Chile 1973: The other 9/11

Thursday September 04, 2003 14:31

by Ballymun Marxist Fourm - Hosted by Ballymun SWP

Discussion meeting in Ballymun

Ballymun Marxist Forum
Chile 1973: The other September 11
Speaker Aoife Breslin
Thursday Sept 11
7.30pm Axis Centre Ballymun

Thirty years ago the left wing government of Chile was drowned in blood.
On 11 September we shall be urged to remember the dead of the World Trade Centre in 2001. Many socialists will also remember another massacre, the Chilean coup of 1973. The important thing is not to mourn, but to learn. The best tribute we can pay to those who died is to draw the lessons from the mistakes they paid for so dearly.
In September 1970 The main question was the strategy of the Chilean left. But there were two directly opposed lessons that could be drawn. One was that argued in this article, that the left should have moved more firmly and faster, basing itself on workers' self organisation in the workplaces, and refusing to play by the rules of parliamentary democracy.
But most of the European left drew the opposite message - in Eric Hobsbawm's words, 'Allende failed... because it alienated large sectors of the population which it ought to have carried with it.' Throughout Europe the Chilean defeat led to a swing to the right. Yet the Chilean experience, especially the struggle of workers in the cordones, is an inspiring testimony to the ability of working people to organise themselves. It should never be forgotten.