Cold Open

It’s noon on September 11th, 1973, in Santiago, Chile.

A Chilean Army officer hustles across a deserted public square at the head of a squad of soldiers. Usually, Chile’s capital city would be packed with workers enjoying a long lunch. But not today. Instead, the officer, his men, and hundreds of others like them are making their way through the eerily quiet streets on an extraordinary mission. They’re going to overthrow the government.

Only a few hours ago, the Chilean armed forces launched a coup to depose the country’s democratically elected president, Salvador Allende. But President Allende refused to resign, so now the Generals behind the coup are applying pressure - their troops are launching a direct assault on the president’s offices in La Moneda Palace.

As the officer reaches the edge of the square, a bullet ricochets off the ground near his feet. The officer dives into a shop doorway and peers around the corner, trying to get a clear view of the palace. But as he tries to find where the gunshot came from…

…another bullet breaks the shop’s window. The officer jerks his head back. Snipers in the palace are taking shots at him. He frantically signals the soldiers behind him to find cover.

But as the officer considers his next moves, the rhythmic drone of the helicopter echoes across the square. The officer risks another glance out of the doorway and spots gunships flying low over Santiago’s rooftops, speeding towards the palace.

As the helicopters pass overhead, they open fire.

Shattered masonry and glass fall from the palace. The Army officer decides this is the moment to make his move. So, he gets to his feet and signals to his men. They rush forward towards the palace with weapons ready. It’s time to find Salvador Allende and bring his Presidency to an end.

Within an hour of the assault beginning, the rebel Chilean troops succeed in breaching the defenses of La Moneda Palace—but the man they were tasked with capturing will already be dead. The suicide of President Salvador Allende will clear the way for a new military regime in Chile. Led by General Augusto Pinochet, a new authoritarian government will oversee a period of brutal suppression and human rights violations that will last long after the coup that brought it to power on September 11th, 1973.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is September 11th, 1973: General Pinochet's Chilean Coup.

Act One

It’s September 4th, 1970, in Santiago, three years before the military rebellion in Chile.

62-year-old Salvador Allende switches on a television and settles into a chair, enjoying a few quiet moments to himself. He hasn’t had many recently. Allende is the leader of Chile’s Socialist Party and has been busy on the campaign trail in recent weeks. But now, his work is done. And today, Chile’s citizens have gone to the polls in the presidential election. Salvador is waiting to find out whether he’ll be the next man to lead his country.

In many other South American nations at this time, the military has seized power and generals rule as dictators. But Chile is different. Here, a stable democracy has been in place for half a century. In recent years, a succession of center-right governments have held power. But self-proclaimed Marxist Salvador Allende has put together a left-wing coalition in the hopes of finally breaking the right’s stranglehold. Still, today’s presidential election is expected to be close.

After a tense wait, results begin to come in from across the country—and all the time and effort that Allende put into campaigning seems to have paid off. He’s won almost 37% of the vote, just enough to beat the right-wing candidate. But since neither Allende nor his opponent has won an absolute majority, the constitution states that the final choice of who becomes the next president will be made by the Chilean Congress.

So, although he won the most votes, Allende’s appointment as President is not a sure thing. His allies don’t hold a majority of seats in Congress and they’ll need politicians from the other parties to approve his election. This may prove difficult.

The world is embroiled in the Cold War, and both the United States and the Soviet Union have taken great interest in the Chilean election. America has funneled money into the right-wing campaign. And Allende himself has taken funding from the Soviets.

And just because the election is over doesn’t mean that those efforts have stopped. It’s no surprise to Allende when he hears that CIA operatives are at work in Chile. According to reports, they’re doing all they can to persuade and even bribe members of Congress to vote for the second-placed candidate instead. They even approach General Rene Schneider, the head of the Chilean Army, hoping that he’ll lead a right-wing coup. Allende is reassured when General Schneider publicly declares the Army’s neutrality. But soon after the general pledges that the military will respect the election result, he’s shot and killed in a bungled kidnapping. Rumors soon spread that the CIA was involved.

