On September 11, 1973, the Presidential Palace of La Moneda in Santiago, Chile, was attacked by warplanes, and the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, was killed. This military coup marked the first day of the 17-year dictatorial regime of Augusto Pinochet, years marked with terror and bloodshed for thousands of Chileans. Between 1973 and 1990, Chileans endured arbitrary detention, torture, disappearances, killings and exile.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I was once again overwhelmed with feelings of grief and loss. From that day on, September 11 will also carry painful memories for most citizens of the United States. As I watched the terror unfold in New York and Washington, it was difficult for me to comprehend the possibility of it all, but it also triggered images in my mind that changed my life for good on that same day 28 years before.

Television images showing planes flying into the World Trade Center were horrific reminders of the warplanes that bombed the government palace of Chile. The search for survivors and the rising death toll were reminders of my own loved ones lost. Many of their bodies, 30 years later, have still not been found. Relatives of the victims carrying placards with names and photographs of their loved ones created a cruel parallel. In Chile, and in other countries of the Americas, these images have become sadly familiar over the past decades.

In my stunned silence, I recognized the common denominator in these two tragedies — both were terrorist attacks on civilians and innocent people. One difference lies in the fact that while the American people were victims of individual terrorism, the Chileans were victims of state terrorism. Clearly, it is difficult to draw symmetry between the two countries, yet one more commonality exists. In both abominable cases, the United States was part of the equation. In 2001 it was the victim, but sadly, on that very same date back in 1973, it was the perpetrator.

Even before President Salvador Allende was elected, the U.S. Secretary of State at the time, Henry Kissinger, approved the funding, weaponry and logistical support necessary to topple the Chilean democratic system. Later, when the attempt to stop the Chilean Congress from ratifying the newly-elected president failed, the Secretary of State along with the Forty Committee orchestrated an economic boycott and political campaign to overthrow Allende through a coup d’état. These operations took place for almost four years until the Allende government was ultimately crushed.

In preparation for, and during the coup d’état, military personnel of the Chilean armed forces were trained by the United States School of the Americas, completing courses specializing in the annihilation of political dissidents, leftists, progressive organizations and labour unions. The curriculum of the School of the Americas included procedures of physical and psychological torture, terrorist attacks, rape, control and murder. This military school, which previously operated in the Panama Canal Zone, is still open for business today in Fort Benning, Georgia. Terrorist gangs were also financed and trained by the CIA and the U.S. government to kidnap and kill, a fact recently revealed by the international press.

As innocent people in the United States still recover from a terrible tragedy and the unbearable pain it caused, it has become more important than ever to discuss the responsibility of its subsequent governments and state agencies in the promotion and endorsement of terrorist activities. The people of Chile have endured this kind of pain for many years. Chileans in exile have mourned loss of life, loss of country, loss of identity and loss of a dream for the past three decades, while within Chile the wounds created by the coup d’état are still very much open.

In my own mourning, additional parallels form questions in my mind:

In Canada, after September 11, 2001, we declared a day of mourning for the victims of the terrorist attacks in the U.S as a symbolic tribute to the many lives taken and to the pain endured. I wonder why it was not as appropriate to do something similar when the Rwanda massacre occurred in 1994? Or following the many other horrible tragedies our world has endured? It seems that there is a grotesque and calculated lack of balance in the compassion shown for victims of violence and terror — that a powerful nation can mourn and retaliate in the name of its citizens while an impoverished nation can only lament casualties imposed on them.

Respect for justice and observation of international treaties and human rights can be a legitimate and powerful response to terrorism — to terrorist acts conducted by states and their agencies as well as those masterminded by individuals and fundamentalist groups of any rank. Most agree that anyone involved in human rights violations, torture and terrorist attacks should be taken to justice. So should this not also be the case for Ariel Sharon — for his participation in the massacres at Sabra and Shatilla? Or for Henry Kissinger and other U.S. government officials involved in terrorist actions in Latin America for the past 30 years? President George W. Bush’s war against terrorism ought to include state-sponsored terrorism, and he should be willing to open up cases that have been covered up so tightly as to prevent real answers for millions of citizens in the Americas whose lives have been destroyed.

In the same way, all individuals involved in terrorist activities against sovereign states and nations should be tried. U.S. agencies implicated in financing and sponsoring plots against other countries and leaders who disagree with U.S. government policies should be made accountable and eventually dismantled. The names of foreign political leaders and officers who receive bribes from the White House and the CIA should be revealed to face justice in their own countries for treason. If President Bush is earnest in his commitment to democratic values he must do this.

In October of 1970, three years before the coup d’état in Chile, the Richard Nixon administration via Henry Kissinger authorized the kidnapping and assassination of the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean army, General Rene Schneider, and on October 22, he was murdered. The weapons, money and further support to plotters were provided by U.S. State agencies. Later, Nixon and Kissinger, along with ITT, Pepsi Cola, Chase Manhattan and the CIA took necessary actions and the allocation of millions of dollars to “make the Chilean economy scream” — in the words of Richard Helms, then director of the CIA.

According to archived notes, Helms, David Rockefeller of Chase Manhattan, and Donald Kendall of Pepsi Cola were present at meetings where the de-stabilization of the Allende government was planned. Through terrorist activity, assassination and economic boycotts, the intention was to create conditions for a military coup. The impact of open U.S. intervention in Chile did not fade with time; after the coup, more support and diplomatic aid was provided to the dictatorial regime. In the case of the attacks against the U.S., we hope the situation will be different — that the effects on society will finally fade, and people will find much-needed peace.

In Chile today, some of the military individuals responsible for brutal human rights violations are facing jail terms. However, the terror mongers are still at large. The Chilean elite and their U.S. supporters are enjoying the benefits of the system they helped to put in place through violence and terror. The former have built a political system and economic model that solely protect their greedy interests, while the latter enjoys the power provided by their military might.

Today, 30 years after the coup d’état, Chileans have renewed hopes in their search for truth, justice and democracy, which includes full disclosure of U.S. intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. In the U.S., the relatives and friends of the September 11, 2001 victims still wait for a full exposure of the tragic events that have altered their lives. We hope that the government of the U.S. will change its course and become a beacon of justice, democracy and truth. If this happens, then maybe peace will prevail one day for U.S. citizens and for people of the world. Otherwise, we are sure to be exposed to more tragedy and terrorism. The U.S. government might have lost this opportunity two years ago by attacking and blindly retaliating against unclear suspects, and obliterating vast communities in Afghanistan. Perhaps history will help us to reverse a wasted opportunity that will allow us to build peace instead of fostering war and aggression.

Certainly the invasion of Iraq does not help to curtail terrorism or to achieve peace in an already disarrayed world. These attacks can only unleash more terrorism, instability and hate as we have witnessed in Iraq. Once again, the connection between the Iraqi government and terrorist networks has not been proven, nor has the existence of weapons of mass destruction. However, thousands of lives have been destroyed in the name of peace and preventing wars. This very idea of preventing conflict began a long time ago, the Chilean case an example, where intervention followed the Nixon-Kissinger logic that Chileans must be prevented from “going Marxist”.

After all these tragedies and many others, the U.S. government still makes no apologies.

Paradoxically, my anger against the government of the United States and its previous administration for the events of September 11, 1973, in Chile is coupled with great sympathy and regret for its innocent citizens who tragically died on the same date in 2001.