U.S. Cold War Policy and the 1973 Chilean Coup | AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

Discover how Cold War anxieties about communism shaped U.S. strategy on the global stage. Guided by the Domino Theory—the belief that if one nation fell to communism, neighboring countries would follow—President Nixon and National Security Advisor Kissinger supported efforts to undermine Chile’s 1970 democratic election and block the rise of a socialist government in these clips from American Experience. U.S. intervention helped destabilize Chile, setting the stage for the 1973 coup that overthrew democratically elected President Allende and brought General Pinochet to power.