it was passed, people said, why does the foreign sector get to own 49%? Frei was also criticized for not going fast enough. Liberals and conservatives though to join in the national party.

Miguel Obando y Bravo

was a Nicaraguan priest and archbishop of Nicaragua in 1968. Up until then, the Catholic church supported Samoza. Miguel was different. The Samozas gave him a Mercedes Benz. Obando y Bravo sold the car and donated the money. When there were elections, he publically declined that he would not vote. Said elections wre rigged. Declined invites to events where he knew the Samozas would benefit. But, also opposed Sandonistas. He wouldn't support a violent group.

The Christian Democratic Party

1957. Main competition for the political left. Part of the movement in the Catholic Church. Went far beyond Chile. Parties in other countries. Organized as a barrier to Marxist influence. Catholic church wanted to keep radical left wings out of power. Many Catholics believed the church should support moderate reforms for the working class. Moral mission. Political mission. Show working class that the church could protect their interests.

The International Dimension

1979, US president was Jimmy Carter. He had tried to redefine US foreign policy by emphasizing the human rights policy. They wanted to shift from defending Cold War interests to focusing on human rights. Carter had never been a fan of the Samozas. He had cut back aid. By 79, the US government was openly calling for Samoza to resign. He still had some supporters in the US congress, but most people wanted him gone. But, that did not mean that the Carter administration was rooting for the Sandinistas. They had reservations about them because of their ties to Cuba. The Cuban government had periodically given the Sandinistas aid. The Cubans had stopped giving them aid in 1976... Reportedly, Castro told Ortega that the best assistance he could give was no assistance at all. (Because this would cause a US backlash). Fidel understood this.. He knew how the system worked. By 76, he wanted to try this other approach. The Carter Administration was weary of the Sandinistas. The US had also just recently withdrawn from Vietnam. Said the US should not get involved in another war... So, technically they were limited on what they could do to keep the Sandinistas out of power. Wanted to encourage Samoza to turn over his power to his associates and then leave the country. Many people perceived this as the US trying to create a Somoza system again.... Obviously anyone that he was going to turn the government over to was going to be on his side. Also, another thing that restricted the US to block the Sandinistas was.... The major Latin American democracies supported the Sandinistas (Venezuela and Costa Rica). They basically said, we have no problem with the Sandinstas taking over... Costa Rica boarders Nicaragua.. Mexico also supported the Sandinistas. The only other Latin American governments that supported the Samozas were military dictatorships.. The Carter Administration was not going to ally with them. The Carter Administration was not in a position to keep the Sandinistas out of power. 1979, the anti-Samoza forces grow and grow. In July, Samoza and his family flee. On their way out of the country, they apparently took all of the money from the National Treasure that they could get their hands on. When they left, the left the country with a debt of 1.5 Billion dollars. :( The total amount left in the national treasury was 3.5 million. So sad. Basically robbed the country. Samoza fled to Paraguay (which was under a dictatorship at the time). After he had been in Paraguay no more than a year, he was assassinated by Argentine leftists. The final death toll was about 50,000. In a country of about 3 million, that is a LOT. There were also many more wounded. Means that everyone in NIC knew someone who had been killed or wounded in the war.

After his death....

After Fonseca's death, open ideological disagreement. Leads up to future leaders. Muddys the water... Is it a socialist movement, marxist movement? What is it? Nobody knew. Internal difficulties in the 1970's. Clear that the Catholic Church opposed the Samozas. Within the Catholic church, there were two things that created oppostion.

The Crisis of the 1980's and the Caracazo

All of this unraveled in the 1980's. The price of oil decreased and this is what set everything off. From 1980-1986, price of oil dropped by half per barrel. Teacher said it was down to almost 13 dollars per barrel from 26. Venezuela was in a crisis. Currency was devalued. In 1989, things were at the crisis point. In 1988, Andreas Perez ran for presidency again after being out of office for two consecutive terms. He said vote for CAP and everything will be better again. He said that he would take Venezuela back to the good old days. He won the 1988 election with 55% of the vote. Was honestly surprised at how bad things were. He didn't really understand that until he got into office. Soon after his inauguration, he said that he was going to impose austerity measures because that was the only way that the economy could be fixed. Up to this point, Venezuela avoided austerity. But, Perez knew he needed loans from international leaders and lenders like the International Monetary Fund. Subsidized foods ended, so the price of groceries skyrocketed. Some food prices went up 300%. He sold some state enterprises and housing and public health suffered cuts. Within a few weeks of his election, Venezuelan people were mad because they did not want austerity.

1971 with Allende

Allende starts 1971 with good news. Coalition got over 49% of teh votes. Allende doesn't have a majority, but he could build on that. Allende started off his presidency to complete the nationalism of Copper. Under Frei, the government had the larger share of the mines. Allende called for 100% of nationalism in Copper. Very popular. Made it though congress. Copper was nationalized. Compensation?? Allende followed a policy on company by company basis. Allende and his government wanted 12% profit each year. Over 12% was considered to be excess profit. They went through a tax return process. Deducted it from the holdings if the amount of the excess was over the amount of the 12%. These earnings were deducted from the shareholdings that were left over. Kennecot and Anaconda were the two big corporations. Made more than 12% in excess profits. The government decided to take the extra.. This did not go over well.

Allende's Domestic Dilemma and Control from above vs. popular action

Allende was elected in 1970, but with less than a majority of the votes. The US tried to work with Chilean Conservatives to get them to vote for Allesandri. Also wanted to provoke a coup. This would prevent him from taking office. Chile prided itself on exceptionalism. In Chile's history, they had only rarely had military presidents. Rene Schneider, head of the army. No coup would happen with him as the head because he was against military coups, especially towards his own government. He was a strong constitutionalist. Keep one party out of power. Schneider was the main obstacle to carrying out a coup. In October of 1970, some hard line Chilean People (right) kidnapped general Schneider. Wanted to blame it on the left and with him out of the way, maybe a coup would happen. Schneider was killed and botched kidnapping. This was a shock to many people in Chilean Society. Aftermath: Rally around the idea that Allende had to be elected. Said that voting for Alessandri would be supporting the hard right... The people that killed the general.

Carlos Fonseca and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)

As the Sandanistas developed, they fought for freedom from the dynasty. Carlos Fonseca (the main developer of the FSLN) had a background similar to others. Working class, single mother who worked as a domestic servant. he had a father of the upper class, but his father had his own legitimate family as well as several other children from other women. Carlos' mother's maiden name was Fonseca, so he decided to take that. Growing up, he had periodic contact with his father. Actually chose to use the last name. Personal family situation exploited the situation between the class systems and Fonseca saw that first hand. Drawn to politics early. In college, he edited the school newspaper. Associated with Nicaraguan socialist party. He had affiliations with the soviets, although they were technically more communist. When Samoza Garcia was assassinated in 1956, the man who killed him was shot immediately, so they couldn't interrogate him. they rounded up a number of socialists. Fonseca was one of them and he was arrested. He was interrogated and tortured. He was released in 1957. He was sent to the soviet union to learn more about marxism so he could "reform his ways". In 1959, the Cuban revolution happened. Fonseca was still in exile of Nicaragua, so he went to Havana. There, he met other Latin American radicals. In Cuba, he learned the history of Sandino. In Nicaragua, growing up, they never taught the history of Sandino because it was not allowed. They always showed him in a bad light. Fonseca learned the rational behind Sandino's movement and he became inspired to overthrow the Somoza government in 1959/early 1960. Tough they need a guerilla movement, the problem was that the Nicaraguan socialist party opposed armed guerilla movements. The socialists were pursing peaceful coalition with the United States. So, Fonseca broke away from the Socialist party. He established the FSLN. Tomas Broge was also a founder. Wanted to begin guerila war. In the founding, only had 20 members. FSLN was anti-American, anti-Imperialist, but marxist in their ideologies. But, Sandio was not a socialist, say scholars. When Sandonistas added Marxism to their ideologies, that wasn't what Sandino wanted.

Brazil

Brazil was a problem for Allende. Military dictatorship. Brazilian military made a situation room to monitor Chile and ways to get Allende out of power. Nixon encouraged the Brazilians. Fidel encouraged Allende to arm his civilian supporters. ONe one of the last days, Fidel had a secret meeting with Allende. He offered to supply arms. Conservative Chileans hated to supply arms. Conservative Chileans hated Fidel. Everyone in that meeting said no thanks to Fidel's offer to arm everyone. Before Castro left, he gave instructions to the Cuban Embassy in Chile. He said that they should ready themselves for an attack. They turned the basement into a bunker. Stockpiled food and arms. Word got out. Anti-Allende press was mad. Exaggerated many things. Allende got the worst of both worlds.

