war ordered by President Richard Nixon, among other things, caused the 1973 Chilean coup d'état with the involvement of the CIA due to Allende's democratic socialist leanings. What followed was the decades-long US-backed military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. In 1988 a presidential referendum was held in order to confirm Pinochet's ruling for 8 more years. The oppositional Concertation of Parties for Democracy endorsed the "No" option, winning the referendum and ending Pinochet's rule democratically. After that free elections were held in 1989 with Concertation winning again. A declassified report from the U.S. government "Annex-NSSM 97" details the plan developed in 1970 to overthrow President Allende were he to take office. The document explicitly states that the U.S. government's role should not be revealed and would primarily use Chilean institutions as a means of ousting the President. The Chilean military is highlighted as the best means to achieve this goal. The benefits of a coup initiated by the military are to reduce the threat of Marxism in Latin America and to disarm a potential threat to the United States. Cuba During the late 1800s, the U.S. sought to expand its economic interests by developing an economy overseas. This sentiment helped expand support for the Spanish-American War and Cuban liberation despite the U.S. previously establishing itself as anti-independence and revolution. America's victory in the war ended Spanish rule over Cuba, but promptly replaced it with American military occupation of the island from 1898–1902. After the end of the military occupation in 1902, the U.S. continued to exert significant influence over Cuba with policies like the Platt Amendment. In subsequent years American forces regularly invaded and intervened in Cuba, with the U.S. military occupying Cuba again from 1906–1909, and U.S. marines being sent to Cuba from 1917–1922 to protect American-owned sugar plantations. The United States also supported Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista as his policies benefited American business interests. After the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro's rise to power, American relations with Cuba became increasingly hostile. American forces trained, supplied, and supported the Cuban exiles who attempted to overthrow Castro in the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, but the invasion was defeated and Castro retained control. In subsequent decades, American intelligence operatives made numerous attempts to assassinate Castro, but these ultimately failed as well. Dominican Republic In May 1961, the ruler of the Dominican Republic, right-wing dictator Rafael Trujillo, was murdered with weapons