It is January of the year 2001 and, after a long battle, Al Gore has succeeded in defeating George W. Bush for the highest public office in the land. In an effort to create a new direction for foreign policy, President Gore is calling for a reevaluation of U.S. foreign policy to Latin America. At the president's urging, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has summoned a group of experts to testify about the effects of U.S. policy on Chile during the Allende and Pinochet governments. In particular, he wants to focus on the question: How can the U.S. maintain a strong committment to human rights and at the same time protect its national interests?

Your task is to assume the role of one of the people called to testify before the Committee. You will be given 15 minutes to speak followed by a 10-15 minute session in which the Committee members (your classmates and I) will be able to ask you questions. In your presentation, you should tell your story and how U.S. policy affected you. You should also suggest an alternative course of action that you feel would have been more appropriate. You may present the material in any way you see fit.

You will be working in a group with three other students.  Once you are in your group:

1. Make sure you have a clear understanding of communism and socialism.
2. All of you should become familiar with the background information on Chile, Salvador Allende, and General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte. Use these sources for some basic history lessons:
• CIA--The World Factbook 1999--Chile
• Encyclopedia Britannica Chile: History: A period of change, 1964-73
• Spotlight on Chile: Recent History
• Library of Congress/Federal Research Division/Country Studies/Area Handbook Series/Chile (Read the sections in Chapter 1, "Historical Setting," entitled "Mass Democracy" through "Military Rule".
• Background Notes: Chile from the State Department (see the Historical Highlights section)
3. Decide which role each of you will play.
1. The parent of a child who was "disappeared"
2. A businessperson who had property nationalized by the Allende government
3. A civil rights worker in Chile during the 1970s
4. A State Department official
4. Formulate the motivation for your role.
5. Investigate using these resources. Please note that you are using the same material, but you should interpret the information in light of your role and your motivation.
   • Derechos Chile is a human rights organization that deals specifically with Chile.
   • The National Security Archives Chile Documentation Project contains recently declassified documents regarding the coup.
   • Latin American Network Information Center has all kinds of information about Latin American countries, grouped by country.
   • CNN Cold War-Historical Documents: CIA Operating Guide on Plotting Coup in Chile
   • U.S. Responsibility for the Coup in Chile from Public Information Research, Inc.
   • Lista de detenidos desaparecidos is a list of about 1200 disappeared. Some of those listed have links that tell in detail the circumstances of the arrest.
   • CNN Profile of Allende
   • Time Magazine article from 1973 about the coup
   • Two QuickTime movies of Allende, including his final speech.
   • Quicktime VR of La Moneda (The Chilean White House)
   • BabelFish translation service--if you need to translate a document, just copy and paste the text, or type the URL and it will be translated. The translation will read like broken English, but it is not bad.
6. Arrange a meeting with the other group members to discuss reactions to what you are learning.
7. Formulate your character's story. Be creative!
8. Meet with your group again to discuss your individual plans. This is an opportunity for you to get some feedback and bounce ideas around.
9. Prepare your presentation
10. Write a synopsis (no more than one typed page) of your prepared testimony to hand out to the committee members.

You will be evaluated individually, based on your performance during the committee hearing. I will be looking for these things:

1. demonstrated knowledge (facts)

   Have you done the required research? Are you able to discuss the events in question as demanded by your role? Have you anticipated potential questions the committee members may ask, and prepared answers?

2. creativity (developing your role)

   Do you sufficiently develop your character, integrating a history to coincide with (A) above?

3. your evaluation/proposal (telling how policy affected you, and your policy suggestion, if any)

   Do you make the link between US policy and the events in your life? If the relationship accurate? Is your suggestion for an alternate policy logical, well-conceived, and formed based on the information available to you?

4. synopsis

   Does your synopsis contain the essential information? Is it complete enough to be understood on its own?

You have an opportunity to earn 5 points for each area above.

Your demonstrated completion of the task is:
1	2	3	4	5
Non-existent	Poor	Average	Good	Excellent

After completing this task, you will have gained a deeper understanding of the role the United States can play in the affairs of other sovereign nations. You will have put yourself in another person's shoes and seen their dreams and nightmares. You will have gained a greater appreciation for our legal system and civil liberties. And,

Thanks to Bernie Dodge and his Webquest Page for instructions and resources for designing a webquest. This page uses the same format as found on the Template Page at the same site.