In 1970, Chile held a democratic election for President. Salvador Allende Gossens, who ran for President on a communist platform, emerged as the winner. Neither Richard Nixon, (the President of the UNited States at the time), nor US companies with businesses in Chile wanted to see an Allende presidency, fearing his communist sympathies. The United States wanted to prevent communism from spreading in South America. Allende began nationalizing Chile’s copper mines and other key industries. This concerned the US because they took it as a sure sign that Allende would make Chile a communist country.
It also concerned many of Chile’s elites who were concerned about what would happen to the economy, and their wealth, under a communist rule. Therefore, the military seized power in September 1973. During this time period, Allende died under mysterious circumstances...
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