Adapted from Foreign Affairs, July/August 2014.

By weakening Salvador Allende politically and economically, the CIA, more than any other organization, guaranteed his fall from power.

The CIA’s covert efforts to remove Salvador Allende from power, while effective, were clearly illegal.

Salvador Allende was deposed because the members of Chile’s elite were strongly influenced by the CIA.

By mishandling Chile’s economy, Salvador Allende created a situation in which Chileans of many classes opposed him.

By imposing disastrous socialist economic policies in Chile, Salvador Allende lost the formerly strong support of the country’s wealthy, middle, and working classes.