[NYTr] Remembering the Atrocities of 9/11 - 34 Years Ago

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[Some of us have been marking the atrocities of September 11 for 34
years. On September 11, 1973, Nixon, Kissinger and their pals at ITT
went beyond "making the Chilean economy scream" and enjoyed a
full-blown military assault against Chile which began the bloody
fascist coup there. Here is a very brief history of that September 11
from Wikipedia, which offers extensive links to some other basic
readings and chronologies. (See sources at the end).  On September 11,
2003, people asked "Why Do they hate US?"  The events of September 11, 
1973 were just one good, ironic example.  -NY Transfer]

                         ***

Salvador Allende (1905-1973) died on September 11, 1973 The
Democratically elected Socialist President of Chile (1970-1973)
was overthrown and died during the US-backed Pinochet fascist coup
when La Moneda Palace in Santiago was bombed by the Chilean military.

Brief Wikipedia Summary

On September 11, 1973, a military coup d'etat removed Allende. The
intervention was extremely violent from the very beginning. The
military surrounded La Moneda with tanks and infantry troops and bombed
it with Hawker Hunter fighter jets. The president and some of his aides
were besieged in the palace. Allende refused to surrender, and
addressed the nation for a last time in a potent farewell speech (see
below).

The worst violence occurred in the first few months after the coup,
with the number of suspected leftists killed or "disappeared" soon
reaching into the thousands. In the days immediately following the
coup, the National Stadium was used as a concentration camp holding
40,000 prisoners. Some of the most famous cases of "desaparecidos" are
Charles Horman, a U.S. citizen who was tortured and killed during the
coup itself; Chilean songwriter Víctor Jara, murdered while held
prisoner at the Chile Stadium immediately after the coup, and the
October 1973 Caravan of Death (Caravana de la Muerte) where at least 70
persons were killed. Approximately 130,000 individuals were arrested in
a three-year period, with the number of dead and "disappeared" reaching
into the thousands within the first few months. Most of the people
targeted had been supporters of Allende.

                              ***

Allende's Last Speech

My friends,

Surely this will be the last opportunity for me to address you. The Air
Force has bombed the antennas of Radio Magallanes.

My words do not have bitterness but disappointment. May they be a moral
punishment for those who have betrayed their oath: soldiers of Chile,
titular commanders in chief, Admiral Merino, who has designated himself
Commander of the Navy, and Mr. Mendoza, the despicable general who only
yesterday pledged his fidelity and loyalty to the Government, and who
also has appointed himself Chief of the Carabineros [paramilitary
police].

Given these facts, the only thing left for me is to say to workers: I
am not going to resign! Placed in a historic transition, I will pay for
loyalty to the people with my life. And I say to them that I am certain
that the seeds which we have planted in the good conscience of
thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled forever.

They have force and will be able to dominate us, but social processes
can be arrested by neither crime nor force. History is ours, and people
make history.

Workers of my country: I want to thank you for the loyalty that you
always had, the confidence that you deposited in a man who was only an
interpreter of great yearnings for justice, who gave his word that he
would respect the Constitution and the law and did just that. At this
definitive moment, the last moment when I can address you, I wish you
to take advantage of the lesson: foreign capital, imperialism, together
with the reaction, created the climate in which the Armed Forces broke
their tradition, the tradition taught by General Schneider and
reaffirmed by Commander Araya, victims of the same social sector who
today are hoping, with foreign assistance, to re-conquer the power to
continue defending their profits and their privileges.

I address you, above all, the modest woman of our land, the campesina
who believed in us, the mother who knew our concern for children. I
address professionals of Chile, patriotic professionals who continued
working against the sedition that was supported by professional
associations, classist associations that also defended the advantages
of capitalist society. I address the youth, those who sang and gave us
their joy and their spirit of struggle. I address the man of Chile, the
worker, the farmer, the intellectual, those who will be persecuted,
because in our country fascism has been already present for many hours
-- in terrorist attacks, blowing up the bridges, cutting the railroad
tracks, destroying the oil and gas pipelines, in the face of the
silence of those who had the obligation to act. They were committed.
History will judge them.

Surely Radio Magallanes will be silenced, and the calm metal instrument
of my voice will no longer reach you. It does not matter. You will
continue hearing it. I will always be next to you. At least my memory
will be that of a man of dignity who was loyal to his country.

The people must defend themselves, but they must not sacrifice
themselves. The people must not let themselves be destroyed or riddled
with bullets, but they cannot be humiliated either.

Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men
will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to
prevail. Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great
avenues will open again and free men will walk through them to
construct a better society.

Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!

These are my last words, and I am certain that my sacrifice will not be
in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, it will be a moral
lesson that will punish felony, cowardice, and treason.

Santiago de Chile, 11 September 1973

Source: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Chilean_coup_d'%C3%A9tat
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Salvador_Allende%27s_Last_Speech