Fidel's Visit to Chile in 1971

Castro was torn. On one hand, he was happy to have another socialist in power. Castro and Allende had a relation. THey were close. Towards the end, it got uneasy They were both Marxists. Believed problems were rooted in capitalism, believed US imperialism was a huge part of Latin America's capitalism. For socialism to triumph, it depended. When Allende was elected, Allende's daughter was named Beatriz. She was very involved politically. She believed in a Cuban style revolution in Chile. She married a Cuban intelligence officer. She wanted the CIA (CUBAN) to train her father's body guards. Cuban security officers armed Chile's bodyguards. Cooperation. In November 1971, Fidel came to Chile. 25 day visit. This rarely happens. They traveled around Chile. Over the trip, Castro advised Allende not to antagonize the US too much. Allende had just nationalized Copper. He decided not to compensate the major US companies. Things got intense between Allende and Nixon.

Chamorro's Government

Chamorro's government- Actually did make an effort to heal the wounds of the nation. Some of her supporters wanted her to take revenge against the Sandinistas, but that was not who she was. She actually included Sandinistas in her cabinet and she kept Humberto Ortega (brother of Daniel) as the head of the army. A lot of Chamorro's supporters and even the US government wanted her to kick Ortega out. But, she kept him there, feeling that this would promote peace. She wanted to reach out to the Sandinistas to end the war. Eventually, the war did end. There were a few protests. Once the war ended, the Sandinista army was drastically reduced. Unemployed soldiers from both sides protested, but the war pretty much ended soon after the election. In economic terms, Chamorro had a much more orthodox approach than her supporters were expecting. The austerity measures were intensified. Government firms were privatized and some of the land that was redistributed was returned to its former government. Her government sort of embraced neoliberalism. But in terms of economic policy, Chamorro was doing a lot less to reach out to the Sandinistas.

Hugo Chavez and his 1992 Coup attempt and the Aftermath

Chavez and his grandmother lived in pretty poor circumstances. Chavez had been a successful student in the military academy. In 1981, he returned to the academy as an instructor. In the early 1980's Chavez was an instructor at the academy and this was a period of intellectual development for him. He had several heros from other Latin American countries that he aspired after, including Omar Torrijos in Panama an dJuan Velasco in Peru. Both of these individuals were heads of state. Both were left wing nationalists in their political ideologies. Main ideological symbol was Simon Bolivar- very old. Back in the 1800's when Venezuela earned it's independence from Spain. Chavez said that he thought Bolivar was on the road to socialism. But, there is no historical base for any of this. In the 1980's Chavez and a group of officers began a conspiracy that they called the Bolivarian revolutionary army/revolutionary movement. This was originally Chavez and four other officers, but the conspiracy grew. They changed the name from army to movement because they began to draw civillians. Many corruption scandals going on. He decided that there needed to be a revolution Venezuela. However, their ideology was very vague. Clear that it was against the packed democracy of AD and Copay. Was clearly against corruption. Was nationalist. But, it was hard to say what it was for. This was more up in the air.

Structures of the Chilean Development

Che would say constitutional revolutions are fantasy. They don't work. American oppositions to power. There was US efforts to undermine the Allende administration. Economic structure of the economy was dependent on the mining economy. Chile developed Nitrate....Made great fertilizer from bird droppings. British mining companies took over in the 19th century. In the 20th century, started turning towards copper. 2 popular mining companies were Anaconda and Kennecott. Had a strong organized labor movement. Why would Chile have a strong labor movement? Later became the foundation for Chile's left wing movement. Northern part of Chile is a desert. Small populations. ONly mining there. Wasn't hard for these people to believe in radical ideas, major class decisions here. Class based made lots of sense. In 1909, strong labor confederation established for Chilean workers. Brought together smaller political unions. Some unions get co-oped into military parties. In Chile, these people kept their autonomy. Long democratic tradition. Far left was accepted as democratic ways. Left wing parties have been more democratic. In 1922, the Chilean Communist party was established. In 1933, the Chilean socialist party was established. The socialist party behaved like other political parties. Allende was a member of the socialist party. He was elected as part of a left wing coalition. Allende had been in the Chilean senate for decades. Chilean left was feared by some Chileans. Others had no problem with it.

The Coup; Sept. 11, 1973

Chilean military mobilized. Allende constantly had heard rumors of supposed coups all throughout his presidency. He heard rumor of one on this day, but was not too worried. He stayed up late calling several military members (many who were involved with the coup). They reassured him that everything was fine. Allende went to bed. He was woken up about three hours later by a phone call that said that military troops were being mobilized. If there was to be a coup, Allende's advisors always told him to go directly to the poor parts of Santiago. Go to the campesinos. There, people supported him. He would have been able to get a bunch of followers rallied. But, Allende wasn't interested in that. He said if there was ever to be a coup, he would go straight for the presidential palace. This is exactly what Allende did. He technically chose symbolism over his best chance of survival.

Allende's Calculations in 1973

Conservative women went into the street with pots and pans and spoons. They would rally and bang on the pots and pans to make noise. They would also hold signs. The empty pots symbolized the food shortages. Many middle and upper class women. They wanted Allende out of office. Durin gall of this, what was Allende thinking? Allende had a plan. Even with economic breakdown, he still got 44 percent of the vote. This suggested that people think that their lives are better off in 1973 than they were in 1970. Some people would rather wait in line for hours to get food, rather than not have the money to buy the food. Allende always said that building socialism wasn't easy. It's all what you make of it. In June of 1973, there was an attempted coup, but it was unsuccessful. Most of the army stayed loyal. Carlos Prats was the head of the army. He was a constitutionalist and he was like Schneider in the fact that he would never support a coup. In the later part of '73, things got worse. Allende wanted to hold a referendum. He wanted to ask the people if they wanted him to continue. IF he won, it would silence a lot of hate groups. Allende always goes back to exceptionalism and how Chile is different. Would also send a message to the US for it to back off. Allende never made it to organizing a referendum. In August, Carlos Prats became a target of conservative Chilean women. They would come to his rallies and follow him around. They would bring their pots and pans and they would hold offensive signs. They basically called Prats a coward and said he wasn't brave enough to hold a coup to overthrow Allende. Prats had enough and he resigned. Allende picked a man called Augusto Pinochet to fill Prats' spot. Pinochet got mixed reviews. Some bad, some good. The Cuban intelligence agency thought that Pinochet was good. In late August of '73, Retired Chilean Genreral Roberto Kelly went to Brazil. He talked to the Brazilian military. He wanted advice because they had just had their own coup. The Chileans were concerned about Peru. If Peru say a coup in Chile, they might take advantage of that. They might invade Northern Chile. Why would Peru Invade? Because of the War of the Pacific. Chile took costal territory from Peru in 1880. The Brazilian government told General Kelly that he didn't need to worry about that. Chile was also concerned about Cuban influence and radicals in Allende's coalition. Rumors about Cubans sending arms to Chile and distribution from Cuba to radical members of Allende's coalition. This could lead to a civil war. Convinced leaders of Chilean military. Needed to include all of the political leaders and see who had arms.

Asentamientos

Cooperatives were settlements. Reflects the Christian Democrats and workers. Workers felt that they would be administered by agricultural engineers. They would come in and tell the people that had been living there for a hundred years how to do stuff. They didn't want someone coming in and telling them how to do stuff-bossing them around. After five years, the asentamiento workers could vote if they wanted to divide up the land. Larger labor pool. Many workers had always wanted to own their own farm. People started to see the polarization.

The 1984 Election

Domestic politics in Nicaragua became divided. Some supported Sandinista and others opposed. In 1983, Sandinistas had open conflict with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. In 1983, the Sandinistas started a military draft. The Catholic Church was not happy with this and the argument was, "how can you draft people to fight for a government they didn't even elect?" The Church said that it was fundamentally wrong. Draft happened anyways and some were drafted into the regular army and others were drafted into the militia. Many were very young. The Catholic Church became very critical of the Sandinistas. In 1983, Pope John Paul also came to Nicaragua. He had spent his adult life under a communist government because he lived in Poland. He was very opposed to communism. Before he came to Nicaragua, he told priests to resign from their positions in the government. John Paul wanted a non-violent movement against the Sandinistas. The minister of Culture, Ernesto Cardenal was instructed to resign, but he didn't. John Paul visited and he shook his finger at Cardenal saying, you should have the church as your first priority, not the government. Cardenal did not resign. He stayed in the Sandinista government. Nicaragua wanted to hold onto international support for the elections. The opposition of the Sandinistas united around one candidate, Arturo Cruz. He was a moderate anti-Sandinista. Opinion polls suggested that Cruz was going to lose. Right before the election, he pulled out. Reagan backed him on this.He said that he withdrew because the Sandinistas couldn't be trusted to lead a fair election. The Sandinistas ran Daniel Ortega and they ened up getting 67% of the vote and when they voted for the Congress, Sandinistas got 2/3 of the vote. After 1984, it was difficult to argue that the Sandinistas and Nicaragua in general was following in the footsteps of Cuba.... Now they had elections, so everything was different. The elections actually turned out to be very clean. The Reagan administration said that the contra war would continue even though elections had already happened. He wanted the Sandinistas out of power. After 1984, it was clear that the United States would continue the war because Reagan got elected into his second term, leaving at least four more years of war.

