Did Juan Velasco really want to invade Chile ? (If he did would he have succeded?)

[Spengler]

So I was reading that website that shall not be namned and I came upon the page of Jaun Valesco and on the page it claimed that he was raising forces to invade Chile, now knowing that the website is what it is and I'm a bit ignorant on south american history I'm a bit skeptical. But at the same time the idea of it intrigues me so I'm just wondering what would have happened?

 

[Ariosto]

Yes and maybe. He had it planned out to the letter, and war would have occured if he remained in power another two months; luckily, he was overthrown by the military junta that put him in power. If it would have been successful is another matter. Chile was in financial ruin, and the military was not well-oiled, while Juan was purchasing vast amounts of Soviet equipment. Only if the United States took a strong stand behind Chile would they have been able to at least hold a line north of Santiago, much less win.