Pinochet’s coup turns 50 years old in a Chile that has not yet completely shaken off its past

On September 11, 1973, the government of Salvador Allende was overthrown militarily in Chile by a coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, which would eventually establish a dictatorship from which the South American country was only able to free itself in 1990. Half a century later, Chile again has a left-wing president, Gabriel Boric, but at street level citizens seem increasingly less aware of dictatorial times from which legacies such as the Constitution still exist.

Pinochet came to power on the pretext of “restoring the broken national institutions”, allowing him to ‘de facto’ take over all power at the head of the military junta. Fifty years ago, one of the longest-lasting dictatorships began in the Southern Cone, responsible for thousands of victims and with a political legacy that still underpins certain sectors.

The polls agree that there is a mix of ignorance and disinterest for some of the darkest episodes in Chile’s recent history, especially when citizens are asked about what happened during the coup. Only 58% say they know a lot or some about the events that toppled Allende, despite the fact that this figure is 78% when only people over 53 are taken into account, according to a recent survey by Cerc-Mori .

A certain taboo has also been broken regarding the public investigation of what happened on September 11, and in fact one of the most important political figures in Chile, who even has the possibility of reaching the presidency, is José Antonio Kast, who has arrived to point out this way against the coup: “On September 11, 1973, Chile chose freedom and the country we have today is thanks to the men and women who rose up to bring the Marxist revolution to our country to prevent.”

Government campaign

The Boric government has taken advantage of this anniversary to launch a series of legislative proposals on human rights, with initiatives aimed, for example, at declassifying the testimonies of the commission created in 2003 to document the abuses of the dictatorship . According to the latest updates to this report, the state officially recognizes nearly 40,000 victims, including executions, arrests, torture and disappearances.

Boric, who also strives for that restart the search for missing personshas on several occasions denounced those who seek to soften the figure of Pinochet, “whose government murdered, tortured, exiled and disappeared those who thought differently.” “He was also corrupt and a thief. A coward to the end, he did everything in his power to avoid justice,” he said in May in response to statements by a right-wing leader who described Pinochet as a “statesman.”

The dictator died in a hospital in Santiago in 2006, without official mourning in his memory and without punishment. Chilean justice has tried former officers (in August the Supreme Court convicted seven retired soldiers for the kidnapping and murder of singer-songwriter Víctor Jara), but in Pinochet’s case no attempt was successful, despite the fact that he was arrested in London arrested in 2018 at the request of Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón.

Boric also maintains his goal of reforming the economy Constitution that Chile still keeps from the time of Pinochet, after citizens said ‘no’ to an initial draft. A new Constitutional Convention now has the power to draft a second text and on this occasion it is the right (promoted by Kast, among others) that is taking the lead, on the basis of the May elections.

Polarization

The polarization in Chile is clearly visible, in politics and on the streets. So much so that seven out of ten people interviewed by Pulso Ciudadano believe that commemorating the coup will only divide Chileans and less than 15 percent believe it could be an opportunity to move towards unity.