Chile march to commemorate Pinochet victims marred by violence

[Judi Lynn]

Rival protests are being held in Chile’s capital ahead of the 50th anniversary of a military coup that ousted President Salvador Allende.



Violence broke out on the day Chileans are paying homage to former President Allende [Carlos Barria/Reuters]

Published On 10 Sep 2023

Rival protests are being held in Chile’s capital ahead of the 50th anniversary of a military coup that ousted the democratically-elected President Salvador Allende and brought General Augusto Pinochet to power.

“The crowds have been very very mixed and so have their messages. It’s been a very violent day so far,” Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman, reporting from Santiago, said on Sunday.

More than 3,200 people were killed or “disappeared” – abducted and presumed killed – by Pinochet’s security forces. About 38,000 were tortured during his 17-year dictatorship. The general died of a heart attack on December 10, 2006, aged 91. He was never tried in court.

Sunday’s march through the streets of the capital to the general cemetery that houses a memorial to the victims of Pinochet’s brutal regime, stopped briefly at the presidential palace, La Moneda, where then-president Allende was overthrown on September 11, 1973.

Leftist President Gabriel Boric joined the procession of some 5,000 people, according to the government – becoming the first leader of Chile since the end of the dictatorship in 1990 to do so.

“When the leftist president, who has a coalition similar to the one Allende had 50 years ago, started to honour the former president, people dressed in black balaclavas came throwing stones and almost broke into the presidential palace,” Al Jazeera’s Newman said.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/10/chile-march-to-commemorate-pinochet-victims-marred-by-violence