Eduardo Frei

Eduardo Frei, leader of the Christian democrats was the founder of the CD. Absorbed catholic social doctrine. Number of high schools were run by the Jesuits. Very involved in education. They were also open to progressive social doctrines and reform. He had originally joined the conservative party, but broke off and made the Christian Democratic party. True believer. Was the presidential candidate in 1964. Persuaded conservative parties to back him and to keep Allende out of power. He also got money from the CIA. Allende got some assistance from the Soviet Union. Juana Castro who is the estranged sister of Fidel hated the direction that her brother was taking Cuba. She did a radio ad. She warned women that would happen if Allende won. "Think of your families and your children."

Cardenal

Ernesto Cardenal was from an upper class Nicaraguan family. He traveled to the US and Europe in his younger days. He became a leading Nicaraguan poet and priest. In 1965, he formed a religious community on the islands near the Lake of Nicaragua. This was the first time that these people had a had a stay-in priest. He became a model for religious communities. In the church that he formed, he led discussions rather than giving a sermon. He wanted people to draw parallels between the bible and what was happening in Nicaragua.

Michelle Bachelet

Famous for being the first female president of Chile in 2004. She just announced that she is going to run again. Bachelet's father was a member of the Chilean military back during Allende's coalition. He refused to go with the coup and he was arrested. He was tortured and later died of heart attack in 1973. Bachelet and her mother were arrested in 1975, were sentenced to exile. Bachelet got permission to re-enter Chile in 1979. In exile, she worked with several NGO's. Chile wanted to restructure the economy. Free market politics was favored by Pinochet.

Anastacio Somoza Garcia and the Somoza Dynasty

Founder of the Somoza dynasty. He came into power. In Latin America, they have the double last name. The second last name is the mother's maiden name. This was used to locate someone socially. The sons of Anastacio were Luis Somoza Debayle and Anastacio Somoza Debayle the second. Somoza Garcia was the founder. He was killed by an assassin. His eldest son, Luis became president. He later died of natural causes in 1967. Then Anastacio (the 2nd) became president and he was the one that was eventually overthrown in the revolution. He attended West Point Military Academy in the US and came back to Nicaragua and served. He had connections with the US military and members of US congress. Throughout the dynasty, the family enjoyed the support of the US. Even though they were corrupt, he became the wealthiest man in central and the US still continued to support him. He established control over the country. By 1970, he owned 1/5 of the Nicaraguan farmland, their only airline, and a large share of the banking industry. Extreme economic control over the country and they almost ruled as a royal family.

Eduardo Frei

Frei benefited from the US support. Alliance for progress. Modern Reformism. Shamless scare campaign. If Allende won, Chile would become another Cuba. IN 1964, Frei won the election. He had promised a revolution with liberty. He introduced some huge reforms, but didn't even come close to providing a revolution. He gets stuk in a typical bind. He introduced some huge reforms, but he didn't even come close to fulfilling them. By the end of his term, he was attacked by both the left and the right. He addressed land reform. Land reform had been controversial in Cuba. Required.. Wanted to peruse land reform because it provided social justice and many different groups could benefit from it. Why did Chile need land reforms? Rapid process of urbanization. Quick migration. Thought they needed a reason to keep people in the countryside. The 2nd practical reason was that Chile was having to import more food. Wanted to take land from larger farms and give it to smaller farms. If Chilean factories are going to maximize production, they need consumers to buy these products. They needed to deepen the consumer market and became more competitive. Reason of social justice. In 1964, nearly 200,000 families in the countryside with no farms. This meant that they had no food. Frei promised he would redistribute land to 1/2 of those families, but that failed. Took 4 years to get agrarian bill to pass through congress. 2/3 of his presidency before he could even start. Undervalue land for tax purposes. For owners, they would be payed 10 percent in cash and the rest in government bonds that would mature over 25 years.

Land Reform and the Transition to Democracy

Frei pushed it. Allende accelerated it. Pinochet's approach. Pinochet's approach- some estates were returned to previous land owners. Other peasants were allowed to keep the land if they could prove that they weren't active on the left side. One way or another there was a group of large, privately owned estates. Very important in the new Chilean economy. Continued economic growth in Chile. This was the most any Latin American country had seen in a long time. The land reform made jobs, especially on the farms. Apples, grapes, etc. Created jobs, but most were seasonal with bad pay. Chilean economy is up. But by 1984-1985, the trend is towards economic growth. 6-7% each year. The transition to democracy. In 1988. Pinochet held elections. he did this because he was nationally stranded. No international support. At this point in time, the United States considered Chile to be an embarrassment. The United States pressured Pinochet to leave office. He thought that if he held referendem, he could stay in power because the Chileans wanted him. If he held elections and won, this would be a slap in the face to the Americans. When the vote was taken, people voted against Pinochet. First civilian president was in 1990, although Pinochet stayed in the military until 1998.

Allende and the Chilean Road to Socialism

Good friends personally with Fidel, but said that the Chilean Road to Socialism would be different than Cuba. As he became president, Allende faced difficult problems. Many different groups. The communists, the socialists, and the far left who was the group MIR. Actually, even though Allende was a socialist, towards the end of his presidency, he related more towards the the communist party because the socialist shifted. The MIR said to arm the labor unions. Hope that Chilean military will be loyal to Allende. Allende has to help keep this fractured group together and behind him. Yes, they all elected him to power, but they all wanted different things from him. In 1970, there were a number of actions that he did not organize. Urban and Rural invasions of property carried out by workers. They wanted more land reform. They wanted to speed up the socialist movement. Spontaneous action. Urban-migrants from the countryside to the city. Lived in migrant urban housing. They invade places. Many were privately owned. They petition for the titles to these places. Allende declares he needs to be a constitutional president. This would have made him look like he wasn't very interested in socialism. But, if he said yes to the workers, he would open the floodgates... Horrible situation. His political skills save him. He dealt with invasions on a case by case basis. He personally met with some of the invaders. Some qualified for land redistribution, some did not. Allende did make it through this crisis.

The Oil Nationalization in 1976 and Middle Class

Guerilla groups had ended by the end of the 1960's. Very few remained. Many had a democratic socialist party. Former guerillas out in the political system. Chavez, his 1992 coup de ta attempt and the aftermath. Wanted to carry out the nationalization of oil. Oil was nationalized in 1976 by AD. But, BOTH of the main parties had agreed on it. Essentially became an agreed on idea. Because it was a gradual nationalization. Government goes after foreign company. Oil companies were okay with this because they saw it coming for nearly 8 years. They saw it coming for awhile. Profits that oil companies received were taxed nearly 50%. In the 1960's, they were taxed nearly 65%. Another trend was the effort to hire Venezuelans. There were many degrees in Petroleum Engineers for Venezuelan students and they would come here to the US and then return to Venezuela for a career. In 1976, oil companies were nationalized and they were compensated a fair amount. In 1973, the price of oil went up and created a huge recession, leaving many people on fuel rations and reserves. Another major consideration to the nationalization of the oil companies were that they were not freezed out. Nor was foreign oil freezed out. They were actually consolidated into a state owned company called PDVSA. PDVSA made contracts to carry out operations. NOt a bad thing for the oil companies. This was really good for business. At the time, the president Carlos Andres Perez who was president at the time hyped the nationalization. He talked about it a lot and he called it the 'Great Venezuela'. Said it was going to become an industrialized nation. Venezuela had always been an ally of the United States. But, it was not completely subservient to the US. Tried to make himself a leader in the 3rd world (Andres Perez). Venezuela was never completely successful in using oil wealth to diversify the economy, but remained dependent on the oil exports for revenue. Prices would continue to rise and Venezuela was able to borrow money. Increase flooded banks with "peto dollars". These were mostly from other countries and nations that had significant oil wealth like Saudi Arabia, etc. Venezuela looked like a great credit risk for investors, so they got lots of banks to loan them money. They borrowed lots of money and this also helped to fuel the economy. They wanted to create the Great Venezuela. Lots of money went to the two political parties- AD and Copay. Both parties spent a lot of money on political patronage, but a lot of money disappeared due to corruption. The middle class grew and became the biggest in Latin America. Migration from surrounding countries to Venezuela because it was more prosperous. They also became big importers. Venezuelans became known as the Texans of Latin America.

