9/11

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the military coup (golpe militar) which happened on the 9th September 1973, following which General Augusto Pinochet ruled the country for fifteen years, until in 1988 a referendum was held in which the majority voted against his receiving another Presidential term. He and his party lost the free elections held the following year. Here is some video footage of that day:*



And here are a couple of photos of mine of what the Presidential Palace, La Moneda, looks like today. It's in the middle of the city. It's hard to imagine it ever happened.







































In Chile today there are divided opinions about the military government - and the socialist government that came before it. Issues of politics (left and right-wing systems of government), human rights, and economic prosperity are all thrown into the mix and people have opinions about each of these things. Anyone younger than thirty may not remember the military government and anyone younger than twenty-five wasn't alive during that time - but their parents were. For many, their experience of the government was in its systemic blessings (economic prosperity) and privations (a curfew and lack of free speech); but there are also lower-class people who worked as soldiers and police in that time, upper-class people who were in positions of command in the army, police and government, and people of all classes (often, but not exclusively, left-wing) who were tortured or had relatives 'disappear'. So, as you can see, it's a very complex issue and one on which I generally keep my mouth shut.


*from a pro-Pinochet perspective, according to the Spanish