With some incidents of violence, Chileans marched to remember the victims of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship

With some incidents of violence, thousands of Chileans marched on Sunday for the traditional pilgrimage for the disappeared and executed detainees of the past dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the 1973 coup d’état against the socialist president Salvador Allende that began that military period, which continues to generate mixed reactions in the South American country.

President Gabriel Boric joined the protesters upon arriving at the presidential palace of La Moneda, where some hooded men dressed in black threw flares and objects around the building, tore down security fences and broke windows, forcing the riot police to shoot at them. water springs.

The Chilean president joined the march and joined protesters who were carrying banners with the faces of missing people and reading “Where are they?”

The Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990) left 3,200 murdered and 1,162 missing in Chile, including children, according to human rights organizations.

“I proudly participated with them because I am convinced that thanks to their tireless fight for truth and justice we are here today,” Boric later said on social networks. “We still owe them a lot as a country and that is the deep meaning of the National Search Plan” for the disappeared.

President

Boric condemned the acts of violence that, according to him, were carried out by small groups that “sought to break up the demonstration” and warned that these people will have to face justice. He said that they caused disturbances on the road and violated graves in the general cemetery, the point of tribute to the victims. At least three people were detained and three police officers (carabineros) were injured, said the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve.

March to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the coup d’état against the democratic government of Salvador Allende. Photo EFE

Monsalve pointed out that the acts of violence “violate memory, that they disrespect the country” and those who want to commemorate the 50 years of the coup as “a space for reflection, for strengthening democracy and for a strong and determined commitment to human rights”. He regretted the damage to the presidential palace, recalling that “it is a national monument of historical character.”

The Santiago metro also closed two of its lines after recording incidents.

The day was also full of symbolism. Boric previously paid tribute to the figure of Allende by showing his shoes at the door of Morandé 80, a street that the socialist leader used to use to enter La Moneda and which was closed during the dictatorship.

“These are the shoes that President Salvador Allende wore on September 11, 1973, which today are a call to keep #DemocracyAlways alive. “President @GabrielBoric accompanies his family to #50AñosdelGolpe,” the Presidency of Chile published on social networks.

Salvador Allende’s granddaughter, Marcia Tembutti, participated in the march, as well as former Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzón, who arrived in Chile to participate in the commemorative events, as well as other foreign leaders.

The march was called by the associations of relatives of detainees of the disappeared and of executed political and other human rights organizations to remember the victims of the dictatorship and especially those who, half a century later, are still missing. Many people carried photos of missing persons on their lapels with the legend Where are they?

As the dictatorship begins 50 years ago, there are also those in the country who support it. On Saturday, several hundred Chileans marched to praise the figure of Pinochet.