Lessons from a Chilean 9/11

On September 11, 1973, Chile’s President Salvador Allende was overthrown in a military coup d’état encouraged by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US. The coup led to his suicide and the installation of a military junta under Gen Augusto Pinochet.

Half a century later, the events of that fateful day continue to send shockwaves across generations.

Post-World War II saw the emergence of a US-led attempt to nourish fledgling liberal democratic orders in the countries of the western hemisphere.

A setback to these American efforts in Chile was the election of Allende in 1970. He sought to nationalise major industries and improve the living standards of the working class. Social spending was dramatically increased, particularly for housing, education, and health, and an effort was made to redistribute wealth to poorer Chileans. In the realm of foreign policy, in 1971, President Allende re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba. All these developments rang alarm bells in Washington, DC.

The US was worried about the growing strength of the left-leaning socialists against the backdrop of the Cold War and the impact of losing its economic investments to Allende’s nationalisation programme.

A number of coup attempts against President Allende had been brewing since his election. However, the one orchestrated under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army, Gen. Pinochet, on September 11, 1973, proved fatal for the first democratically elected socialist government of Chile. This coup was successful mainly due to the absolute unity achieved between all branches of the Chilean Armed Forces and active support from the US’ Nixon administration, which worked towards creating favourable conditions for the coup.

In what would become iconic images of the coup, the Chilean Air Force bombed La Moneda, Chile’s White House. It became a symbol of the brutality with which an elected government was deposed, thus leading to the death-by-suicide of President Allende inside the presidential palace in the capital, Santiago, on that fateful day.

The Chilean security forces sustained casualties in the three following months as a result of continued resistance from pro-democracy forces. In the months after the coup d’état, the military killed thousands of Chilean left-wing activists, both real and suspected, or forced their “disappearance”. The junta arrested some 1,30,000 people over three years. The coup went on to inspire military takeovers across Latin America.

Five decades on, the wounds left in Chilean society by the coup are still open. Justice is a long way from being served, secrets remain untold, and the bodies of many of the victims are yet to be found. Chile has traversed the full road to recovery. Attempts were made to bring the top junta leadership to justice, both within and outside Chile. By the time of Gen Pinochet’s death in 2006, about 300 criminal charges were still pending against him for numerous human rights violations during his 17-year rule.

In a sign of how advanced Chilean democracy has matured, it became the first country in the world to pass a law on neuro-rights (fundamental normative rules for the protection and preservation of the human brain and mind) in 2021. Chile has undergone two recent attempts to bring about a new, more advanced constitution.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup, Chile’s current President Gabriel Boric, along with all living former presidents—Edirado Ruiz-Tagle, Ricardo Lagos, Michelle Bachelet, and Sebastian Piera—signed the ‘Compromise with Democracy’ declaration. It states that the signatories should “confront the challenges of democracy with more democracy” and that they should “defend and promote human rights”. 

The coup’s lasting legacy around the world has been defined mostly by the international backlash to its shocking cruelty. It galvanised the human rights movement globally. The US’ involvement shocked politicians such as liberal US Senator Frank F Church, who oversaw the first congressional hearings on the CIA’s covert activities, carried out along with allies such as the UK and Australia. They led to constraints on the CIA’s future operations overseas.

The martyrdom of Allende and his experiment in democratic socialism continue to inspire generations of political activists around the world to build and strengthen robust constitutional orders.

(Bhushan was a consultant in the Ministry of External Affairs, and Reddy works for APAC Assistance)