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NEU Senior Regional Support Officer
Pinochet’s coup in Chile – 50 years on 
FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ reflects on the 1973 overthrow of democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende and the long shadow of neoliberalism
A man pedals his bicycle past a mural marking the 50th anniversary of the country's military coup, with a reminder of those disappeared during the Augusto Pinochet regime and an image depicting the deposed President Salvador Allende, in Santiago, Chile, Friday, September 8, 2023

ON THE cold morning of September 11, 50 years ago in Santiago, Chile, armed forces commander in chief Augusto Pinochet led a bloody military coup against democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende. 

Tanks had the presidential palace, La Moneda, surrounded, Pinochet demanded Allende surrender and resign from the presidency, handing power to the armed forces. 

President Allende refused and bravely resisted gun in hand; Pinochet, most likely prompted by the US, ordered the air force to bomb the palace. UK-built Hawker-Hunter war planes repeatedly hit the palace with missiles, setting it alight. 

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