The Alejandrina Cox incident was a significant political scandal that occurred in Chile on 27 June 1973, involving General Carlos Prats, who served as the Minister of the Interior and commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army. During a traffic dispute in Santiago, Prats fired his weapon at a civilian woman named Alejandrina Cox, which caused a media frenzy in Chile. Prats was a prominent supporter of the Schneider Doctrine, a military doctrine that opposed military intervention in the government of President Salvador Allende. However, the incident led to his public embarrassment and the loss of support from the Chilean military. Consequently, he resigned from his position and was replaced by Augusto Pinochet in August, which paved the way for the eventual 1973 Chilean coup d'état in September.

Carlos Prats González was a Chilean Army officer and politician. He served as a minister in Salvador Allende's government while Commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army. Immediately after General Augusto Pinochet's September 11, 1973 coup, Prats went into voluntary exile in Argentina. The following year, he and his wife, Sofía Cuthbert, were assassinated in Buenos Aires by a car bomb planted by the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional.