The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a military overthrow of the democratic socialist president of Chile Salvador Allende and his Popular Unity coalition government. Allende, who has been described as the first Marxist to be democratically elected president in a Latin American liberal democracy, faced significant social unrest, political tension with the opposition-controlled National Congress of Chile, and economic warfare ordered by United States president Richard Nixon. On 11 September 1973, a group of military officers, led by General Augusto Pinochet, seized power in a coup, ending civilian rule.
Image: Golpe de Estado 1973
Image: Sylvain Julienne durant le coup d’état au Chili en septembre 1973
Image: Chile el pueblo vencera cropped
The facilities of the National Stadium were used as a detention and torture center after the coup.
Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until his death in 1973. As a democratic socialist committed to democracy, he has been described as the first Marxist to be elected president in a liberal democracy in Latin America.
Allende speaking at the UN, c. 1972
Salvador Allende's birth certificate.
1958 presidential campaign with a train with Allende's face called the "Victory Train"
Salvador Allende in 1964
