People's Democracy

Allende Remembered; Chileans Demand Jail For Pinochet

ON September 11 this year, people did remember (and justly condemned) what happened on the same day a year before to the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, the symbols of the United States of America’s financial and military might respectively. At the same time, for them there was no reason to forget that it was on that very day in 1973 when the USA’s stooge, General Augusto Pinochet, staged a bloody coup in Chile, overthrowing and assassinating the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, with the help of the notorious CIA.

As is well known, the Pinochet dictatorship had been notorious for the bloody suppression of its political opponents. Thousands were murdered and lakhs were put behind bars. Tens of thousands of Chileans simply "disappeared" and are still untraced. And all this took place under the benign patronage of the US of America --- that self-proclaimed and self-appointed ‘saviour’ of democracy the world over.

Much water has flown in the Chilean rivers since then. Regimes have changed, though Pinochet is yet to receive the punishment for the heinous crimes he committed. But, have the Chileans forgotten Allende?

Evidently, no. On September 11 this year, Chileans took out big and militant demonstrations and organised protest actions all over the country, demanding punishment to Pinochet the butcher. Here in this picture, a demonstrator shows an image of the late President Salvador Allende during a demonstration in front of the government palace, La Moneda, in capital Santiago. This was the way Chileans remembered their martyred president and commemorated the 29th anniversary of the bloody military coup led by Pinochet in 1973.