Remember Chile, September 11, 1973

40 years ago, CIA-backed right-wing forces, under command of General Pinochet, stormed the presidential palace in Santiago, Chile, on September 11, 1973, where the elected president Salvador Allende was staying.

On the morning of September 11, 1973 the world awoke to televised imagesof tanks rolling through the streets of Santiago. With a green light from U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the Chilean armed forces, under the command of General Augusto Pinochet toppled the democratic socialist government of Dr. Salvador Allende. By late morning, Pinochet ordered a full assault on the capital. Shortly before air force jets bombed the presidential palace, Dr. Allende committed suicide. Pinochet’s military junta seized power, ending Chile’s long tradition of constitutional government and established a military dictatorship which lasted till 1990, by killing at least 3197 people, other reports say that nearly 17000 were killed and "disappeared", and about 29000 leftists were tortured. (source: wiki.org)

More information of the 1973 coup in Chile:
- Chile - the Pinochet years (from cfja.org)
- interactive timeline of the coup (from latercera.com)
- Reports suggest that Allende was murdered (from therightperspective.org)
- 1973 Chilean coup d'etat (from wiki.org)
- What happened in Chile: An analysis of the Chilean health sector before,
during and after Allende's administration (from susanrosenthal.com)
- Allende's legacy strong 40 years after Chile coup (from yahoo.news.com)
- Pinochet and Allende up close (from huffingtonpost.com)
- Chile - The other 9/11 (from slate.com)
- 40 Years after: How Allende Aide Juan Garcés brought Pinochet to Justice (from democracynow.org)

President Allende and crowd in Santiago