Forbidden History - Chile’s 9/11: Pinochet, the CIA and the Coup

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

We explore the CIA’s covert involvement in Chile, the fall of Salvador Allende and the rise of Augusto Pinochet. Cast List: Eric Meyers: Narrator Lindsay Morran: Former CIA Officer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Love Honey. Relationships can be messy, chaotic, and here's something nobody really says out loud, but everyone knows. Sometimes other people are just a lot. The situation ship that's been situation shipping for six months with no resolution. The date who was perfect on paper but insufferable in person. The person who texts back eventually, having clearly not read what you actually, actually said. And at some point, you just decide, not tonight. Tonight, I am taking myself off the market entirely. Plans cancelled, door locked, phone face down. This evening is for me

and nobody else is invited. This is actually a radical act of self-prioritisation, choosing your own good time over waiting for someone else to, maybe, possibly, if you're lucky, deliver one. Which is exactly what Love Honey is about. Your pleasure on your terms. No compromises, no mixed signals, no emotional admin. Just you actually having a good time. Love Honey, because you deserve a good time without the admin. Find them at lovehoney.com.com.

Welcome to the Forbidden History Podcast. Be sure to catch our Patreon exclusive Inner Circle series featuring live expert interviews and deep dives into your favorite topics. Thanks for supporting the show. It's September the 11th, 1973. The Chilean armed forces are staging a coup to overthrow their president, Salvador Allende, a man elected just three years earlier. In his place, they plan to install a military government.

By midday, fighter jets are firing rockets into the presidential palace. And within hours, Allende has killed himself, choosing suicide rather than surrender. The new man in charge is General Augusto Pinochet. You might expect America as the world's leading democracy to greet this moment with horror. But it would soon become clear that the United States did not simply watch events unfold. It had helped to set them in motion. Before Pinochet, Chile was actually one of Latin America's most stable democracies. Salvador Aende was elected president in 1970 as head of the leftist coalition.

And that was deeply alarming to Washington because this was the height of the Cold War. In the warped logic of the Cold War, democracy has come second to a fear of Marxism. If the story had ended there, the morality of what took place would already be contentious. But it doesn't. What actually happened was far darker.

Pinochet consolidated power. He dismantled existing democratic institutions. And he presided over a regime that was associated with torture, disappearances, censorship, and really prolonged repression. To explore the CIA's role in the events that unfolded, We're going to go back to the beginning, with America's growing interest in the country and the choices that set everything in motion. In Cold War terms, Washington thought the stakes were geopolitical credibility and regional influence. Whether one agrees with that logic or not, that was the mindset.

Once the snowball is rolling down the hill, it will just gather snow. and the CIA has very little ability to control the outcome. I am sure that there were many people in the corridors of the CIA and in Washington, who really had the thought, my gosh, what have we done? Welcome to the podcast series that explores the past's darkest corners, sheds light on the lives of intriguing individuals and uncovers the truth buried deep in history's most controversial legacies. I'm Eric Myers, and this is forbidden history.

To unravel the CIA's role in the events that unfolded, we're going to go back to the beginning, with America's growing interest in the country and the choices that set everything in motion. Chile is the southernmost country on the South American continent, a narrow ribbon of land, 2,600 miles long, but just 40 miles wide, stretching along the Pacific Ocean. In the 1960s and 70s, it's a country that's of particular interest to America,

in part because the copper mines that form the backbone of the Chilean economy are largely owned or operated by American companies, but also because it's a rare example of a durable democracy in what has often been a conflicted region of the world. You might imagine that this makes Chile a success story in the eyes of the United States, and it is. But in the corridors of power, at the White House and Langley alike, there is another dimension weighing on people's minds, the Cold War. So U.S. officials were looking at almost every political development

through the prism or through the lens of East-West competition. And Chile mattered not because it was the biggest country in the region, but because it was symbolically important. That is, if a Marxist or socialist government could come to power democratically and survive, that could end up being a model elsewhere in Latin America. 1970 is an election year for Chile, and one of the frontrunners to win the presidency is Salvador Ayaende. A medical doctor by trade, Ayende is the leader of popular unity, a coalition of Marxist, socialist, and communist parties.