Fidel in 1970

Harvest failed. Bad economy. Too much voluntary labor. Enthusiasm for the revolution had died. Che had died because he had failed to start a revolution in Bolivia. Venezuelan movement had died. The Prague Spring. Good news for Castro that Allende was elected. He would have an alli. On the other hand, it is awkward for Castro to cheer this because he never wanted a democratic road to socialism. He is kind of flip flopping on his international message.

Hugo Chavez and his coup of 1992 attempt and the aftermath

Hugo Chavez was a military officer. He attended a military academy in Venezuela and he graduated in 1975 where he was number 7 in a class of 67. He later became an officer. He was given assignments by the Venezuelan military. One was to go after one of the last standing guerilla groups in Venezuela. There, he witnessed many human rights abuses. He conspired with many officers to start military coup to rescue Venezuela.

Salvador Allende

In 1970, Salvador Allende was elected president. Embarked on revolutionary process and carried out the left. Land reform, nationalized companies, asserted independence from the US, benefited the urban/poor housing, food supply, childcare, many other powers opposed this. In 1973, the Chilean military had a coup and overthrew Allende. This was devastating to the people. Allende died inside the presidential palace. Suicide? Palace caught fire and many believed that he shot himself because he didn't want to burn to death. Coup gave way to a dictatorship. Iconic military dictatorship. Governed country until 1990. Neoliberal economic reform.

The 1970 Election and Chilean Exceptionalism

In 1970, they ran the former president Jorge Alessandri. The Christian Democrats split. Frei's gropu and then more left wing critique. The nominate Radomiro Tomic who was European. He was very leftist. Close to Allende. The left nominated Allende again for his 4th term to fun for president. Allende graduated as a doctor. Became the member of the socialist party at a very young age. He spent much of his career in the senate. He was a political operator for the socialist party. Chilean communist party in Latin America was allied with Soviet Union. Wanted to get along with the US. Took the radical edge off those parties. Allende was seen as a moderate. Allende was friends with Castro. Some of the guerilla group survived and they escaped into Chile. Allende was scared that they would shoot the plane out of the sky, so he got on the plane. He believed in Chilean exceptionalism. Chile was different within the Latin American context. Chile has strong democratic traditions. Many people think that it is legitimate for the communist party to participate in politics.

The End of the Chilean Road to Socialism

In 1972, things turned a corner. Problems arose. Coca Cola was nationalized. Bethleham Steel was nationalized. Ford/GM all nationalized. Large, well known American companies were being nationalized in Chile by Allende. Shortages of food. Foreign investment dried up. A capitalist strike said the right was trying to sabotage the socialist party. Growing tensions between Allende and Nixon.

Economic Free Market Policies and the Chicago Boys. Neoliberalism

In 1973, the coup was supported. by numerous political actors. The Catholic Church and Christian democrats supported the coup. They supported him because they thought he was just trying to get the country back on its feet and then he would hold elections. When he didn't hold elections, it became very clear that it was a dictatorship. The Christian democrats removed their support and turned to opposition. The women who's family members had disappeared got support from the church. These were several human rights groups. The church allowed them to meet in the churches and sometimes funded some of their projects, especially quilting. These were the first groups to openly go against the dictatorship. Dictatorship wanted to defend values. yet they were being contradicted. The government wanted to stop these groups, but they were pushing the roles at the same time. The military dictatorship wanted to push the role for women. The household role, the one of them taking care of their children. The women were doing just that. BIG contradiction. This became very difficult for the military to do anything. It made it easy for these groups to have a voice.

The Sandinista Offensive

In 1978, Pedro Joaquin Chamorro was one of the most visible opponents of the Sandinistas. He was the editor of one of the main newspapers in Nic- La Prensa. He was from an old conservative family. In the late 1970's, he made a group called the Democratic Union. He wanted this to develop into a political party. In 1981, he wanted to run for president when Anastacio Somoza's term ended. The Somozas were probably going to run another 3rd generation Somoza. By this point, many Nicaraguans were sick of the Somozas and they were not interested in having another one be president. In January of 1978, Chamorro was killed-assassinated. It is believed that the younger Somoza that would be running for president had him assassinated. After the news spread, 50 thousand people congregated to show support for his death. In the minds of many, the assassination of him closed off any possibility of peaceful change. In August of 1978, the Sandinistas staged another high profile comando raid in the capital. 25 Sandinista guerillas made it into the city and captured the National Palace. They had a number of hostages who were members of congress. They demanded large ranson and safe passage out of the country. Samoza had no decision but to comply... When the Sandinistas were being driven to the airport by demand, thousands of people cheered them on. This showed that the regime was weak and that the Sandinistas had a very good urban network. In the aftermath, a lot of people sensed that victory was pretty clear. Also, it was carried out by a particular wing of the Sandinistas. Remember they split? It was by the Urban uprising group-the Insurrectional Tendency. This was the most ideologically diverse. Also, many Catholic groups gravitated here because it was seen as the least Marxist. After this raid, the three factions of the Sandinistas reunited. It was clear that the members of the Insurrectional Tendency was in charge. The leader of that group is Daniel Ortega. With this new energy, the Sandinistas declared that in 1979, they would begin to take more territory from the national guard.

Nicaragua's importance

In Central America, in colonial times, this country was not important. Developed over the years. Coffee cultivation started. Ethnic composition, mestizo by the 1800's. British occasionally occupied parts of Nicaraguan coast. Majority of the population was on the other side. In the 1830's/40's American Entrapauners began to be interested in the country. Like Vanderbuilt. They were interested in building a canal in South American because it would maximize their production. They were looking at Nicaragua for a while, but they eventually decided on Panama. This opened the Atlantic to the Pacific. Main concern was that other countries were going to build a canal and have control of it before the United States did. So in 1909, the United States occupied Nicaragua.

Inside the Neighborhood, Mercal, United Socialist Party

Influence has spread to other countries. Oxygen has been given to Cuba and regime type is spreading to other parts of Latin America.

Divisons of the FSLN

Initial military operations were a complete disaster. Very poorly planned. Launched military operations in the countryside. These never went well. Fonseca was badly wounded a few times. In 1974, the group peaked at about 200 members. Carlos Fonseca was very determined. He kept the group together and kept them alive. He led a very private life. That way, he could dedicate himself to his revolution. When he was in the mountains, he hed the group together. In 1974, the Sandonistas had a breakthrough. They organized a comando raid. They heard about a party of Samoza for a high ranked group of government officials. They disguised themselves as catering staff of the event and they took officers and officials hostage. Samoza was not there. Sandonistas demanded release of the Sandonistas that were in jail and demanded a lot of money to fund their operation for a while. They were successful and they escaped. This showed that the Samoza government was weak. Somoza was furious and ordered counterinsurgency campaign. After 1974, the campaign pushes more Nicaraguans to support the Sandonistas and the organization grew. In 1976, Fonseca was illed in a skirmish with the National Guard. In the aftermath, FSLN fractured into 3, Divisons were no longer held together by Fonseca... Stopped talking to each other.

Inner American Cold War

Interlocking situations. Both Washington and Havana were surprised that Allende had won. The US didn't want Allende in office. They had scaled back their money and spending on the Chilean election in the CIA. They did not want Allende to succeed. They were afraid that if Allende succeeded in peacefully building a socialist example. These countries also might pull out of NATO. The US wanted Allende overthrown, but the didn't want any direct US involvement. They wanted the Chilean people to overthrow Allende. They were afraid of international backlash. The US was happy to see Brazil was against Chile. Saw socialism as a threat to Brazil. Domino affect? Saw this as Cuban expansion in Latin America. Brazilian government wanted to encourage a coup by the Chilean government.

IT&T Papers

Jack Anderson (a famous journalist) leaked the IT&T papers. These were international documents. IT&T stands for International Telephone and Telegraph. This was in 1972, but the documents led back to 1970. This was a private company, but they had offered the CIA and Nixon administration 1 million dollars to help finance the destabilization of Chile's economy. This raised the prospect that the US was really out to destroy the Chilean economy.

