Isabel Allende set to become Chile’s first female senate leader

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Almost half a century after her father was killed in a violent 1973 coup d’état, the daughter of Salvador Allende is set to become the leader of the Chilean senate following a decision on Thursday by the country’s new centre-left coalition government, which won power in November last year.

“My father, as we know, served as senate leader for three years, and for me, it comes as an immense honour and with great pride to be the first woman [leader] in the history of the senate,” Allende told major Chilean radio station, Radio Cooperativa, on Thursday.

One of Allende’s first duties as senate leader will be to place the Chilean national sash on president elect Michelle Bachelet at her inauguration on March 11.

The event is considered symbolic of a breakthrough in women’s struggle for power, and will make Chile a global frontrunner in gender equality within politics.

“This image is going to go all around the world,” Socialist senator Fulvio Rossi said on Thursday. “Two women holding Chile’s most important positions – it will forever legitimise the importance of women in power.”

from http://www.france24.com/en/20140228-chile-isabel-allende-first-female-senate-leader/

[murielm99]

1. Interesting.

I thought she was still living in California. I have read many of her books.

[Cleita]

2. If this the same Isabel Allende as the author, her father was cousin to the

President Allende who was assassinated I believe. It seems your source needs fact checkers. But thanks for the information regardless. I think she will be great in that job. She really understands the politics of that nation.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

3. I think they are cousins with the same name. n/t

[Cleita]

4. That makes more sense. n/t

[BainsBane]

5. Just so people aren't confused

This isn't the novelist Isabel Allende, who is part of the same family but not Salvador's daughter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Allende

[Judi Lynn]

6. The facts, and the symbolism involved in this new event are breathtaking. Overwhelming.

Michelle Bachelet's father, Alberto, lost his life after horrendous suffering from torture, because of his loyalty and faithfulness to his President, and his sworn duty as a Chilean officer, unlike those who collaborated with U.S. Pres. Richard Nixon's agents in the coup which destroyed the elected President of Chile.

[center]

Salvador Allende, standing in front of La Moneda, on September 11, 1973, as the air force bombed the building.



Leaving La Moneda far worse off than when he arrived that morning.



Michelle Bachelet's father, General Alberto Bachelet, with President Allende.[/center]

One of Allende’s first duties as senate leader will be to place the Chilean national sash on president elect Michelle Bachelet at her inauguration on March 11.

I really am looking forward to seeing their official photo taken that day.

Thank you, so much, Joe Shlabotnik.

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. Huge rec. I remember the coup.

Chile's come a long way.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. I don't, but I've read plenty about it. The U.S. always seems to have its claws in

Latin America, manipulating everything.

I found this:

"Make the Economy Scream": Secret Documents Show Nixon, Kissinger Role Backing 1973 Chile Coup

We continue our coverage of the 40th anniversary of the overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende with a look at the critical U.S. role under President Richard Nixon and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger. Peter Kornbluh, who spearheaded the effort to declassify more than 20,000 secret documents that revealed the role of the CIA and the White House in the Chilean coup, discusses how Nixon and Kissinger backed the Chilean military’s ouster of Allende and then offered critical support as it committed atrocities to cement its newfound rule. Kornbluh is author of the newly updated book, "The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability," and director of the Chile Documentation Project at the National Security Archive. In 1970, the CIA’s deputy director of plans wrote in a secret memo: "It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup. ... It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG [the U.S. government] and American hand be well hidden." That same year President Nixon ordered the CIA to "make the economy scream" in Chile to "prevent Allende from coming to power or to unseat him." We’re also joined by Juan Garcés, a former personal adviser to Allende who later led the successful legal effort to arrest and prosecute coup leader Augusto Pinochet. (See Part 2 of the interview also).

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/10/40_years_after_chiles_9_11

[Judi Lynn]

9. After thinking about this conversation with Peter Kornbluh, it seems far easier to understand

why it was Richard M. Nixon fought like a man possessed to keep his tapes from being revealed to the public, and why it has taken so long to get any information regarding actions he took on the behalf of the American citizens. Unbelievable.

From the link you posted:

In the new edition of The Pinochet File, we have the actual transcript of Nixon and Kissinger’s conversation, their first phone conversation after the coup took place, in which Nixon says to Kissinger, "Well, our hand doesn’t show in this one, does it?" And Kissinger said, "We didn’t do it," referring to direct participation in the coup. "We helped them." He says, "I mean, we helped them. {Blank}," which I am sure is a reference to the CIA, "created the conditions as best as possible." And this is the first conversation between Nixon and Kissinger after the coup. They’re basically laying out the role of the United States and setting—creating a coup climate in Chile, facilitating the coup.

What’s even worse—this was long before your program existed, but Richard Nixon is already complaining about the liberal crap in the media, and Kissinger says, "Yeah, the liberal—the media is bleeding because a communist government was overthrown," you know, like as if the media is on the side of Allende. They’re focusing on the atrocities that are taking place. And Kissinger says, "In the Eisenhower period, we would be heroes."

Hideous, and of course it hasn't ever ended, not even slightly. They've simply become slicker at their machinations after so much practice.

Thanks for the reading.

[KauaiK]

10. Salvador Allende was her UNCLE not her father

The Coup d'etat was engineered by the CIA......