Several hundred people demonstrated on Saturday in front of the presidential palace of La Moneda in the capital of Chile to vindicate the figure of the dictator Augusto Pinochet, two days before the 50th anniversary of the military coup that changed the destiny of the South American nation. .
With banners in Spanish and English, which read “50 years later Chile against communism again”, national flags and a lot of iconography referring to Pinochet (1973-1990) in the form of paintings, photos, flags or busts, the protesters — between 200 to 300 according to media estimates – expressed their praise for the figure of the dictator, who continues to arouse divided reactions in the country.
“I love my country, I love my country, I love Chile,” read a banner carried by a woman with the figure of Pinochet dressed in his best military clothes. Another showed a flag with the printed faces of several of the prominent coup generals.
“For me they are all communists, but we had 17 years of glory. And my General Pinochet represents freedom, he represents heroism,” said Julieta Aguilar.
“We are commemorating my General Pinochet. He was not a dictator, he was not a murderer,” said Margarita Muñoz, also of mature age.
“Boric resigns, corrupt government,” read another of the banners.
Chile reaches the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup with a tense and divided atmosphere that has also been expressed in the political forces. The right and far-right have declined President Gabriel Boric’s invitation to participate in a joint document declaring “Never again,” and presented their own statement on what happened in a separate event.
36% of Chileans believe that the military “was right” to lead the uprising, according to recent surveys of the population, a figure that doubled in the last 10 years, when only 18% justified it.
In the country, there are still a majority of those who describe Pinochet as a dictator (64%), while those who defend that his military regime was “partly good and partly bad” are increasing.
On September 11, 1973, Pinochet led a coup d’état against the socialist government of Salvador Allende—who committed suicide on the same day of the uprising—which established 17 years of dictatorship, which according to human rights organizations left more than 3,200 murdered and 1,162 missing, including children.
