America and Latin America

An Historical and Topical Nexus

        The above photo shows President Barack Obama awarding the 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the U. S. can bestow on a civilian, to Isabel Allende. Now 72, she is the cousin of Salvador Allende, the beloved democratically elected President of Chile...till he died in a U.S.-backed coup in 1973.

        Isabel Allende was born on August 2, 1942, in Lima, Peru, where her father was a Chilean diplomat. She was very proud when Salvador Allende, her cousin, was democratically elected President of Chile in 1970. She was heartbroken when President Allende died in 1973 trying to fight off the CIA-aided coup using an engraved AK-47 rifle that his friend Fidel Castro had given him as an inauguration gift. Isabel Allende did not want to live in Chile under the brutal Pinochet dictatorship. She fled to Venezuela where, beginning in her late 30s, she became a novelist, one of the best Latin America has ever produced and reportedly the most-read Latin American writer. Her books have been translated into 35 languages with sales of about 60 million copies. Her 20th novel, "Ripper," was released in 2014. In the 1980s she married California lawyer and novelist William C. Gordon. She became a U. S. citizen in 1993 and still lives in San Rafael, California.

Isabel Allende's first novel -- "House of the Spirits -- was made into a major movie.

       Meryl Streep, shown here with Isabel Allende, was the star of "House of the Spirits."  The two ladies met again when President Obama honored both women with the coveted Presidential Medal of Freedom.

       Isabel Allende is a democracy-lover. The quote above attests to her intrinsic love of equality and freedom. The U.S.-backed Pinochet regime in her beloved Chile to this day reminds her of the difference between the democratically elected Allende and the dictator Pinochet. Now as a democracy-loving American citizen, she believes all Americans should know and learn from Latin American history.

      This photo shows the beloved democratically elected President of Chile, Salvador Allende, with his daughter, Isabel Allende -- not to be confused with his cousin Isabel Allende, the renowned novelist.

Isabel Allende, the daughter of Salvador Allende, is today the President of Chile's Senate.

      This is Salvador Allende's daughter, Isabel Allende, congratulating Michelle Bachelet after Ms. Bachelet's re-election as President of Chile. You may want to study this photo. Isabel Allende today is the first woman to be President of Chile's Senate. Michelle Bachelet today is the first woman to be President of Chile. Isabel's father was Salvador Allende, the democratically elected President of Chile who died on September 11, 1973 trying to fend off the U.S.-backed coup that installed Augusto Pinochet as Chile's murderous dictator for the next 17 years. Isabel's father died in that coup; Michelle's father was later tortured to death in the Pinochet dictatorship. The two women shown here are now the two most powerful people in Chile, reflecting how much President Allende was loved and Dictator Pinochet was hated.

        This is one of the most iconic and saddest photos in Latin American history. It shows Salvador Allende's broken glasses. They were found on September 11, 1973, next to his body in the presidential palace -- Palacio de la Moneda -- in Santiago, Chile. His death broke the hearts of democracy-lovers.

    Chilean President Allende with the AK-47 rifle that Cuba's Fidel Castro gave him.

           This is the body of Salvador Allende on Sept. 11-1973. Firing from the window of his office at the La Moneta Presidential Palace, Allende resisted the coup till he ran out of bullets for his rifle. To this day Chile's Salvador Allende is remembered as the most beloved democratically elected Latin American President. His successor, Augusto Pinochet, is remembered as Latin America's all-time most brutal dictator.

      The day this photo was taken -- according to Colombian-born Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Latin America's greatest author -- Fidel Castro told President Salvador Allende of Chile, "Nixon, Kissinger, the CIA...they have a long reach. You must know that you are targeted for the same reasons they are targeting me." President Allende, according to Garcia Marquez, replied, "I know that, Fidel, but I still must be President."

          Today the most important hospital complex in Cuba is named for Salvador Allende. It's the location of Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina {ELAM}, The Latin American School of Medicine. It is the largest medical school in the world and is famous for its educational quality and because Cuba awards free 6-year scholarships to poor but qualified students from many foreign countries, including the United States.

        A recent international article written by Sam Laird/Mashable updated U. S. students taking full advantage of Cuba's largess in providing medical degrees with all six years totally free. Cuba only asks that the graduates return to their poor neighborhoods to work for at least five years. This photo shows Lilian Burnett -- of Oakland, California -- on the way to her classes at the Salvador Allende complex.

        Americans today, if they indeed care about their democracy, may find it ironic that, back in 1973, America's top foreign policy expert, Henry Kissinger, greatly admired Augusto Pinochet, the murderous dictator of Chile, while Cuba's Fidel Castro dearly loved Salvador Allende, Chile's democratically elected President who was murdered in a coup supported by Nixon and Kissinger, helping to make their friend Pinochet Chile's U.S.-friendly dictator for 17 brutal years. And if, indeed, Americans find that ironic, perhaps they should do a little Googling to research and learn from Latin American history. Waves of democracy finally swept Pinochet aside in 1990 and he died of old age {91} on December 10, 2006. Kissinger was born in Furth, Germany, in 1923 and at age 92 he is still a very rich and very powerful lobbyist/consultant.

       This is one of the last photos ever taken of Fidel Castro with his dear friend Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who was born in Colombia and became Latin America's greatest and most admired author. Garcia Marquez died in Mexico City at age 87 on April 17, 2014. Fidel Castro turns 89 on August 13, 2015. Garcia Marquez, who visited Cuba frequently, wrote: "Mercedes {his wife} and I love to talk with our dearest friend Fidel. We share with him a hatred of America's favorite dictators -- Batista in Cuba, Somoza in Nicaragua, and, especially, Trujillo in the Dominican Republic and Pinochet in Chile. The two most ruthless killers were Trujillo and Pinochet." While he was teaching a literary class in Havana, Garcia Marquez was asked by a student to "elaborate" on that written statement. He paused, studying the students, before adding, "If you do not understand that statement, then I would suggest that you spend more time studying Latin American history."

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