“We all know the truth, that the backwardness, ignorance and hunger of our
people and of all the peoples of the Third World exist and persist because a
few privileged people profit from them. But the day has finally come to say
enough -- enough of
economic exploitation, enough of
social inequality, enough of
political oppression. Today, inspired by the
heroes of our country, we gather here to celebrate our victory -- Chile’s
victory -- and to mark the start of the liberation of the people who are last
in power and are taking over control of their national destiny. But what kind
of Chile are we inheriting?... We must say that we, the underdeveloped
peoples have failed in history. We were colonies in the agrarian-mercantile
civilization. We are barely neocolonial nations in the urban-industrial
civilization, and, in the new civilization which threatens to continue our
dependency, we have been the exploited peoples -- those who existed not for
themselves, but rather to contribute to the
prosperity of others.”
November 5, 1970
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Salvador Allende Gossens,
“Inaugural Address in the National Stadium,” in Salvador Allende Reader:
Chile’s Voice of Democracy (New York: Ocean Press, 2000), 53.