[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia's coverage of 1973 Chilean coup
Daniel P.B.Smith
dpbsmith at verizon.net
Sat Jun 12 22:25:19 UTC 2004
> From: "libertarian" <libertarian at myway.com>
> On the coup that overthrew Allende, it ***was backed by United
> States***, but there are several reasons that Americans refuse to have
> that information out there.
...
> Wiki admins can still redeem themselves and prove that they are not
> White Supremacists. All they have to do is allow the point about USA
> backing the coup against Allende to be put up along with other facts.
Since I happen to be a U. S. citizen who believes that the USA almost
certainly did back the coup against Allende, and since I have been
utterly uninvolved in any articles about that subject, I decided to see
whether there really is a problem with Wikipedia's coverage of the
topic. I typed in "Allende," it redirected to "Salvador Allende," and
under "The coup" I read:
"In the aftermath of the coup, many Allende supporters began to allege
that the president's overthrow had been the result of an
US-orchestrated scheme. The CIA denies having actively supported the
coup and claims that it was merely informed of it. Classified documents
indicate that the CIA was at least supportive of a coup to overthrow
Allende, though not necessarily in favour of bringing Pinochet himself
to power."
The section on "Legacy and Debate" links to "Chilean coup of 1973."
That article contains a seven-paragraph-long section entitled "US role
in 1973 coup." It notes that "the CIA actively supported the military
junta after the overthrow of Allende." It says the CIA "contends it
'played no direct role in' the coup," where the word "contends"
distances the article from the CIA's denial. It quotes Colin Powell as
saying "With respect to your earlier comments about Chile in the 1970s
and what happened with Mr. Allende, it is not a part of American
history that we're proud of" and says that "Chilean newspapers hailed
the news as the first time the U.S. government had conceded a role in
the affair." It does says "claims of [the CIA]'s direct involvement in
the actual coup are not supported by documentary evidence" but
immediately qualifies this with the phrase "although many documents
still remain classified."
It seems to me to be a very well-supported, well-written section.
Libertarian, why do you suggest that the admins are "not allowing the
point" to be made? It seems to me that the point _is_ being made. Do
you insist on some particular phraseology?
--
Daniel P. B. Smith, dpbsmith at verizon.net alternate:
dpbsmith at alum.mit.edu
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