South America's War Against Leftism and Marxism

Those who are interested in politics will probably find this topic to be interesting, especially since, like the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, politically left-wing people still cannot let this matter drop.

In the 1970s, violent little civil wars against leftists and Marxists were occurring in three heavily-White (i. e. heavily-Spaniard) countries in South America: Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. That area, which looks kind of like a triangle on a map, is sometimes called "the Southern cone."

Uruguay's, Argentina's and Chile's fight against leftism and Marxism is popularly known as "Operation Condor."

Chile's political history is probably more well-known around the world than that of the others, and is still a rallying point for the international Left. Argentina's political history is also well-known, but less so than Chile's. Uruguay's political history is much less familiar than either of the others'. Chile's political history is important largely due to the fact that Chile was the most politically stable country in South America before the 1973 coup. Perhaps it still is.

In both Chile's and Argentina's cases, the political Left and the Western media still insist that those countries oppressed innocent citizens in their wars against leftist and Marxist subversives. Usually missing from their commentary, however, is the fact that both Chile and Argentina had little choice but to take drastic measures in their fight against the violent extremists who were wrecking those countries (for example, at one point in 1975, leftist bombs were exploding in Argentina approximately every 4 hours, and police and military officers were being assassinated).

Let's look at Chile's political history first.

CHILE

The leftist leader Salvador Allende (in top photo at right) was elected president of Chile by a small margin in a 3-way election in 1970.

Despite his outward appearance as a democrat, it wasn't long before Allende began forging close ties with both the Soviet Union and Cuba, which were of course communist countries.

As Allende's government became more and more influenced by Marxism, Chile's economy plunged into chaos. Political and civil rights were also curtailed. At one point in 1973, even buying sugar or bread in Chile was difficult, since inflation increased retail prices roughly 900%.

Finally, the Chilean military launched a coup against Allende on Sept. 11, 1973. After several hours of combat, which included the use of military airplanes, Allende's government was overthrown. Allende committed suicide as the combat was winding down.

A right-wing general, Augusto Pinochet (in middle photo at right), became the leader of the Chilean government after the fall of Allende's regime.

Pinochet is accused by leftists worldwide of using harsh methods to deal with the Marxists and leftists who had supported Allende. For example, the leftists accuse Pinochet's government of murdering Chilean citizens who had previously supported Allende.

To this day, the global Left complains about Pinochet, and it is pursuing legal charges against him for events that occurred in Chile in the 1970s.

ARGENTINA

Argentina's pre-coup political situation in the 1970s was similar to Chile's, although in many ways more violent. A bloodless coup was launched by the military against Isabel Peron's government in March 1976. A right-wing military junta, led by General Jorge Videla (in bottom photo at right), then took over the Argentine government. The junta ruled until 1983.

After the junta took power, it created a program to deal with Argentina's then-nearly-ruined society called "The Process," or Process of National Reorganization. This was a methodical remaking or rebuilding of all parts of Argentine society. As one example of the Process' methods, leftist professors were removed from the universities and replaced with military officers so that they could no longer indoctrinate students with left-wing ideas. Further, any literature deemed anti-Western or leftist was banned, as were trade unions.

Leftists and Marxists were allegedly rounded up and killed by the junta; about 9,000 leftist/Marxist activists disappeared from 1976 to 1983; Argentina's battle against leftism and Marxism during that era is referred to today as the "Dirty War."

Importantly, the Argentine military actually had some authority to engage in actions against leftists, because Argentina's constitution allowed for severe measures in a time of severe social/economic crisis.

The international outcry against "The Process" by leftists and the Western media was intense, and that outcry eventually led to the end of military rule in Argentina. (We find it interesting that the same leftists and media who moaned about both Chile and Argentina in the 1970s said nothing about Cuba, a communist country that had a history of persecuting citizens who opposed its communist regime. Those leftists also failed to criticize the communist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua in the late 1970s/1980s. In fact, the silence about Cuba and the Sandinistas from the political Left and the media is remarkable).

Like Chile's example, leftists worldwide are still obsessed with the matter of the Argentine junta's actions and are still pursuing legal charges against former junta officials.

The overall points that we are trying to make with the above information about Chile and Argentina is:

-- 1. The creation of politically right-wing regimes are usually reactions to leftist/Marxist behavior. Reactions are, of course, different than actions.

-- 2. While right-wing regimes are harshly criticized by the political Left and the Western media, the same Left and media largely ignore, or even in some cases support, leftist/Marxist regimes. There seems to be two standards for behavior applied by the Left and the media to any regime, depending on the politics of that regime.

-- 3. The political Left seems to enjoy criticizing and pursuing former right-wing regime officials many years after their regimes ended.

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