The United States and Democracy in Chile

xii, 254 pp. Interrupted Only Twice since 1833, democracy in Chile suffered its greatest setback in 1973, when the Chilean armed forces led by Augusto Pinochet wrested power from the popularly elected Marxist president Salvador Allende in a military coup that ended in Allende's death. Seventeen years later, in March 1990, democracy was restored when Pinochet surrendered power to an elected president, Patricio Aylwin. Much international debate has focused on the extent of U.S. responsibility for these events. In The United States and Democracy in Chile, noted scholar Paul Sigmund steers a middle course, arguing that U.S. policy has been a significant, though not decisive, factor influencing recent Chilean political development.