INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: The Left’s Big Lie About Allende.

Elected with just 36% of the vote in a split election, he believed he had a mandate to ram through a hard-core Marxist program of expropriation and indoctrination like that of his mentor, Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

In the process Allende left Chile’s economy in ruins and trampled the rule of law so badly he brought his country to the brink of civil war. He was stopped only when the legislature charged him with 22 constitutional violations and ordered Chile’s military to oust him.

As Chilean jets strafed La Moneda presidential palace Sept. 11, 1973, Allende shot himself with a gold-plated submachine gun given him by Castro.

At the request of Allende’s family, an official investigation in May exhumed the dead man’s body, conducted forensic tests and on Tuesday found that, yes, Allende took his own life. It was what his family always believed, consistent with the tone of his final speech and a family history of suicides.

But rather than listen to the family, the global left used Allende’s death for political purposes, falsely claiming he was killed. They did it for one reason: to discredit America and Chile’s successful free-market reforms that stand in stark contrast to Allende’s socialist failures.

Hugo Chavez with better PR. But it was easier to control the PR back then.