Pinochet Coup and The Disastrous Consequences of American Global Hegemony

This is an informative documentary on the indictment of Chile's former military dictator, General Augusto Pinochet for crimes against humanity. With ample financial and political support from the United States, Pinochet seized power in the September 11th coup d'etat of 1973. This event laid down the foundations of the U.S hegemonic foreign policy that subsequently led to 72 foreign interventions provoking a massive proliferation of anti-American sentiments in a myriad of underdeveloped nations where interventions have taken place. For all of the 20th century, the U.S was able to pursue these policies with nearly full impunity and minimal casualties. Nonetheless, the disastrous consequences of America's heavy interventionism in foreign countries reached this country's shores 38 years after the Pinochet coup, evincing the disastrous consequences of our hegemonic foreign policy.

Under Pinochet's aegis, Chile was transformed from an indigent Marxist state to a dynamic market-oriented democracy it is today. The junta accomplished this remarkable feat by comprehensively uprooting all political opposition through massive incarceration, torture and execution. Extra-judicial incarceration was perpetrated on over 30,000 innocent civilians, 3,000 were murdered and over 10,000 permanently displaced. Nonetheless, Chile remains the most stable, the most prosperous and the most democratic nation in South America.

Whether you applaud or decry General Pinochet's radical reforms, the relevance of this event to modern American foreign policy is worth noting. The democratization of foreign authoritarian regimes and the revitalization of their moribund statist communist economies often comes at an exorbitant cost.

The era of light skirmishes and casual conflict is over, no-one is fully immune to the threats of modern war.