The Coup

from Patricio Guzman, LA BATALLA DE CHILE Part II: El Golpe del Estado (The Coup d'Etat)

On 11 September 1973, factions of the Chilean armed forces enacted a coup to topple the democratic regime of President Salvador Allende. Two jets belonging to the Chilean Air Force attacked La Moneda, the presidential palace in Santiago, along with army troops. Allende was killed in the ensuing battle. By the end of the day, a four-man military junta that included future dictator General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was declared the new government of Chile. Its express purpose was to eradicate Marxism from Chilean society. The events of 11 September spelled the end for Allende's "Via Chilena," the peaceful and democratic road to socialism.

Allende's U.P. government based its legitimacy on the Chilean Constitution, which was highly respected by broad sections of Chilean society, including the military, which was sworn to protect it. For the Right, Allende lost this legitimacy upon enacting his socialist programs. A majority of the middle- and upper-class were horrified by what they saw as outright property theft by the government. Capital flight was rampant as investors domestic and foreign pulled money out of the country. Strikes by truckers and "El Teniente" mine workers caused shortages of goods, which facilitated the rise of a domestic black market. Goods that were still available had prices fixed too low by the government, resulting in budget deficits and high inflation. The United States government, which under President Nixon attempted to destabilize the Chilean economy, freezed lines of credit and exports to Chile. US aid likewise fell from $260.4 million in 1967 to only $3.8 million in 1973.1 The Chilean economy lacked sufficient capital to continue financing Allende's popular programs, and domestic production levels were to low to provide enough food and products. By September 1973 the economy was in turmoil, and socio-economic tensions widened political polarizations.

The failed coup attempt of June 1973 illustrated the acceptance military intervention was gaining among certain factions of the Right in opposing the Allende government. Right-wing demonstrations became increasingly more violent, as groups like Patria y Libertad (Homeland and Liberty) militarized and ultimately engaged in acts of urban terrorism to instill fear in the Left. It was in this climate of violence and tension that many Chileans, not just the extreme Right, began to see temporary military rule as a solution to the societal destabilization that had been taking place under democratic rule.

1 Pamela Constable and Arturo Valensuela, A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet (W. W. Norton and Co.: New York, 1991) p. 26.