So, the situation is growing increasingly volatile, and Allende fears a civil war could easily break out. So, he tries to offer a compromise, promising to lead a moderate government that’ll respect the Chilean constitution. This pledge is persuades, and two days after General Schneider is shot, Congress confirms the election result. Salvador Allende is Chile’s new president.

Over the next three years, Allende embarks on what he calls “The Chilean Path to Socialism”—but it's not an easy task. He plans to improve education and nationalize key industries. But inflation rockets to 140 percent. And a 24-day mass strike brings the country to a halt. His opponents accuse Allende of causing an economic disaster and acting unconstitutionally. But despite the turmoil, most of Allende’s supporters still back him, and his left-wing coalition holds on to its share of the vote in the 1973 elections to Congress.

But with the country increasingly divided, many of Allende's opponents grow desperate. They fear that the only way to get rid of him will be through force. And in June 1973, a rogue army colonel decides to do something about the deepening political crisis. He orders his tank regiment to surround the Presidential Palace. But the colonel doesn’t have the backing of his superiors, and the coup attempt fails. As long as Allende has the loyalty of the military chiefs, his position as President is safe.

But only a few days later, the situation takes an unexpected turn. The head of the Army, General Carlos Prats, is heckled from a car at a red light in downtown Santiago. In response, he pulls out his gun and shoots the vehicle’s fender. Only when the driver gets out does General Prats realize he’s shot at an unarmed civilian woman—which is not a good look for the head of the Army. This road rage incident sparks a scandal that dominates the headlines in Chile for two months until General Prats finally resigns in disgrace.

His resignation means that the Chilean Army needs another top commander. President Allende knows he has to find a man he can trust for the position. So, he turns to a lifelong military officer, who Allende believes will respect the Chilean constitution and keep the Army out of politics. His name is Augusto Pinochet. But just three weeks after Pinochet’s appointment is confirmed, President Allende will be dead - and the Chilean armed forces commanded by Pinochet will have seized control of the country.

Act Two

It’s the morning of September 11th, 1973, in Santiago, a few hours before Chilean troops assault La Moneda Palace.

52-year-old General Augusto Pinochet sits at a table with senior figures from the Chilean Air Force, Navy, and Police. The atmosphere in the room is tense.

Two weeks ago, political opponents of President Salvador Allende passed a resolution in the Chilean Congress. This incendiary document accused Allende of breaching the country’s constitution. It claimed that Allende planned to establish a totalitarian system of government in Chile. And it strongly hinted that the armed forces should intervene and overthrow Allende as President.

For many senior officers in the Chilean military, this was a call to action. They deeply hated Allende and had no qualms about ejecting him from power. But they knew that to be successful a coup had to have support from across the armed forces. So, early in September 1973, a clandestine group approached the Chilean Army’s new commander-in-chief. General Augusto Pinochet was appointed because President Allende thought he was a loyalist. But Pinochet had right-wing political beliefs and was very ambitious. He saw the opportunity the coup represented and decided to take it.

Now, he’s here with the other plotters, waiting to see if their plan has worked.

As most Chileans are just waking up, soldiers storm into Santiago's television and radio stations and order them off the air. Government buildings across the country are seized. Ministers’ phone lines are cut. President Allende soon realizes the gravity of the situation and he holes himself up in the Presidential Palace, hoping that someone in the armed forces will come to his aid.

But by now most loyalists have been detained. There’s no one coming to rescue him. Pinochet and the other leaders of the coup order their troops to seize the Presidential Palace. But when the soldiers reach Allende's office, they find him already dead. He’s chosen to take his own life rather than surrender to the rebels.

But Allende's death makes the next part of the coup even easier. As head of the Army, the oldest and most prestigious branch of the Chilean armed forces, General Pinochet is selected as the interim leader of a new military government. A proclamation is made suspending the constitution and establishing martial law.

Over the next few days, soldiers round up known left-wing leaders and sympathizers. For months, thousands of men and women are detained for interrogation and torture at the National Stadium in Santiago. Dozens are executed without a trial.

But the violence isn’t restricted to the capital. A group of Army officers flies across the country by helicopter to question suspects who’ve been arrested by provincial troops. They personally carry out the executions of those they judge to be potential opponents to the new regime. At least 75 people are killed by the squad, which is soon nicknamed the “Caravan of Death.”

