Salvador Allende

Definition

Salvador Allende was a Chilean physician and politician who served as President of Chile from 1970 until his overthrow and death during the military coup d'état in 1973. He was Latin America's first democratically elected socialist leader.

Analogy

Think of Salvador Allende like a star athlete who gets chosen as team captain because he promises to share all the team's resources equally. But some players don't like this approach, so they conspire to remove him from his position.

Related terms

Marxism: The political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, later developed into various branches including the basis for socialism/communism.

Pinochet Regime: The military dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet that ruled Chile following the overthrow of Allende.

Nationalization: The process of transforming private assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership. This was a key policy under Allende's presidency.