Ties to Cuba

Mercal- very important social mission- basically translates into food markets. These are government supermarkets that sell subsidized food and are built in poor neighborhoods. Mercal was much more developed than Allende's program. They were in many neighborhoods. According to survey data, about 50% of the population has used neighborhood clinics and 70% of the population has shopped at the Mercal supermarkets. Become part of the daily lives of Venezuelans. Other social missions that are tied to education to provide elementary, continuing education, etc. All levels of education. Some are also designed to help establish cooperatives. Want to produce something. The social missions are funded by oil money. They come into place at the time when oil prices are going up. Some of the social missions are funded directly by the state loyal company. The social missions helped to boost Chavez's popularity, just before the recall referendum. When the missions were established, spending growth skyrocketed. As spending grew, his popularity grew. Brings us to a question of the nature of relationship between Chavez and his followers. One of the interesting questions is to "what degree do Venezuelans and people that vote for Chavez in agreement with socialist ideologies?" If people support Chavez, does this mean that they support his ideology? Most people answer yes. If Chavez is always talking about socialism, then obviously people who support him support socialism. The other perspective is... People are getting good things from the government and this could be a sort of reformist populist government, but this is basically just oil revenue and clientalism at the heart of Chavez's regime. One of the controversial issues has to do with Chavez' ties to Cuba. Chavez first went to Cuba in 1994 when he was released from prison. Very soon after he was released. He met with Fidel and Fidel was very interested in meeting him. He and Fidel hit it off personally and they then had a very close relationship for the next 19 years until Chavez died earlier this year. When Chavez was elected in 1998, he was asked if he wanted to established a Cuban style government. He said no. Once he became president in 1999, he established close relationships with Cuba and started the oil for doctors program. There was an increasing number of Cuban advisors. He wanted to "Give oxygen to Cuba" The value reached 2 and half billion dollars a year... As much as 6 billion dollars a year. This was the value of aid. Everybody agrees that the oil is being sold at a lower than world market price. It was very hard to place an exact dollar value on the amount of aid. This created controversy. Critics ask what is it that Cuban military officers can tell Venezuelan officers what the Venezuelan officers what they don't already know?? Opens the door for anti-Chavista oppositions.

The United States and Nicaragua

NIcaraguan revolution- the Sandinistas Government inspired by the Cuban revolution. Took over in 1979. Sandinistas used the Cuban path to revolution to overthrow a dictator who was supported by the US. They held elections and won in a fiar election in the 1980's. They governed as an elected government. In the 1980's, the US helped to organize and give support to the anti-sandinista movement. Hybrid type revolution between Cuba and Chile. Democratic, pluralistic manner.

The liberal Party

Negotiated with other foreign powers. US military occupied and liberal party was overthrown. Conservatives put in power. In 1912, many liberal tried again. 1912-1933, the US military was in Nicaragua.

Recadi, Corruption, Austerity, and the Caracazo

On 27th of February, The Caracazo happened, which is known as the blowup of Caracas. When Venezuelans went to work, they went to the bus stations that morning as usual. But, overnight, the bus company owners increased the prices of the bus fares. Many bus companies took advantage of the situation and figured that because the country was experiencing austerity measures, they could send their prices through the roof as well. Many many did not have the amount of money to pay for the new increased fares, especially since it was the end of the month. Many had been saving and budgeting all month to make sure that they could afford transportation, but they could not. People protested and they went wild. They burned buses and looted stores. Many people referred to this as "The day they came down from the hills" . Hillsides were filled with poor neighborhoods. Perez was taken by surprise. he didn't see this coming. Demonstrates how disconnected the political system was from the people. Military was sent in. A curfew for citizens was required. When the dust had settled 300 people were reported as dead, but several more were suspected. Nobody knows the real number. At the same time, major corruption scandals were happening in 1988 and 1989. Government mechanism for regulating currency. Level of outrage was so high. Recadi system had official exchange rate for ordinary citizens. Currency was devalued. Company can buy dollars at a lower price. The scandal was a lot of Venezuelan businesses. A lot of them were getting the dollars cheaper and then selling them, thus making a huge profit. Also, many of these businesses were not even real. They were only real on paper. Nobody was prosecuted. Some people were arrested. Made off with 10's of millions of dollars and got away with it. Take a sack of flour and you get shot, but steal millions of dollars and you will not be punished. Many people were outraged. The two political parties were basically covering for each other.

The Sandinista's Fall From Power and the Agrarian Reform

One of the changes because of the election was the Sandinista's Agrarian reform. Sometimes pointed to as the Sandinista's flexibility or way of trying to fix some of the rifts in the country. In 1979, they had started an agrarian reform. Given that it was widely accepted, it was easy to initiate an agrarian reform because a lot of people wanted the Samoza's land. Initially, they took seized farms and turned them into cooperatives. Farms that worked collectively. We would work those fields collectively as a group. Divvy up the tasks and share the harvests. The problem with this mentality and initial agrarian reform was that many of the beneficiares wanted individual farms. They wanted to be independent family farmers. They weren't very willing to work as a group. This was pretty controversial... Said that they felt like they had the Samozas as their bosses and now they had the Sandinistas telling them what to do. This was one of the factors that led the rural people to support the Contras rather than the Sandinistas. The contras had enough support in rural Nicaragua to continue to operate. Some of the farms turned from collective to individual plots. Some farms were divided up... this was explicitly done in order to build support for the regime in the rural areas. Actually, President Ortega would come to some farms when farmers were presented with the title to their land. They would get a title for their land and they would be given a rifle so that they could defend their land from the Contras.

Corporatism

Political tradition, approach to political ways. Society is a whole that doesn't need to be divided and pitted against each other. Society is like the body of an individual. Corporatist view says needs negotiation between corporations of management and labor. Management-Government-Labor. The goal is social harmony. In this way of things, labor management would have equal power. Christian democrats base themselves off corporatism. Strong tradition of radical unions in Chile. Way left wing. Salvador Allende almost won in 1958 and this scared conservative Chileans. They didn't want a socialist president. What would happen in the next election? Christian Democrats became more popular. Internationally at this time, there was lots of stuff going on. In 1959, Cuban revolution. Lots of anxiety on US and Latin American conservatives.

The Provisional Junta of National Reconstruction and Sandinista policies

Question of whether the Sandinistas were Marxist or socialist. Many different opinions. Provisional Junta was a committee. Had many Sandinistas, many were not associated with the Sandinistas. There was a very broad anti-Samoza. Violeta Chamorro was the wife and widow of Pedro Juaquin Chamorro. He had been assassinated. She was a very prominent member. Lot of physical destruction after the Samoza left. The question of when would there be elections? Decided that the elections would be in 1985, which was six years in the future. Many people said that this was far too long. So, many of the non-Sandinistas left the junta. Provisional government becomes exclusively Sandinista. Elections were eventually moved up to 1984. Made many people suspicious. Vast majority of the Nicaraguans were sympathetic because Sandinista overthrew Samoza.

The Catholic opposition: Bishop Miguel Obando y Bravo and Liberation theology

Question of, to what extent was this the Sandonista revolution. But, to what extent was it also a revolution of non-sandonistas? The Sandonistas were the ones who were organized and they had an armed force that allowed them to control the government. To some extent, there is a parallel situation to the early days of the Cuban revolution. Who's revolution is it? What is the purpose of it? Obando y Bravo did not want to support the Sandanistas or the Somozas. He was very conscious of the loss of influence of the Catholic church in Cuba after the Cuban revolution. He was concerned about the Sandonista's links to Cuba and they way that they patterned themselves after the M26. Other major trends included the rise of Liberation theology. This was trend in the Catholic church throughout Latin America. Was a sort of thread of philosophical theological thought. Not all catholics adopted it. Became very influential- late 1960's to early 1970's.Suggested that the Christian faith was on the side of the poor. For those that believed in this, this was specifically rooted in the New Testament. For those that oppose, they lean towards Christian Marxism. Was a reflection of trends within the Catholic church in the sixties. Part of the movement also said that the church needed to pay more attention to the world's catholics and their everyday lives. Within the official councils of the church, there was growing emphasis about the church doing something about poverty, etc. They said that poverty is really a sense of violence. In poor communities there is a might higher infant mortality rate, shorter life expectancy... Results of poverty are literally death. By the 1960's and 70's, it was known how to prevent many poverty problems. They could get clean drinking water, fix malnutrition, etc. Tried to create a new perspective on poverty... Not what the poor should accept as God's will, but as the result of human institutions... Latin America is the most unequal distribution location of wealth in the world. Social sin- said that anyone who benefits from the perpetuation of structural violence is in a situation of sin. Basically, if you are an affluent person in a poor society, you are sinning. Also an argument that if you use violence to end structural violence, you are really just joining in a fight that has already begun. When poor people use violence to try to change a situation, they would not be initiating violence---it has already been initiated in the structure that already exists. This theory developed throughout Latin America. Obando y Bravo was not a liberation theologian. He was very uncomfortable with violence and the philosophical connection to Marxism. Priests could help demand things from the Catholic church. In the countryside, they helped to demand land and medical clinics, local schools. These demands were not framed in a political context of opposition to the Samozas, but the Samozas were almost offended... The National Guard would occasionally raid these organizations in poor neighborhoods/countryside.. Sometimes priests were imprisoned, and some even disappeared. As the head of the Nicaraguan Catholic church, it was Obando y Bravos job to keep priests safe... Much repressive action by the national guard.

