Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state, endorsed torture, helicopter throws, and rape of relatives by leftists in Chile. Argentinian leftists were “disappeared,” using concentration camps, by a cruel military dictatorship, heavily backed by Kissinger. South America vividly recollects their suffering during the Cold War anti-communism, marked by deep North American distrust. Stephen Rabe, a retired University of Texas at Dallas history professor stated, “I don’t know of any U.S. citizen who is more deplored, more disliked in Latin America than Henry Kissinger.”
Kissinger played a major role in destabilizing the socialist government of President Salvador Allende in Chile and later bolstered the Pinochet military dictatorship without paying heed to its numerous human rights violations. Pinochet’s atrocities included murdering rivals, canceling elections, silencing labor unions, and banning political parties.
“I don’t know of any U.S. citizen who is more deplored, more disliked in Latin America than Henry Kissinger,” said Stephen Rabe, a retired University of Texas at Dallas history professor who wrote a book about Kissinger’s relationship with Latin America – author’s comment
Despite Kissinger’s denial, the declassified records reveal otherwise. Chilean Senator José Miguel Insulza accentuated, “Kissinger considered the rise of a left-wing coalition to power through democratic means even more dangerous than the example set by Cuba.” Kissinger remained indifferent even as the military tortured and targeted Jews in Argentina, showing no concern for their plight.
Kissinger’s meddling extends to other military dictatorships in Uruguay and Brazil, and he sanctioned Operation Condor, allowing these regimes to pursue and eliminate political dissidents who fled their countries. Francisco Bustos, a human rights lawyer and University of Chile professor, claimed, “Henry Kissinger’s vision is very negative because it’s a kind of ‘anything goes’ mentality.”
Decades later, the U.S.’s interests are still repellent to some Latin American political parties who are haunted by past U.S. policies. This perspective labels any U.S. administration as imperialistic, transcending party lines.
