The Other 9/11: 50 Year Anniversary Of CIA-Backed Coup In Chile

On September 11th 1973 General Augusto Pinochet ousted President Salvador Allende and inaugurated almost two decades of brutal military rule.

Allende died in the presidential palace on September 11, 1973, marking the end of Chile's first socialist government.

During Pinochet's military dictatorship, more than 3,000 people were disappeared or killed, and some 40,000 more were tortured as political prisoners as Chile remained a close partner to the 🇺🇸United States during the Cold War.

In 1998, the Spanish 🇪🇸 government called for the extradition of Pinochet to face justice. 🇬🇧 Margaret Thatcher, in collusion with Tony Blair, got the dictator freed on medical grounds, allowing him to flee Chile.

Pinochet died without ever being convicted of his crimes.