Introduction
September 11, 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the coup d’etat in Chile that overthrew socialist President Salvador Allende. Allende was the first president elected with a socialist program in the world and governed the country between 1970 and 1973. In this video interview, Richard Becker explains the Chilean path towards socialism, the CIA-backed overthrow that imposed a brutal dictatorship, and how both related to revolutionaries and social movements in the U.S. Among other lessons, the interview highlights how anti imperialist movements in the US were crucial for providing a space for Chilean revolutionaries to rebuild themselves, fight back against the dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet, and build politically-committed lives far away from home [1].
Richard Becker is a longtime anti-war organizer and the author of Palestine, Israel, and the U.S. Empire and The Myth of Democracy and the Rule of the Banks.
Sebastian Link and Karla Martin are social scientists revolutionary organizers currently living in Baltimore and Philadelphia, respectively. Both of their political journeys started with organizing in the Chilean student movement.
