The date 9/11 strikes a chord as the day when terrorist attacks were carried out in the U.S. However, long before 2001, it was already a grim reminder for another nation.
On September 11, 1973, the South American country of Chile witnessed a military coup that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, ushering in 17 years of military rule.
Salvador Allende of the Socialist Party was elected as the President of Chile in 1970. His economic reforms, favouring Chilean control over natural resources, hurt the business interests of other countries like the U.S. Opposing his socialist policies, the military staged a coup on September 11, 1973.
As troops took over Santiago, Allende remained in the presidential palace, La Moneda, refusing to surrender. Later that day, the army, led by General Augusto Pinochet, declared control, and Allende reportedly took his own life.
Chile remained under General Pinochet’s dictatorship for 17 years, marked by widespread repression. A truth commission estimated that around 1,500 people were killed or disappeared within the first three months. Millions fled the country, while thousands were imprisoned or tortured by the regime’s secret police.
In 1990, Pinochet stepped down after a referendum conducted in 1988 voted against him continuing as President. He, however, continued to remain as the head of the Army. In 1998, he was charged with crimes against humanity and in 2004, for financial fraud when it came to light that he had stashed away nearly $27 billion in foreign bank accounts.
Pinochet died on December 10, 2006, due to a heart ailment and his death was received with mixed feelings by the Chilean population. While his supporters believed that he prevented the country from falling under the grip of Communism, his detractors rejoiced in his death as the end of a gory chapter in the country’s history.
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Reuters
Flowers surround a picture of former Chilean President Salvador Allende in front of “La Moneda” Presidential Palace during a rally marking the anniversary of the coup d’etat in Chile in Santiago September 11, 2014.
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Reuters
A picture of a person executed during the Pinochet dictatorship is placed at his grave at the General Cemetery in Santiago.
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AP
General August Pinochet Ugarte, President of Chile’s four man junta which ousted the late President Allende, speaks on television following the coup, in Santiago. Photo monitored from CBS-TV screen.
Photo: The Hindu Archives
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UPI
One of the decorations proclaims that there will be a ‘Christmas for Everyone’ in Santiago, Chile on December 21, 1973. The curfew had been in effect since September 11, when the military took power in a bloody coup.
Photo: The Hindu Archives
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PIB
The Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi with Mrs. Hortensia Allende, wife of Late Dr. Salvadore Allende, President of Chile when the latter called on her in New Delhi on April 09, 1974.
Photo: PIB
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PIB
President V.V. Giri receiving Hortensia Allende, wife of late Dr. Salvadore Allende, President of Chile, when she called on him in New Delhi on April 10, 1974.
Photo: The Hindu Archives
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UPI
Isbelle Allende, daughter of the late President Salvador Allende of Chile, at International Conference of Solidarity with the Chilean People in Helsinki, Finland on September 30, 1973. Ms. Allende said she was “supposed to die” in the military coup that toppled her faher’s marxist regime on September 11. Photo: The Hindu Archives
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UPI
Jorge Tapia, formerly the Justice Minister in the Cabinet of late, deposed President Salvador Allende of Chile, is shown at a detention camp on an island off the coast of Chile. This photo is from television newsfilm made by the American Broadcasting Co. (ABC).
Photo: The Hindu Archives
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AP
Augusto Pinochet addresses the nation after beginning an eight-year term of office under Chile’s new constitution in Santigo on March 11, 1981.
PHOTO: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
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AP
Members of the military junta of the government of Chile initiate a public collection with a donation of five days worth of salary “for the recovery of the country”, in this Sept. 1973 file photo in Santiago de Chile.
Photo:
UPI
General Augusto Pinochet, head of Chile’s ruling military Junta, holds a news conference at Santiago’s War College, on September 21, 1973.
Photo: The Hindu Archives
Published – September 11, 2025 03:21 pm IST
