The United Kingdom supported the Pinochet junta after the coup against Allende in Chile

The Government of United Kingdom covertly supported the Military Junta led by Augusto Pinochet after the coup d’état of September 11, 1973 against the Chilean president Salvador Allendesays an article published on the research website “Declassified UK”.

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Mark Curtisauthor of several books on British foreign policy, states in the text, based on official information declassifiedthat the United Kingdom was primarily interested in protecting its business interests and in particular access to copper.

According to the journalist’s information, on September 21, 1973, the Minister of foreign affairs of the Conservative government of Edward Heath, Alec Douglas Homesent an official memorandum to various British embassies stating British support for the new junta, which however was avoided being shown publicly.

“For British interests… there is no doubt that Chili with the junta offers better prospects than the chaotic road to socialism of allende; our investments should perform better, our loans should be able to be successfully rescheduled and export credits subsequently resumed, and the high price of copper (important to us) should fall as Chilean production is restored.”wrote.

Curtis points out in the article that not only the Government of Heath “did nothing in public to strongly condemn the coup” backed by the INC American, but “In private, his Conservative government strongly supported him.”

The British authorities immediately began to build good relations with the military in powerdespite the massacre and the repressionand even “secretly colluded with the junta to deceive the British public”, in order to appear to condemn the coup, says the journalist.

Three days after the siege allendethe British ambassador to Santiago, Reginald Secondérecognized in an office the Foreign Office that military action had probably caused “thousands of casualties”, but warned that London should keep in tune with the coup plotters.

His proposal was to promote a rapprochement in secret, because “it would not benefit anyone to identify too much with those responsible for the bang”, he says in his cables.

Secondé argued that the Allende government had been carrying Chili “to economic ruin” and said that “there are many reasons to suppose” that the new rulers “they will try to impose a sensible and orderly period of government”according to documents declassified by the National Archives.

The ambassador also told London that “most British businessmen will be delighted by the prospect of consolidation offered by the new military regime”against the nationalizations undertaken by allendeparticularly in the copper sector.

According to the article, secondé agreed with the Chilean board on the content of the statement that the british government after recognizing the Military Junta, in order to “placate” to British public opinion, where, among other things, it was claimed that the military had offered guarantees that they would treat the detainees “humanely”.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.