But despite this violence, the governments of the United States, Britain, and Australia are quick to recognize the new military regime as Chile’s legitimate government. Privately, America’s top security officials view the fall of the Marxist, Moscow-sympathizing Allende as a great victory over the Soviets in the Cold War.

And this outside support gives General Pinochet the confidence to launch a takeover of his own. At first, the plan had been for the leadership of Chile’s military government to rotate between the heads of the different branches of the armed forces. But General Pinochet has no intention of giving up power. Although he wasn’t one of the original leaders of the coup, by the middle of 1974, Pinochet has sidelined the other military chiefs and seized almost total power in Chile.

He wields it ruthlessly. For the next 15 years, General Pinochet rules Chile through suppression and fear. As President, he establishes a new secret police, as well as detention and interrogation camps. And with the help of the United States, dissidents are even hunted down and assassinated overseas. In total, under General Pinochet's brutal regime, around 3,000 Chileans are executed and 40,000 more are tortured.

This crackdown can’t rid Chile of every opponent to the military regime, but the greatest threat to Pinochet’s rule will be time. By the end of the 1980s, the Cold War will be coming to an end, and General Pinochet will no longer be able to rely on the unconditional support of the United States and its allies. The world will change. And, whether Pinochet likes it or not, so will Chile.

Act Three

It’s October 6th, 1988, in Santiago, 15 years after the military seized power in Chile.

The now 72-year-old General Augusto Pinochet stands by a window in La Moneda Palace and looks out over a large crowd in the square below. Thousands of ordinary Chileans have assembled outside to demand that Pinochet step down as President.

Over the last few months, Chile has been locked in a debate over the country’s future. According to the terms of the Chilean Constitution, Pinochet can only stay in office for another eight-year term if the move is approved by a referendum. Once Pinochet might have felt confident simply rigging the vote. But in recent years, he's come under increasing pressure from the international community to allow proper democracy. So, reluctantly, last year, Pinochet legalized political parties again and for the first time in more than a decade, Chile held a free election.

General Pinochet's opponents joined forces for the referendum. They conducted a colorful and cheerful campaign under the slogan “Joy is coming.” It worked, and yesterday, the results of the referendum were announced—General Pinochet lost, barring him from being reappointed president. Now, however, he’s looking for a way to overturn this result.

Looking out over the crowd, General Pinochet requests that the police lift the cordons holding them back. This seems like an odd request - the protestors are clamoring for his immediate resignation. But Pinochet hopes that the crowd will riot and storm the palace, thinking it will give him an excuse to enact emergency powers and stay in charge. But the chief of police sees through Pinochet's plan and refuses to lift the barriers. So, then, General Pinochet tries to recruit the leaders of the armed forces in another coup that will overthrow the constitution and allow him to remain president. This time, though, the military chiefs refuse to cooperate.

Having lost the backing of the police and the armed forces, Pinochet is out of options. He publicly concedes that he lost the referendum and can’t have another term as president. So, in December 1989, for the first time in almost 20 years, Chilean voters take to the polls to select their new leader. But General Pinochet knows that the numerous human rights violations conducted by his regime will leave him vulnerable to action by Chile’s new rulers. So, to protect himself, Pinochet negotiates a deal with the incoming government. He’ll stay on as head of the Army for another eight years before Congress appoints him senator-for-life, a newly created position he hopes will grant him immunity from prosecution.

This legal protection, though, won’t stop General Pinochet later being arrested in the UK on charges of genocide and terrorism. Eventually, he’ll also be indicted in Chile under similar charges. But he’ll never face trial in either country. Instead, General Pinochet will die after suffering a heart attack at the age of 91—a natural death that he denied many of his political opponents after he seized control of Chile in a military coup on September 11th, 1973.

Outro

Next on History Daily. September 12th, 1992. Astronaut Mae Jemison becomes the first Black woman in space when she blasts off on the shuttle Endeavour.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Gabriel Gould.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves.

Edited by Joel Callen.

Managing producer, Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.