Ayande has already failed three times in his bid to become president, but in the United States, there is a growing fear that this time the mood of Chile's electorate is changing. The concern runs so deep that the CIA has been trying to shape the election's outcome. The toolkit that intelligence agencies use when they're trying to influence political outcomes in another country, it's actually a lot quieter and perhaps less glamorous than people would imagine. That is, you know, you can support opposition media, provide covert funding to political parties or civic groups, that happens a lot, amplify social divisions that already exist within

the country, cultivate elite. in the country and share intelligence selectively. The first tool that the CIA deploys is a financial one. It pours money into Allende's opponents and into right-wing newspapers, hoping to tilt the race. But when the votes are counted, it soon becomes apparent that their efforts have been for nothing. Ayende has won. In Washington, the reaction is immediate.

The news reaches the Oval Office and President Nixon is furious. His fear isn't of Allende the man, but of Allende the symbol, a democratically elected Marxist government in America's backyard. The fear was never simply Chile has elected someone we don't like. The fear was that Chile would become a successful example of a democratically elected Marxist government, one that aligned itself with Cuba and the Soviet Union and that encourage similar movements elsewhere. So U.S. policymakers worried about a domino effect, not necessarily military conquest, but ideological contagion.

They were concerned about nationalization of industry, erosion of U.S. economic interests, and the broader message that this would send across Latin America. But Washington sees one narrow opening. Ayende hasn't won an outright majority, and Chile's constitution requires its Congress to confirm the next president. And so, even before the ballots are fully counted, work begins to stop Aende from ever taking office. I think many U.S. policymakers really believed

that they would be preventing a strategic loss and restoring stability to Chile. They likely imagined a Chile that would be more aligned with the West, less vulnerable to Soviet and Cuban influence, and eventually, perhaps, return to some version of normal democratic policies. Once again, Washington uses economic leverage. But now it's part of a blunt message to Chile's military. Act, or your country will suffer.

After dismissing the idea of simply bribing the Congress, President Nixon vows to make Chile's economy scream. CIA officers begin making covert contact, with Chilean military figures, urging them to move against Allende. They warn that the United States can strangle Chile's economy, cutting off loans, blocking credit, and isolating the country internationally. But the commander-in-chief of the Chilean army, General Reney Schneider, is a staunch constitutionalist.

He refuses to intervene in the result of a democratic election. So, a drastic plan is set in motion. a CIA-backed attempt to kidnap Schneider and remove him as an obstacle. It goes disastrously wrong. Schneider is shot and killed, and in the national outpouring of grief that follows, Chile's Congress confirms Ayende as president. Undeterred, Nixon convenes the National Security Council to hear options for how Ayende might still be removed from office.

You can encourage labor unrest, bolster narratives that weaken a target government's legitimacy. And CIA officers also work through diplomatic and economic channels in tandem. The point is always not to control every variable. I mean, that's impossible. The point is to tilt the playing field. And that's what covert influence often is. not a Hollywood coup button, but a series of actions designed to make one outcome more likely and another one less so. And Chile is a classic case that reminds us how blurry the line can be between observing, shaping, and then intervening. In an effort to weaken Aynde's government, America delivers on its economic threats. U.S. loans are

are shut down, and Washington leans on international banks to do the same. Money is funneled once again into opposition newspapers and into the Christian Democrats, the biggest opposition party, hardening their stance against the government. Meanwhile, Allende is reshaping Chile at speed. Many of his policies are popular at home, even as they unsettle Washington. He nationalizes key industries, including the American-owned copper mine. accelerates land reform, and launches a sweeping social program of free school meals, wage rises, and expanded welfare. For many Chileans, life does improve at first.

But Aende's policies come at a price. Inflation. By 1972, prices are rising fast. Savings are losing value, and shortages are becoming part of daily life. Even so, Allende's base remains loyal. In the congressional elections of March 1973, his popular unity coalition gained seats in both the Congress and the Senate, proof that despite the economic turmoil, his reforms still command significant support.

