On
11 September 1973, President Salvador Allende met his death, most likely
assassinated, though some still cling to the ‘official’ account of his suicide.
The American-sponsored coup d’état
brought a period of right-wing terror to Chile, a period symbolised
by the twin imperialist brutalities of the so-called ‘Chicago School’ of economics, which
treated a land hitherto peacefully moving towards socialism as a playground for
their laissez-faire experiments, and
the more overtly savage form practised by General Augusto Pinochet in the era
of Operation Condor ‘disappearances’. Thomas Hobbes would have understood all
too well, the chaos of a war of all against all requiring an especially brutish state leviathan. Hopes
raised worldwide by the ‘events’ of 1968 seemed well and truly dashed, King
Capital having proved yet again far more resilient than anyone might reasonably
have imagined. And yet, protest never goes quite unheard, never quite becomes
as marginalised as one fears at the time; after all, revolution in 1848-9,
apparently defeated, would be defiantly celebrated in Wagner’s Ring – and still is. Here below are
Allende’s final speech (https://www.marxists.org/archive/allende/1973/september/11.htm) and excerpts from Hans Werner Henze’s Versuch
über Schweine, its text by Gaston Salvatore, Allende’s nephew, and Wagner's effort to make clear 'to the men of the revolution the meaning of that revolution'.
Surely this will be the last
opportunity for me to address you. The Air Force has bombed the towers of Radio
Portales and Radio Corporación.
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.
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 seed which we have planted in the good
conscience of thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled
forever.
They have strength and will
be able to dominate us, but social processes can be arrested neither by 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 which will today be in their
homes hoping, with foreign assistance, to retake power to continue defending
their profits and their privileges.
I address, above all, the
modest woman of our land, the campesina who believed in us, the worker
who labored more, the mother who knew our concern for children. I address
professionals of Chile, patriotic professionals, those who days ago continued
working against the sedition sponsored by professional associations, class-based
associations that also defended the advantages which a capitalist society
grants to a few.
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 protect them. 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 [inaudible]
the workers.
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 where free men will walk to build
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.
