9/11/1973:Coup d'état in Chile

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When you hear about 9/11, what do you remember? From the attack on the Twin Towers in 2001? Let's talk about a September 11th that was completely unknown to the Western world: 9/11 in 1973 in Chile.

In 1970, Salvador Allende was contesting the Chilean elections on a left-wing coalition called Unidad Popular (UP), or Popular Unity in English. He had already contested the elections in 1964, but he didn't win, but in the first round of 1970 he won with 36% of the votes, but in Chile the second round is the parliament that votes, and Allende won and was elected president. His government promised things like agrarian reform and nationalization of companies, which made him even more popular.

The American President Nixon was angered by Allende's victory in Chile and imposed sanctions on the country in 1972, increasing inflation and Congress refused to authorize the state of siege, making it easier for coup plotters led by Pinochet to take power.

On 09/11/1973, the La Moneda Palace, headquarters of the Chilean presidency, was bombed by the Chilean army and with support from the USA and the CIA. This attack took Allende's life and began the Pinochet dictatorship. Before dying, Allende gave his last speech on Radio Magallanes at around 10:10 am.

"Surely, this will be the last opportunity that I will be able to address you. The Air Force bombed the antennas of Radio Magallanes. My words have no bitterness, but disappointment. May they be a moral punishment for those who betrayed their oath: Chilean soldiers, titular commanders-in-chief, Admiral Merino, who appointed himself commander of the Navy, and Mr. Mendoza, a groveling general who only yesterday demonstrated his loyalty and loyalty to the Government, and who also appointed himself director general of the police.

Faced with these facts, I can only say to the workers: I will not resign! Placed at a historical crossroads, I will pay with my life for my loyalty to the people. And I tell you that I am certain that the seed we have given to the conscience worthy of thousands and thousands of Chileans cannot be definitively harvested. [They] have the strength, they can overwhelm us, but social processes cannot be stopped with either crime or force. History is ours and the people make it.

Workers of my homeland: I want to thank you for the loyalty you have always had, for the trust you placed in a man who was only the interpreter of great desires for justice, who pledged his word that he would respect the Constitution and the law, and he did so.

At this definitive moment, the last in which I will be able to address you, I want you to take advantage of the lesson: foreign capital, imperialism, together with reaction created the climate for the Armed Forces to break with their tradition, which General Schneider and Commander Araya reaffirmed, victims of the same social sector that today will be waiting with their hands free, to regain power to continue defending their profits and their privileges.

I address you, especially to the simple woman of our land, to the peasant who believed in us, to the mother who knew about our concern for the children. I address the professionals of the Fatherland, the patriotic professionals who continued to work against the sedition sponsored by professional associations, class associations that also defended the profits of a capitalist society. I address the youth, those who sang and gave their joy and their fighting spirit. I address the man of Chile, the worker, the peasant, the intellectual, those who will be persecuted, because in our country fascism has been present for a long time; in terrorist attacks, blowing up bridges, cutting railways, destroying oil and gas pipelines, in the face of the silence of those who had the obligation to act. They were committed.

History will judge them.

Surely Radio Magallanes will be silenced and the quiet metal of my voice will no longer reach you. It doesn't matter. You will continue to hear it. I will always be with you. At least my memory will be that of a worthy man who was loyal to the Fatherland. The people must defend themselves, but not sacrifice themselves. The people must not allow themselves to be devastated or reassured, but neither can they humiliate themselves.

Workers of my homeland, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this gray and bitter moment in which betrayal seeks to impose itself. Know that, sooner than you think, the great avenues along which free men will travel will open again to build a better society.

Viva Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers! These are my last words and I am sure that my sacrifice will not be in vain. I am sure that, at the very least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish perfidy, cowardice and betrayal."

There are two versions about Allende's death, one says that he committed suicide with a gun that Fidel lent him and the other that he was murdered by the invaders.

After this event, a dictatorship would begin in Chile under the command of Pinochet. This dictatorship had several cases of persecution and execution of opponents, torture, rape, child abuse and many other atrocities carried out by the fascist and neoliberal regime.

Well, that was about 9/11, done by the CIA criminal organization together with the fascists to overthrow the democratically elected president Salvador Allende. If you want to know more about the atrocities committed under Pinochet's government, I recommend you study it.

VENCEREMOS!