This article from October 19, 1970, was the cover article for Time Vol. 96 No. 16. The cover, which is not present on this page due to copyright, notably features the phrase “Marxist Threat in the Americas” on it. The article details the situation in Chile a month into the five-week period between the presidential election and the congressional vote that would be occurring due to the narrow plurality that occurred. It is also Time’s report on the election of Salvador Allende. This includes the reactions of various groups, such as the panicked withdrawal of money and purchasing of one-way plane tickets by wealthier Chilean citizens, the drop in the sales of appliances and cars, and the mass fleeing of 14,000+ middle and upper class Chileans.
The author is not credited, though Time correspondents Kay Huff and David Lee are mentioned. It’s unclear who wrote this. It was made for two reasons, one of which is extremely significant to covert action. One: the first ever democratic election of a Marxist is extremely noteworthy, and it would be odd for a magazine such as Time to not report on it, and 2: they were prompted to as a part of the State Department’s Track I, their plan to prevent Allende’s presidency without a military coup, which they would eventually give up on in favor of Track II, or the coup route. In Covert Action in Chile: 1963-1973 by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities, it specifically states that as a part of briefings that the State Department was giving journalists on the situation to influence their writing, the CIA was specifically aiming for a story in Time. In a notable example of the CIA’s impact on media representation of Chile, it states: “According to a CIA memorandum, the Time correspondent in Chile apparently accepted Allende’s protestations of moderation and constitutionality at face value. CIA briefings in Washington resulted in a change in the basic thrust of the Time story on Allende’s September 4 victory.” An article riddled with skepticism about the future of Chilean democracy and the sentiment that Allende intended to become a dictator is not the writing of a correspondent who “…accepted protestations of moderation and constitutionality at face value.” However, that is the exact view of the both the CIA and the State Department. The reaction of Chilean citizens would likely appear regardless of author, but the tone of the article itself aligns with an anti-Allende stance. It holds significance as an example of both the Track I effort and the CIA influencing journalism in relation to Chile overall.
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Time Magazine runs ads on their free archive, and has rules about reprinting, so to avoid any potential copyright violations a link to the article is being provided instead of an excerpt
https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,944137-1,00.html
The front cover of the issue, created by Bob Peak, is available for viewing here:
https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19701019,00.html
Uncredited Author, “World: Chile: The Expanding Left”, Time Vol. 96 No. 16, October 19, 1970
https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,944137-1,00.html
