Chile, the United States, and the Cuban Missile Crisis

At the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis (CMC), the independent Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez was leading Chile (1958-1964). Alessandri opposed John F. Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress, but U.S. pressures on the Chilean government resulted in November 1962 Land Reform, nicknamed “flowerpot reform” by its political opponents. 1 The rightist president wished to protect the interests of his privileged social class, though he needed U.S. assistance.

During the CMC, while Jorge Alessandri shared anticommunism with John F. Kennedy, he tried to maintain an independent foreign policy. Within the Organization of American States (OAS), the Alessandri government decided to abstain from voting for economic sanctions against Cuba. As Latin America accounted for only one percent of all Cuban trade, the Chileans estimated that these sanctions would be ineffective. For them, the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance or Rio Treaty (1947) was not applicable because Cuba did not attack the United States. As a result, sanctions against Cuba or its expulsion from the OAS would be unlawful. Moreover, the Alessandri administration dealt with external (U.S.) and internal (domestic) pressures. Indeed, Chileans were mostly sympathetic to the Cuban Revolution. This paper will demonstrate that the Chilean government supported the United States during the crisis. The Alessandri government however maintained its inclination for independence. Although the President of Chile, Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez, was invited in Washington D.C. for a state visit, on December 11-13, 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis did not alter the bilateral relationships regarding the Alliance for Progress. For the 1964 presidential election, the Kennedy and the Johnson administrations supported the centrist Eduardo Frei Montalva, whose “Revolution in Liberty” was aligned with the requirement of the Alliance for Progress. Indeed, this anticommunist program combined socioeconomic reforms and political stability with the tutelage of the United States.