Chilean coup of 1973

:This article is about the successful coup in September 1973 that brought Army Commander-in-Chief Augusto Pinochet to power. For the failed coup attempt in June of the same year, see tanquetazo.

Debate about the coup

Over the years, both the perpetrators of the coup themselves and their supporters have justified the coup by arguing that it was essential for preserving democracy and prosperity in Chile. They claim that Salvador Allende wanted to establish a Cuban-style dictatorship, which in their view would have destroyed human rights as well as economic prosperity, and therefore they insist that the forcible removal of the elected president was a necessary and justified course of action. Although they acknowledge an initial decline in the economy, supporters contend that subsequent economic growth in the late 1980s and 1990s was a direct result of Pinochet's economic policy.

Related Topics:
Coup - Salvador Allende - Cuban - Human rights

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Those opposed to the coup characterize the notion of preserving democracy by instituting a dictatorship as ridiculous and hypocritical. They further argue that Allende won the presidency in a free and fair election. As Chile had been a democracy since 1932, the coup represented an unprecedented and inexcusable outrage against democracy, critics have argued. Among the evidence against the coup being an attempt to safeguard democracy and prosperity in Chile are the several thousand documented cases of torture as well as "disappearances". Among the more famous cases are Charles Horman, a US citizen who was disappeared, tortured and killed during the coup itself and Chilean songwriter Víctor Jara, murdered while held prisoner in the National Stadium immediately after the coup. Critics also argue that the coup failed in any goal of preserving prosperity for any except a small elite. In the early Pinochet years, unemployment rose, real wages fell, the divide between rich and poor grew, decreasing the economic prosperity of the average Chilean. (See Chile under Pinochet)

Related Topics:
1932 - Torture - Disappear - Charles Horman - Víctor Jara - Chile under Pinochet

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