When I read As Veias Abertas da América Latina by the Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano, published in 1971, I was struck by his hope regarding the non-interference of the U.S. in Allende’s government due to the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, Galeano couldn’t have been more wrong. The Nixon administration intervened in every possible way in the Chilean socialist experiment, culminating in the violent coup that occurred 50 years ago, on September 11, 1973.
Os Anos Allende, written by Carlos Reyes and illustrated by Rodrigo Elgueta, is a graphic novel narrated by the American journalist John Nitsch, who arrives in Chile at the end of August 1970 to cover the South American country’s elections scheduled for September 4.
Reyes and Elgueta divide their work into a prologue, four chapters (one for each year the journalist spent in Chile, starting in 1970 with the elections and ending in 1973 with the coup), and an epilogue. The sheer number of names, dates, and acronyms may confuse readers less familiar with the events. Nevertheless, the illustrations provide a much-needed break from the flood of information.
Throughout the narrative, we come to realize that President Salvador Allende never stood a chance. Even before the elections, the interests of various powerful groups—such as the financial elite, multinational corporations, landowners, the U.S., and others—did everything in their power to obstruct the democratically elected socialist government of the Popular Unity coalition, led by Allende.
By the end of the book, the lingering impression is that the power of capital is invincible and that bourgeois democracy is a sham. After all, if the argument against Fidel’s socialism in Cuba is that it was imposed by a revolution and maintained by a dictatorship, what can be said about Allende’s socialism in Chile—a project democratically endorsed through elections and carried out in accordance with the country’s Constitution?
In the end, Galeano’s hope was not fulfilled, and, paraphrasing Belchior, "a dark time came and forcibly inflicted on Chile the harm that force always does," initiating 17 years of a bloodthirsty and corrupt dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet, whom Allende trusted until just hours before the coup.