The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a watershed event in both the Cold War and the history of Chile. Following an extended period of social and political unrest between the conservative-dominated Congress of Chile and the socialist President Salvador Allende, as well as economic warfare ordered by U.S. President Richard Nixon,[2] Allende was overthrown by the armed forces and national police.[3][4]
The military abolished the civilian government and established a junta that brutally repressed left-wing political activity both domestically and abroad. Allende's army chief, Augusto Pinochet, rose to supreme power within a year of the coup, formally assume power in late 1974.[5] The United States government, which had worked to create the conditions for the coup,[6] promptly recognized the junta government and supported it in consolidating power.[7]
During the air raids and ground attacks that preceded the coup, Allende gave his last speech, in which he vowed to stay in the presidential palace, denouncing offers for safe passage should he choose exile over confrontation.[8] Direct witness accounts of Allende's death agree that he committed suicide in the palace.[9][10]
Before Pinochet's rule, Chile had for decades been hailed as a beacon of democracy and political stability in a South America plagued by military juntas and Caudillismo. A weak insurgent movement against the Pinochet regime was maintained inside Chile by elements sympathetic to the former Allende government. An internationally supported plebiscite in 1988 eventually removed Pinochet from power.
