ABSTRACT
As a young woman, I was drawn to Latin America. I hitchhiked up and down the continent, soaking up the culture, the language, the strong sense of community. But I was confused by the anti-American sentiment I often encountered among young radicals I met. Searching for answers, I returned to the United States in 1973, just at the time of the coup against Salvador Allende in Chile. A friend sent me the writings of Noam Chomsky and it all became clear. I learned how the US government had tried to stop Allende from winning the elections, how the CIA was instructed to “make the economy scream,” and how the US tragically rewarded the brutal military junta that reversed Chilean democracy and ushered in a reign of fascist terror. Chomsky made me understand the pattern of US policy—how it was designed to crush any alternatives, from Guatemala and Iran to Vietnam.