Reflections on the Revolution (good for the paper)

Reflections on the Revolution- Different perspectives from Lancaster and Selbin... The argument that there was a revolution certainly has something to it. If one looks at the political system that was in place by the 1990's, there was a fundamentally different system under the Samozas. There wasn't one family control, or one party control. It was a true multi-party democracy that had come to place by the 1990. Given the absolute control that the Samoza family had had for years, the fact that a multi-party system was able to function suggests that there were huge reformations to the society. Counter argumentation- Would the Sandinistas turned over power if there had not been a war going on?? This is an argument that goes back to the fundamental nature of the Sandinistas and how we interpret 1990. Sandinista supporters would say that they were always democratic with plural faction ideologies. The Sandinistas may not have held the 84 elections as soon as they would have, but they would have said that they were committed to an open party system. The counter arguemtn to this would say that you shouldn't overemphasie the change in Nicaraguan political culture- the only reason Sand turned over power in 1990 was because the war was going on. If the war wasn't going on, they wouldn't have moved up the 84 elections or even had elections in 90 and they wouldn't have felt obliged to turn over power in 1990. This argument shows that there was nothing the Sandinistas could have done to show that they were true democrats. In all, they were really totalitarians and that they were hiding their true nature. Argument that political culture hadn't been changed-that they were forced into turning over power is a weak argument. As far as economics, can argue that there was a change. By the 1990's, it was a free, open market economy and the state sector was shrinking. When you look at Samozas and their personal holdings (because they technically were the state) in structural terms, there was a change in the economy. However, there was a lot of people in NIc that were VERY poor in the 90's. Almost 80% of the country was living in poverty- one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, so in that sense, there wasn't a huge change. Making sense of the revolution is very difficult. It is controversial. Selbin says it is a major, successful Latin American revolution. Lancaster says that the revolution is much less of a success. Lancaster says the revolution ends in 1990 instead of seeing permanent change in the country. Ambivalent revolution.

The Chilean Right/The Truckers' Strikes

Some of the CIA's 8 million supported the truckers' strike. This helped support them while they were on strike and they were not receiving any income. This was a HUGE deal to the Chilean people because they relied on those trucks to bring in food and other goods. The truckers striked because Allende wanted to nationalize their company. The strike lasted for months. Some of the CIA money was also funneled into anti-Allende propaganda. The Cubans always told Allende that he needed to arm his supporters. He ignored them. After the truckers' strike, the country was even worse off. He needed money and loans. He turned to worldwide corporations like the IMF and the WB. During Frei's years, 260 million a year was given in aid. Allende did not get any aid except for military aid. No development aid. It went from 260 million to 3 million. Also, when Allende went to the WB and the IMF, the United States blocked loans from these multinational corporations.

The Creation of Polar Opposites

Struggle between Venezuela and the empire. Didn't help that George Bush (unpopular president) was in office. Dichotomy between Venezuela and Bush. Also said that politics is a matter of people versus the oligarchy. Basically, there was no middle ground. Coloquial issues. The fact that Chavez was a mestizo... Something that his opponents began to talk more and more about. Well to do Venezuelans would say "The Pion has taken over the farm". Essentially saying Chavez is lower class and he has no right to be in a position of leadership. In 2002, there was a coup attempt against Chavez that included members of the military and strong ties to the business community. The Coup attempt fizzled out after a couple days. Some military units basically changed sides and Chavez was fine. Once he was back in the presidency, there was an orchestrated strike that tried to force him out of presidency. That failed as well. In 2004, there was a recall referendum to get Chavez out. Said that voters could recall an elected official halfway out of their term. Recall was held in 2004, but Chavez won.

Allende's Growing Tension with the US

The 1970's were a period of détente. This means that there was a lessening of tensions between the United States, the Soviets, and China. Soviets wanted peaceful co-existence with the United States. Everyone thought this was so great, including Chile. In 1972, Nixon went to the Soviet Union and China. This was supposedly the winding down of the Cold War tension. Thought these problems were over. Everyone later came to find out that this was only for the relation between Moscow and Washington. Things were far from over. Allende visited Moscow (his first trip to Russia). The leaders told him that they were not going to give him any aid like how they gave Cuba aid. They were not going to give him large amounts of money. They didn't want him to upset the détente. They felt like if they were to give Chile money for their new Socialist government, the US would be enraged. The Nixon administration decided it would do anything to get Chileans to overthrow Allende. They were also provoking the military to have a coup. Nixon (1970) met with the head of the CIA. At the time, this meeting was secret. He told the CIA to sabotage the Chilean economy. He quoted, "Make the economy scream." The US public found out about this meeting after the Watergate scandal. The CIA ended up spending 8 million trying to de-stabilize the Chilean economy.

Augsto Pinochet's Dictatorship

The 1973 coup led to Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. Wave of repression. Secret detention centers where members of Allende's coalition were interrogated and killed. Numbers are estimated that nearly 3200 Chileans were killed by the security forces. About 1000 disappeared.

The 1990 Election with Daniel Ortega vs. Violeta Chamorro

The 1990 Election- The opposition of the Sandinistas united and they made a coalition known as Uno (the Unified National Opposition). Uno nominated Violeta Chamorro. She was the widow of Pedro Juaquin Chamorro. He was a newspaper editor that had been assassinated. Violeta had been part of the governing Junta right after Samoza fell. There were pluses and minuses to running Violeta. One of the pluses was that she couldn't be labeled by the Sandinistas as a Samoza supporter. She was very clearly coming out of the anti-Samoza opposition. One of the minuses was that she had no political experience of her own, other than the very short time when she was part of the Junta. It became clear during the campaign that she was almost running as a figurehead for the opposition. Quite often when she made public appearances, she gave a speech that was not written by her, she wouldn't take very many questions. She broke her leg during one campaign, so she literally had to be carried through crowds. When she was asked questions, her answer would literally be something like "God will guide my hand." A lot of people wanted something more specific than that. One of the powerful messages that she was able to convey was that she presented herself as a mother. Both in a literal and a figurative sense. In a figurative sense, she was trying to project herself as a mother of a torn family. By this point, about 50,000 people had been killed in the contra war. Chamorro said that she wanted to reunite the family. In making this argument, she said that she had one son who was Sandinista and another son who was a member of the Contras. Just as she wanted to reunite her own family, she wanted to reunite the Nicaraguan family. The Church hierarchy was also an important part of her campaign. Obando y Bravo also had opposed the Samoza dictatorship and he had never endorsed the Sandinistas. When Chamorro began her campaign, Obando y Bravo endorsed her, met with her, and publically gave her his blessing. So, election day came in 1990. The polling before the election gave the Sandinista's a comfortable majority- about 60% of the vote. This was a little bit less than what they got in 1984. They were expecting to win comfortably. When the results were announced, the day after the elections, everyone was shocked. The results were almost a minor image of what they were expecting. Chamorro got 59 and Ortega got 41. In the national assembly, UNO also won a majority of the seats. In the aftermath of the election, there was a great deal of analysis. There were various explanations. One explanation was that people were voting against hardships...Their hearts may still have been with the Sandinista's, but they recognized that as long as the Sandinista's were in power, the war was going to continue and the economy would not get better. Also, people may have falsely reported how they were going to vote when they were being polled because they were ashamed to say that they were going to vote against the Sandinistas. When the results came in, the Sandinistas accepted them and they handed over the power. For those who argue that people were intimidated from saying that they were going to vote against the Sandinistas, they thought they might be victimized. In 1989, just a few months before the elections in December, the United States invaded Panama. They took down the leader of Panama. When that happened, the Sandinistas noted that Panama is not that far from Nicaragua and there is an election coming up. The Sandinsita government put out a statement in 89 saying in the event of a US invasion of Nicaragua, the Sandinistan army and the Sandinistan militia would arrest and execute any supporters of the US invasion. For many people, this looked like an attempt to intimidate the public. This was a political blunder by the Sandinistas.... This supports the idea that the polls were wrong because people were intimidated.. Maybe they were scared that the pollster was a person undercover for the Sandinista government. Also, people may have voted for Violeta because they were intimidated of her too. The US government said Violeta was their candidate in Nicarauga and they said that the war would continue even if the Sandinistas won... Looked like the United States would keep this war going until the Sandinistas were out of power. Some people basically said Nicaraguas basically went to the polls with a gun to their head. There were things on both sides that could have forced voters to vote one way or another. Chamorro was elected.