But the pressures building inside Chile are about to reach a breaking point. have their own politics, they have their own institutions. Human beings have their own resentments and their own ambitions, and they also have their own breaking points. Chile is such an important case precisely because it shows both of those things at once. The CIA and the U.S. government could shape conditions in these meaningful ways, but we couldn't script the full aftermath. The CIA, therefore, works once more to nudge a devourable.

country towards a coup, and it would turn out that not being able to script the full aftermath would be an understatement. Having already established links with the Chilean army, the CIA helps emboldened discontented officers, creating an atmosphere in which a coup begins to feel more and more necessary. And on June 29, 1973, it begins. Tanks roll into Santiago, and soldiers fire on government buildings. But, as had been the case three years earlier, the Army's commander-in-chief, now General Carlos Pratt,

is loyal to democracy, and he travels to the scene of the coup itself and personally talks to conspirators, who backed down. Prats is now the main obstacle to the overthrow of Allende's government. But fortunately for the CIA, he has a weak spot,

due to an incident that had occurred just two days earlier. On June 27th, General Pratt's had been driving through Santiago traffic. He was exhausted from the pressure of trying to hold together a fractured military and got into a shouting match with the occupants of a red Renault driving alongside him. He believed the figures were mocking him, part of a rising tide of hostility towards the government and him personally. His tempers snapped.

He drew his gun and fired a warning shot into the car's fender. It would prove to be a catastrophic mistake. Both cars came to a stop, and the gathering crowd watched on as an unarmed woman emerged from the Renault. The crowd turned hostile, and soon too, with the country. The altercation becomes a political weapon, and the CIA-supported press whips up national outrage. Exaggerated accounts.

circulate, rumors spread that he shot at a woman, and under mounting pressure, Pratt's resigns. The power to choose his successor lies with President Allende. Ayende selects the commander of the Santiago Garrison, an unassuming man called Augusto Pinochet. In one of the great ironies of this story, Pinochet is seen by Ayende as loyal, and by the CIA as cautious, passive, and unambitious. In their eyes, he is completely the wrong man to lead a coup.

His appointment is evidence that the CIA are not in control of events on the ground. Intelligence agencies, they can influence events, sometimes very dramatically. But very rarely are they the puppet masters in this kind of simplistic way that popular culture imagines. And time and time again, we see... that those intentions are often either misguided or they become very derailed. And I think for sure that was happening with the situation in Chile. For the CIA, it looks like they're back at square one. The man leading the army appears to be the least likely conspirator of all.

But outside the barracks, Chile is continuing to fracture. A trucker strike, fueled by CIA money, has brought the country to a standstill. Food can't move, factories can't operate, hospitals can't get supplies, and the military continues to plot Allende's downfall. For weeks, the Navy and Air Force plan in secret, while hard-line generals quietly build support in the army. In early September, the date for the coup is set, and the conspirators begin cautiously approaching Pinochet. Pinochet listens, and he asks questions, but he keeps his cards close to his chest. And then, just 48 to 72 hours before the coup, Pinochet finally gives his approval.

More than that, he takes command. And as dawn breaks on the 11th of September, 1973, the coup begins. All the CIA can do is watch and wait as events unfold. The CIA can never be, and it wasn't in Chile, a mastermind pulling the strings. Intelligence services just can't do that. But they absolutely do matter, and they do have extraordinary influence. Through all of this incremental influence, we can accelerate events. We can distort incentives, and we can strengthen certain actors and weaken others. And also, All of this will change the range of possible outcomes, but maybe not exactly what we want.

First, the Navy captures Valparaiso, Chile's main port. Then the people of Santiago wake to soldiers in the streets as the army regiments move into the nation's capital. From the presidential palace, Allende attempts to telephone Pinochet, but is told the general is unavailable. In reality, Pinochet is coordinating the units that are encircling the palace. By late morning, jet fighters are firing missiles at the palace itself, and army units breach the building. Aende sees that he can't win, and so rather than surrender, he picks up his AK-47 and takes his own life. Democracy has been destroyed in a single day. Ayende's body is quietly buried, public mourning is forbidden.

