September 11, 1973: Beginning of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile with the assassination of Allende

“Keep in the knowledge that, much sooner rather than later, the great avenues through which free men pass will once again be opened, to build a better society. These are my last words and I am sure that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice and treason”, was the last speech given 51 years ago by Chilean President Salvador Allende Gossens, before his assassination, on September 11, 1973, after the military coup promoted by Augusto Pinochet, who established the fascist dictatorship in that country.

After his fervent speech at the Palacio de la Moneda, in the city of Santiago de Chile, Allende was found dead in the ruins of that presidential seat wrapped in his nation's flag.

His overthrow and death culminated in the conspiracy forged from the very day of his electoral triumph and the savage neoliberal economic model promoted by Pinochet, who began 17 years of dictatorship, after being imposed by force and maintained violently, as a de facto authoritarian order, in a wretched period marked by repressions, raids, exiles, human rights violations, torture and death.

Allende's political role was to maintain the Socialist Revolution in Chile and impose social peace by suppressing the powerful offensive against the working class. Because of his political position, the difficulties his government had to face were immense. His plan of action prioritized the socialization of private companies. It also resulted in the nationalization of copper, without payment of compensation to North American companies, which meant a confrontation with the United States, which from that moment on openly supported groups opposed to the socialist president.

The Chilean right wing was generated on several strategic fronts that sought the fall of the government. However, in the face of stiff opposition, Allende had significant support from the people, whom he always supported and sought to give him the greatest benefits in every way.

Today, 51 years after the great Salvador Allende died fighting, the Bolivarian Government and the Venezuelan people honor the thought, work and legacy that this leader left for progressive states in the region, which are fighting for full independence, freedom, sovereignty, self-determination and social justice for the development of their peoples.

“Someday America will have a voice of a continent, a voice of a united people. A voice that will be respected and heard; because it will be the voice of peoples who own their own destiny”, Salvador Allende Gossens.

Mazo News Team