Word: chiles
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Allende bore much of the blame for his own downfall. His socialist fiscal policies shattered Chile's economy instead of helping it. Always a net importer of food, the country had to import still more because Allende's land-reform programs reduced production. The government, as owner of the copper mines, was in deep trouble when world copper prices fell. Foreign reserves totaled $345 million when Allende took office; by the end of last year they had disappeared, and Chile was forced to plead for rescheduling of more than $2.5 billion in international debts. The country...
Allende's family dated back to the early days of Chile. His physician grandfather was a Masonic grandmaster and the founder of the first nonreligious elementary school in predominantly Roman Catholic Chile. Allende's father was a notary who died while his son was serving one of many prison terms for socialist activity. Allende was allowed to attend the funeral. At the graveside he delivered an impromptu speech pledging himself to seek freedom for the people and social justice. He became a doctor but gave up medicine for politics. He campaigned doggedly until, on the fourth attempt...
March of the Pots. Allende's second mistake was to assume that the middle and upper classes would placidly accept his "Chilean road to socialism" so long as all things were done constitutionally. They never did. "If we have to burn half of Chile to save it from Communism, then we will do it," threatened Roberto Thieme, leader of an extremist right-wing organization called Fatherland and Liberty. More moderate opponents were less outraged but equally adamant against Allende's plans to broaden state controls. Opposition parties, controlling both houses of Congress, fought him all the time...
...road) went out on strike again. They had first struck in October, complaining about a lack of spare parts and the government's increasing trucking operations. This time they charged that Allende had reneged on agreements made last fall to ease both situations. The new strike cost Chile nearly $6 million a day as food supplies dwindled, fuel vanished and crop shortages loomed because seeds and fertilizer could not be delivered...
Meanwhile, the political polarization of Chile continued, with Allende seemingly unable to do much about it. The truckers' protest triggered sporadic strikes by doctors, shopkeepers and bus and taxi drivers angered by ballooning inflation (300% in the first six months of this year) and meager incomes. To prevent chaos, the President tried to make peace with the opposition Christian Democrats. Nothing came of the dialogue because the party was badly split. One faction urged support for the government. Another, led by ex-President Frei, was determined to help topple it by withholding cooperation...