The Reagan Administration and the Contras

The Reagan administration took office in 1981. Carter, who was before Reagan had given aid to Nicaragua, for as long as Cuba was not involved. There was a significant amount of aid given, but with strings attached. Carter also funneled about 1 million dollars to Anti-Sandinistas to maintain plurality. Reagan had a different perspective . Carter was fine with the Sandinistas, but Reagan decided that they needed to be overthrown. He thought that Carter had let the US government's power sink. He wanted to reassert the US leadership in the world. On March of 1981, CIA contacted anti-Sandinistas (many had fled to Miami) and he began to organize a force called the Contras. (means counter revolutionaries in Spanish). Reagan was supported by other countries like Honduras and Argentina. Honduras was willing to let the Contras use Honduras as a military base because it is the neighboring country of Nicaragua. Argentina had a military government at the time. US was given assistance from Argentine military forces. Argentines ended their cooperation with the US in 1982 due to the Falkan War.. In this war, the US remained neutral instead of backing Argentina, so Argentina felt like, "why should we back you in your own war?" So, they withdrew.

Sandinista Social Reforms

The Sandinistas had three different codes- 1. They were going to establish a pluralist system. 2. Mixed economy (system between socialist and capitalist) 3. Non-aligned foreign policy Socialist, government ownership with a means of production in free system, no government ownership. Mixed=private sector and public sector. In Nicaragua, 40-45% of the government was state owned. Came from confiscating the good of the Samoza government. Sandinistas nationalized some banks, transportation, and construction. 55% was still in the private sector. Pledge of a mixed economy was met. The non aligned foreign policy meant that a country would not take sides in the Cold War. Neutral basically. Maintain diplomatic relations with the United States, Cuba, and also with the Soviet Union. From Sandinista perspective, they had relations with both sides The United States saw this as worrisome. They didn't want it to go one way or another. They told their audience that Sandinista would not be a repeat of Cuba. In Cuba.Fidel delayed elections and never had them. Ortega assigned his brother Humberto Ortega to be head of the Sandinista army. Similar to Fidel and Raul as they organized their party, they organized Sandinista defense committees on every block. Sounds like Cuba.... Again, some people saw some sinister parallels. Also, they started a literacy campaign.... Just like in Cuba. Rate of illiteracy was much higher in Nicaragua than in Cuba. 52% of illiteracy. In 1980, literacy campaign was organized and sent to poor urban neighborhoods-reduced to 13%. Very successful. One major difference between the Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign and the Cuban one was that The Catholic priests and nuns who participated as teachers. This signaled a close relationship between Sandinista and progressive wing of the catholic church. Ernesto Cardenal, Fernando's brother became international administrator. Another social reform was public health. Educated doctors. Made immunizations available. Started doing basic public health things that the Samoza's never did. The infant mortality rate dropped by 25% in 4 years. By the mid 1980's, 80% of the population had access to public health.

Retrospectives on the Chilean Road to Socialism

The coup was very traumatic. There are several different retrospects. One... Allende's government wasn't possible. Many people say that there is no such thing as a peaceful road to socialism. Many people say that capitalism will always do what it needs to so if can protect itself. Other retrospect- were there problems that could have prevented or been avoided? Build a multi-party coalition. If only?? Another argument looks at Allende's followers. The followers brought the coup down on themselves by not being patient enough. Allende wanted a controlled movement, but everybody pushed it too much. Created a sense of uncontrolled socialism. This debate continues back and forth.

Film in Class

The film that we watched in class showed Chilean women. They were allowed to speak their side of the story. Get all sorts of views.

Salvador Allende and the Inter-American Cold War

The inter-american cold war. The soviet union stayed out of a lot of things. Allende and Castro on one side. The US and Brazilian armies on the other. The author of the book that the professor was talking about in class asks how influential Brazil was on the military coup in Chile.

From Dictatorship to Pacted democracy and the exclusion of the left

The most important agreement was whatever party won the elections, they would share power. Everybody understood that they would share cabinet positions. What everybody understood and why this mattered was that Venezuelan politics had always been based on patron/client relationships. This was the ongoing relationship between a powerful authority figure. The followers or clients typically receive material benefits and because Venezuela had oil wealth, there was lots of patronage to be handed out. EX- public housing, subsidized food, paved roads, electrical systems, etc. The clients that are receiving that patronage are going to reward their patron with political loyalty. By agreeing to share power, they were all going to have the opportunity to build up their parties by patronage. They essentially agreed to share power where both parties COPEI and AD will be able to build up their parties over the long term. Neither party is going to exclude the other and have a one party state. But, they wanted to exclude the communists of this. Costs and benefits of this? Costs- the pact of Punto Fijo was just a pack of elites. Kind of shut the far left and the far right out of the political system because it was clear that AD or COPEI was going to win the democracy. Also, it was designed to minimize popular imput. Benefits- in 1958, the last thing that the Venezuelans wanted was a return to military dictatorship. By agreeing to share power, whoever lost the election, they were not going to turn to the military and ask for a coup. The elites made other agreements in 1958. Agreed that whichever party won, they were going to be very good to the military and give them good funding, by keeping them out of politics and keeping them happy. Also an agreement that whichever party won would not try to fundamentally alter the structure of the Venezuelan economy. All of these pacts had been put into place... Betancourt won... He followed the pact of Punto Fijo faithfully. He divided up his cabinet positions and gave them to all parties except from the communists. And, Betancourt was inaugurated at the same time that Castro took Cuba. From the beginning Betancourt and Castro did not get along. He was worried about the large turnout of Venezuelans that came to hear Castro when he came to speak in Venezuela. Well, the communists were mad because they had been left out of power. So, essentially, the Venezuelan communist party joined the Cuban party to break away and start a guerilla movement. They got arms and support from Cuba. There was periodically talk of having Che Guevara come to Venezuela instead of Bolivia. But the Venezuelans did not want Che. During Betancourt's five years as president, he survived an assassination attempt, left wing military coup attempts, right wing coup attempts. He was hit from all directions. When it came time for the new elections in 1963, Betancourt had established himself as a symbol of democracy. The communist guerillas called the Venezuelan people to boycot the election in 1963. But when they were held in 1963, 91% of eligible people came out and voted. The people were strongly supporting this new democratic movement.

The Spread of Hybrid Regimes; Nicaragua

The spread of the regime type. Called hybrid regime. Refers to a type that combines democratic and autocratic authoritarian practices. Chavez won election after election, etc. Eventually, he won the referendum that allowed him to be elected indefinitely. There is no denying that Chavez's regime has a lot of democratic features. In some ways, it is now more democratic than the old Chavista regime. Ortega was elected in 2006 for the Nicaraguan president. Chavez and Ortega had a close relationship. Chavez began giving 500 million dollars a year in aid to Nicaragua. They are a very poor country. 3% of their economy was made up of aid from Venezuela. Ortega has spent it largely on building up his political base. When Ortega was elected, there was a ban. Convinced the Nicaraguan supreme court to overturn the ban on term limits.

Who are the Contras?

They are primarily ex-national guard members. Main contra group was based in Honduras and was called Nicaraguan Democratic force. Head was Enrique Bermudez. At their peak, Contras had 15,000 troops. Accusation that many of these members had committed war crimes. Technically, many of them had because the former national guard in Nicaragua was accused of human rights violations and such. The other view was from the people who were against the Sandinistas. The main group of Sandinistas was based in Costa Rica and the head was Eden Pastora. He was a national hero among those who hated the Samozas. Comandante Cero was his code name. But, when the Sandinistas joined with the United States, the Soviet Union, and they decided not to hold elections, he was angered. He broke away and formed his own group in Costa Rica.

Reagan Administration

They gave 2.5 million dollars to the Contras. Contra forces in Honduras and Costa Rica. The Contras never established permanent control over parts of Nicaragua. Goal of Reagan Administration was to wear down the Sandinistas and their supporters. They basically wanted them to surrender. From the US point of view, the contra war was a success. During the 1980's, other similar wars were going on in Latin America. Left wing guerrilla forces were supported by the Cubans. The US periodically carried out various operations. The CIA mined some of the Nicaraguan harbor. A few ships were damaged, but for the most part, they just wanted to discourage trade with Nicaragua. This was very controversial. Many Americans were half and half. Half thought this was a moral issue.