Chile is now ruled by a military junta. Officially, the four heads of the branches of the military share power. The country's democratic institutions are dismantled. Opponents of the new regime are imprisoned or killed. Pinochet, as head of the army, the oldest branch of the military, is made head of the junta. but it soon becomes clear he has no intention of sharing his power with the others. For America, Chile is no longer a Marxist country, but it is a brutal dictatorship. So even if the intended outcome in Washington was stability or containment,

the real world outcome was authoritarian brutality on a vast scale. That gap between intended effect and lived consequence is one of the central, I would say, moral lessons of Chile. U.S. officials initially welcomed A&A's removal, but needless to say, concern about the junta's human rights abuses quickly grew. A month after the junta takes power, Pinochet sends a military delegation across Chile. It would become known as the caravan of death, and its purpose is to execute political prisoners, enforce terror, and cement his rule.

Whatever the CIA had hoped the coup would achieve, it was not this. Once the snowball is rolling down the hill, it will just gather snow. And the CIA has very little ability to control the outcome. it's influenced to government or after it's kind of instigated a coup, you can't control necessarily who's going to come to power, what the consequences are, what the reaction of the

opposition forces is going to be. And so in Chile, as we've seen elsewhere in history, it's like the CIA will implement a policy or will try to influence an election. And then, when there are ripple effects. Even if we get the outcome that we wanted, we can't control the ripple effects, and we can't control what happens when the person we supported comes into power. And yet, bizarre as it may seem,

Marxism in Chile is gone. The outcome is a strategic success. And so while the U.S. State Department publicly voices unease about the direction Chile is taking, America sends military aid and economic support to Pinochet and backs the new government on the world stage. To be clear, intelligence services do not operate in a moral vacuum, but they do operate in a world where strategic priorities often dominate.

Internally, some people may frame abuses as tragic, but secondary to a larger national security objective. Pinochet would rule for the next 17 years. He would preside over what would be seen as one of the most brutal dictatorships in modern Latin American history. At least 3,000 people would be killed by his government. Tens of thousands would be tortured. Hundreds of thousands detained. And throughout it all, the U.S. would, with a few ups and downs, support his regime.

It remains, to this day, one of the most common. controversial episodes in U.S. intelligence history. But intelligence agencies, they really are kind of tools of policy. They're not independent moral philosophers. So in moments of perceived high strategic threat, that pressure to act to prevent worst-case outcomes, to compete, to win, that's very real. And under those conditions, moral costs can get minimized. rationalized. Chile is such a revealing case because it forces us to ask what happens when a

short-term strategic logic blinds us to long-term human consequences. And that question is, it's not ancient history and it's not unique to Chile. Pinochet finally left office in March 1990. Since then, Chile has rebuilt its democracy and the full story of the coup has slowly come into view. For the CIA, it was a victory in a global struggle. For Chileans, it was the beginning of 17 years of repression, exile, and loss. The scars of 1973 would never fully fade. And Chile remains an example of how far countries will go in the pursuit of broader strategy, even democracies, like the United States. Thanks for exploring the past with us today.

If you like this episode, don't forget to leave a comment below and feel free to leave us a rating or review. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners like you. Thanks for listening. This episode is brought to you by Love Honey. Relationships can be messy, chaotic, and here's something nobody really says out loud, but everyone knows.

Sometimes other people are just a lot. The situation ship that's been situation shipping for six months with no resolution. The date who was perfect on paper but insufferable in person. The person who texts back eventually, having clearly not read what you actually said. And at some point you just decide not tonight. Tonight I am taking myself off the market entirely. Plans cancelled, door locked, phone face down. This evening is for me and nobody else is invited.

This is actually a radical act of self-prioritization, choosing your own good time over waiting for someone else to maybe, possibly, if you're lucky, deliver one. Which is exactly what Love Honey is about. Your pleasure on your terms. No compromises, no mixed signals, no emotional admin. Just you actually having a good time. because you deserve a good time without the admin.

Find them at lovehoney.com.com.