In Chile, thousands of people took to the streets of Santiago Saturday to mark the 48th anniversary of the U.S.-backed military coup on September 11, 1973, against democratically elected socialist President Salvador Allende. Allende was killed that day as Chilean armed forces bombed and stormed the presidential palace, unleashing a brutal dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet for the next 17 years. Protesters also marched to Santiago’s main cemetery to honor the victims of Pinochet’s dictatorship.
Protester: “I come to this march every year because of the large amount of comrades and friends that were annihilated by the fascist coup of September 11, 1973, dozens and dozens of people who I knew from university, from my job, and who are still missing today or were killed by the scoundrels in uniform.”