A collection of photos from Sept. 11, 1973, when Augusto Pinochet led a U.S.-backed coup against Salvador Allende’s democratically elected socialist government.
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Coup plotters surrounding La Moneda, the presidential palace, Allende and his team were inside offering last resistance to the coup. It was inside La Moneda where Allende gave his famous last speech to the nation.
Photo:Archives
Soldiers under Pinochet’s command arrest those who stayed loyal to elected President Allende. They would go on to detain and toruture countless Chileans, and executing 30,000 of those who opposed the far-right coup.
Photo:Archives
Allende and his team resisted inside the palace till the last moment, Allende never negotiated a surrender. Allende died inside the palace, with the gun given to him by Fidel Castro.
Photo:Archives
A photo of Allende’s broken glasses that were found at the scene following the coup. Today, a giant replica of those glasses stand as a monument in Venezuela’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in commemoration of Allende.
Photo:Archives
Echoing the Nazi book burnings, following the triumph of the coup, Pinochet’s troops began burning books and revolutionary artwork from the presidential palace.
Photo:Archives
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