The Far Right/Father Land and Liberty

This group took armed action. They burned farms and destroyed factories. This added to the economic problems. These were far right extremists that were against Allende. Some store owners would keep goods off the shelves even though they had them. This would make it look like they were really worse off.

Alliance for progress

This was Kennedy's Latin American Policy. Latin America was at a cross roads... Reform or revolution? Us opposed the Cuban revolution, but realization that people who supported it had serious grievances. Inequality within society, lack of services. Create more revolutions? Cuba would. Would this be repeated? Turned on a dime. Land reform. Arbenz and land reform was being advocated by the US companies. Blunt the appeal of the far left. US gave lots of money. Early years of the AFP advocated progressive policies. Told Latin American conservatives that they were part of the problem. When LBJ was president, the alliance was more conservative. More military. Chile got a lot of US military aid in this regime. Chile was becoming a focus. Chile had a strong left wing. LBC changed the flavor or the alliance for progress. Very anti-communist.

The Lives of the Urban Poor

Very rapid urbanization. 2.8 million of 8 million Chileans were living in Santiago in 1970. Many people migrated and lived in neighborhoods. Called Callampas. This means poor neighborhood. It technically means wild mushroom that would sprout up after a rainstorm. Had to have a land invasion in order to live somewhere. Group of migrants move in during the night. They set and typically raise the Chilean flag. The invite in members of the media. They know that if the media is there, police will not be as harsh. Typically when the police come in, they negotiate with them. Hope to stay. Over time, people gather building materials and make a basic structure. Neighborhood begins to be more permanent. All kinds of neighborhoods at different stages of development. 25% of Santiago was living in Callampas in 1970. Many political issues rose. The health of the family was a big concern. To be fully nourished, the working class would have to spend 75% of their income on food in order to be well nourished. This is according to UN standards. Most of these people did not have a steady job. 14% infant mortality rate. By the age of 5, most of these poor kids weighed 12 pounds less than others. 4 to 5 inches shorter than those in affluent neighborhoods. Not only were they malnourished, but they were living in unsanitary conditions. Allende quoted, "In the new Chile, only the privileged ones will be the children." He started with a moderate policy, but over time, that turned more radical. Allende started a subsidized milk program. He also made a wage increase for the working class. He did this so they could buy food, an attempt to do price controls on basic food items. Low set price. In a way, this was a contradiction. It was bad for the food retailers. Created inflammatory pressures. Food shortages started to develop. Some retailers ignored the price controls. People reported this. En Callampas, food stores were far away. Small, independent retailers could try to raise the prices and control the market. Many Callampas people paid much higher prices. Allende established the "People's Food Basket". This was a collection of food. Typically a week's supply. Baskets were sold at a set price. Surveillance of the price of these food baskets. Typically, these outsold itself. 150,000 families received baskets. This was a big blow to the private sector. Poor people were eating better though. Women were most impacted. They reported the price violations. In a way, this helped to empower women. Allende helped to close the gender gap with this.

The social missions

What makes his relationship distinct between social missions and society- 2003. Recall referendum against Chavez in 2004. This could be against any elected official. They gathered enough signatures. Part of his strategy for dealing with these was creating programs called social missions. The world petroleum prices were going up in 2003, partly because the US invasion of Iraq. The social missions included specific programs each targeted at a social or economic problem. One of the first and most famous was called "Inside the Neighborhood". Barrio- used to refer to poor neighborhoods in Venezuela. This is a medical mission that has clinics of different levels of care, etc. Typically, the clinics that are part of this mission are built in neighorhoods that had never previously had access to healthcare. Many of these doctors never wanted to put their offices in poor neighborhoods, but this was the first time. They really increased popular aspects to healthcare. One of the controversial aspects to this plan was that many of the doctors were Cuban doctors. Inside the neighborhood, they began selling oil to Cuba in exchange for the services of medial doctors. Mostly doctors. Cuba pays a very small amount for the price of oil in cash. Most of their payment is by services. Presently, there are 30,000 Cuban doctors working in Venezuela. Some Venezuelans do not like this large Cuban presence in their countries, but others love it. Inside the neighborhood, was an insight to society.

The Coup and its aftermath

When Allende went to the palace, he called various military supporters. He later found out that the entire party had wanted to overthrow him. Military offered to give Allende and family a safe trip out of the country. Allende rejected. Allende called the Cuban embassy. Allende said that he didn't want any armed Cubans to come to the palace. Didn't want the last minutes of his government to be known as CUban protection of Chileans. The Soviets stayed out of this whole conflict. Allende also called a station radio. He made his last speech over the air. He said that he accepted the fact that he was going to die in the coup. Didn't want his followers to die for the cause. Said socialism will one day live on in Chile. The coup moved forward. The military called and said they would bombard the presidential palace if he had not evacuated. Allende did not leave and he died in the bombing. Evidence shows Allende killed himself. He was last seen with Fidel's gun. Coup rounded up all of the left wing activists. They were taken and arrested. They were taken to the football stadium and they were arrested. They were interrogated there. The military thought there would be an organized armed resistance and they wanted to put a stop to that. Some people were killed. Victor Jara was killed. His wife was given his body. He had broken hands, cigarette burns, gunshot wounds--- He was tortured. The military also raided the home of Pablo Neruda. They searched his house and turned it upside down. At the time, he had prostate cancer and the doctors had given him another few years to live. He died right after his house was raided. People say that because of the raid, his death was escalated quickly. Some speculators say that he was poisoned by the military. His body is currently being checked.

The National Guard/Anastacio Somoza Garcia

Years pass and the National Guard is ready to take over the country. Question is.... Who will lead the national guard? Well, the US elected Anastacio Somoza Garcia. He was the son of a wealthy coffee planter. He went to the US for schooling in Philly for Business School. He was fluent in English. He was an interpreter for the army for a long time and he worked himself up the ladder. In 1933, US forces finally left Nicaragua. He became the head of the National Guard. He was not the president though. One of the first things he did was he got rid of Sandino. Sandino was invited to the capital for peace talks. Anastacio wanted to "talk it out". Sandino came to the capital. One night, he was arrested by the National Guard. He was taken outside and shot in cold blood. It was a trap. While he was being assassinated, some of his followers were attacked in the countryside. At the time, Somoza denied any involvement, but years later, he actually openly bragged about killing Sandino. Anastacio governed for 20 years, until 1956. Made a dictatorship. Controlled politically and gave his family lots of economic wealth. He made a fortune through his corrupt ways. The US knew he was a crook, but supported him anyways. FDR quoted, "He's an SOB, but he's our SOB". Somoza was defending US interests.

Augusto Cesar Sandino

born on coffee farm to a single, indigenous mother in 1895. His father was the owner of the plantation. Very conscious of class system. As a young man, he moved around. Went to mexico and worked in the oil fields. He traveled to Honduras and worked for the United Fruit Company plantation. As a young man, he became very aware of US involvement in Latin America. In 1926, Sandino returned to Nicaragua. He formed his ideology. Concluded that US imperialism was a political and economical domination of Latin America. In 1926, he organized guerilla force to fight against the US. Had loose affiliations with the liberal party. Sandino was separate from both political parties. He was fighting on his own. THe US wanted to leave Nicaragua, but there was ongoing conflicts between liberals and conservatives. The US wanted political deals. It was a very heavy business environment. By 1927, 28, the US worked out a deal. There would be elections. They would break up their private parties to establish a professional Nicaragua. They also wanted to establish a professional Nicaraguan army. This was made and was called the national guard. The US recruited and trained the men. Sandino hated all of this. He said that this was just the US way of making a puppet government. So, he kept fighting.

Division THREE- Insurrectional tendency

least ideological of the 3. Diverse. Tried to stay out of ideological arguments. Said to keep up the fight in the countryside.

The Common Pot

pooled resources to make meals in poor neighborhoods. More nutritional. Became an institution in poor neighborhoods. In some places the common pot became permanent. In Latin America, large numbers of female headed households. Shift towards modern feminist movement during the dictatorship. Argued for female equality economically and for places in politics. The movement for the emancipation of Chilean Women was first organized in 1938. Women in Chile were granted the right to vote. In 1949, women got to vote. By 1983, may opposition groups were ready to join in a movement against the dictatorship. They wanted "democracy in the country and democracy in the home". Group had a rally in 1983. 10,000 women.