Sept. 11, 2023 marked the 50 year anniversary of an event often regarded as “the first 9/11”: the U.S.-backed coup of the democratically elected socialist leader Salvatore Allende in Chile. After months of conspiring between the CIA and far-right affiliates in Chile, they successfully seized Allende’s power through a process of bone-breaking beatings, public mutilations, and several arrests.
One of the infamous pioneers of Chile’s 1973 coup holds both an A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard: Henry Kissinger, who was Secretary of State at the time. In the coup planning process, Kissinger famously stated, “If Allende is holding himself moderate, why not support extremists?” The “extremists” in question were dictator Augusto Pinochet and his military regime, which led to the death of over 3,000 Chileans in the name of anti-Communism.
Pinochet’s rise was only the beginning of Kissinger’s affiliation with atrocities in the region. Throughout the next decade, Kissinger would continue to aid the CIA in establishing “Operation Condor” — an organized anti-leftist crusade between the governments of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru that led to the deaths of over 50,000 Latin Americans according to scholar Vincent Bevins. Many scholars consider these actions on the behalf of the United States to be a prime example of neo-imperialism.
Neo-imperialism — defined as the economic, political, and legal abuse by western nations over the global south — is also something that the CIA has successfully and dangerously facilitated on a routine basis, oftentimes with Harvard’s help. Notable incidents include a 1985 scandal where the CIA was caught paying a Harvard professor $150,000 to organize a research conference on the Middle East, to which the agency would have the right to censor and regulate the content discussed at the event, and more recently in 2017, when the Kennedy School actively blocked the fellowship of Chelsea Manning in direct response to the CIA’s expressed dissatisfaction over her status as an anti-CIA whistleblower. The CIA seeks to maintain Harvard’s complicity in enabling their neo-imperialist propaganda and acts of violence.
Even the arguably most famous Harvard alumnus of recent years, Barack Obama, had a presidency defined by several drone strikes that killed thousands of people, including 327 civilians. In some cases, these were deliberately carried out against American citizens for their suspected ties to terrorist organizations. Despite the suspected guilt of the targets, these were killings that purposely circumvented the due process of the law.
Obama also routinely supported billions in uncurtailed donations and weapons to the Israeli Defense Forces, which have routinely been condemned by international human rights law activists for their systemic violence against Palestinians residing within the occupied territories. As President, Obama was in a position to actively pressure the Israeli government to address such violations, yet he ultimately chose not to.
While many alumni like Obama have also promoted domestic policies that have benefited society, the glaring reality is that many Harvard graduates are complicit in the economic and democratic oppression of global citizens, oftentimes without consequence.
Given our power within the geopolitical sphere as the world’s top university, Harvard holds an obligation to the international community and the harms it perpetuates against it — this includes holding whom they train to be political leaders accountable. For students, the call is clear: We must begin to actively challenge Harvard’s ongoing relationship with neo-imperialism.
The solution to reckoning with our institution’s ongoing history of violence is not a singular action. Importantly, this process should commence sooner rather than later. To actively resist becoming complicit in Harvard’s neo-imperialism pipeline, students should start by refusing employment opportunities with the CIA and partner companies such as Raytheon. Additionally, student organizing against censorship of figures critical of the CIA’s relationship with current geopolitical allies — such as the movement to reinstate Ken Roth’s Harvard Kennedy School fellowship — is a concrete step in the right direction.
In September, Chile’s President Gabriel Boric gave remarks at a ceremony to commemorate the lives lost 50 years prior. There, he stated that “reconciliation is not achieved through neutrality or distance but by unequivocally standing with those who were victims of the horror.” It is time that Harvard as an institution, and its students, strive to do the same.
