Nixon, Kissinger, and Allende: A study of United States involvement in the 1973 coup in Chile

In the years since his departure from Washington, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has denied any involvement in the 1973 overthrow of President Salvador Allende of Chile. At the same time, however, he seems to justify that involvement by arguing that Allende presented a grave threat to the physical security of the United States.; Why did Kissinger, and his superior, President Richard M. Nixon, oppose the Allende government? Documents recently released by the State Department provide many answers, as do additional documents and tapes from the Nixon Presidential Materials Project at the National Archives II in College Park, Maryland. Additional research at the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Santiago provide the Chilean perspective during this period.; These primary sources indicate that the Nixon administration did not truly believe that Allende was a threat to national security. Washington even doubted that Allende had close ties with the other Cold War superpower, the Soviet Union. In reality, the President and his advisor believed that the Chilean experiment would encourage other Latin American countries to challenge U.S. hegemony. Pressures from the business world also induced the White House to act. Fearing Allende's socialist expropriations, corporations such as Pepsico and International Telephone and Telegraph clearly expressed their views in Washington.; This dissertation begins with an analysis of Nixon's prejudice against Latin America. The second introductory chapter sketches a history of early U.S.-Chilean relations. The three middle chapters cover the turbulent Allende period, from 1970 to 1973. The conclusion examines the deaths of two young Americans in the aftermath of the coup, suggesting that the United States cannot wage an aggressive foreign policy and protect its own citizens from the effects.