Fifty-one years after the fall of Salvador Allende, a leftist politician in Chile, September 11, 1973 remains a date to remember in Chilean history, as well as in Latin American politics.
The event not only marked the end of the first democratically elected socialist government in the region, but also the beginning of a military dictatorship that changed the course of the country.
Key aspects to understand the fall of Salvador Allende:
•On November 4, 1970, Salvador Allende assumed the presidential seat of Chile, after emerging victorious with 36.6 percent of the votes.
•During his term, Allende implemented a series of socialist reforms, significantly transforming the country’s politics and economy.
•On September 11, 1973, the president was the victim of a coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet.
•The attack interrupted a 42-year period of democracy in the country, establishing a military dictatorship that controlled the country until 1990.
•During the Pinochet dictatorship, after the coup, a neoliberal model was implemented that reduced government participation in the economy, privatizing health services.
•The dictatorship, which lasted until March 11, 1990, was characterized by systematic repression, with between 3,300 and 10,000 people killed or disappeared.
•According to records, around 40,000 people were tortured and some 250,000 were forced into exile.
•The data also show that the violence exercised by the military forces was disproportionate to the resistance.
•Unlike other Latin American countries with dictatorships in the 1960s and 1970s, Chile had fewer trials and convictions for human rights violations committed during the dictatorship.
•Although Pinochet was arrested in the United Kingdom in 1998, he was not tried for crimes committed during his dictatorship and returned to Chile without facing charges.
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2024-09-15 14:56:28