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Event

The 1973 coup in Chile

Military overthrow of President Allende on 11 September 1973. The CIA’s 2000 report says he took his own life as troops entered his offices; the 1991 Rettig Commission reached the same conclusion.

8 links, 8 backed by primary records

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Dates
11 Sep 1973
Wikidata
Q856670

Connections 8

interventions

  • Augusto Pinochet 11 Sep 1973 Army Commander; led the military junta Primary record 1

involved

  • Central Intelligence Agency the Church staff found no evidence of direct covert involvement; the CIA’s 2000 report says it did not instigate the coup but was aware of plotting, had relationships with some plotters, and probably appeared to condone it Primary record 12
  • Central Intelligence Agency its 2000 report says it actively supported the military junta after the overthrow but did not help Pinochet become president Primary record 2
  • Henry Kissinger told Nixon by telephone five days later: “We didn’t do it. I mean we helped them.”; after the coup said “this government is better for us than Allende was” Primary record 34
  • Salvador Allende the CIA’s 2000 report: “Available evidence indicates that President Allende committed suicide”; the Rettig Commission concluded he took his own life Primary record 25
  • Government of Chile the military government of 1973 to 1990: the Rettig Commission recorded 2,279 victims (2,115 of human rights violations, 164 of political violence); an updated version in 1996 gave 3,197; a 2011 government commission counted 3,065 killed or disappeared and 40,018 victims in all Primary record 567

appears in

Timeline 2 dates
  1. 11 Sep 1973 The 1973 coup in Chile
  2. 11 Sep 1973 Augusto Pinochet intervened in The 1973 coup in Chile
Proof 7 sources
  1. Covert Action in Chile 1963–1973: Staff Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, U.S. Senate, 18 Dec 1975. Primary record Archived copy
    the military Junta, led by General Augusto Pinochet, moved quickly to consolidate its newly acquired power.
    The Committee has found no evidence that it was.
    Following the September 11, 1973, coup, the military Junta, led by General Augusto Pinochet
  2. CIA Activities in Chile (report to Congress, 18 September 2000), Central Intelligence Agency, 18 Sep 2000. Primary record Archived copy
    Although CIA did not instigate the coup that ended Allende’s government on 11 September 1973, it was aware of coup-plotting by the military, had ongoing intelligence collection relationships with some plotters
    because CIA did not discourage the takeover and had sought to instigate a coup in 1970—probably appeared to condone it.
    CIA actively supported the military Junta after the overthrow of Allende but did not assist Pinochet to assume the Presidency.
    Available evidence indicates that President Allende committed suicide as putchist troops entered his offices.
    Awareness of Coup Plotting in 1973.
  3. Telephone conversation, Kissinger and Nixon, 16 September 1973, 11:50 a.m. (declassified transcript), National Security Archive, George Washington University, 16 Sep 1973. Primary record
    I mean instead of celebrating - in the Eisenhower period we would be heros.
    We didn't do it. I mean we helped them.
  4. Kissinger and the Chilean coup: documents posted on the 40th anniversary (Electronic Briefing Book No. 437), National Security Archive, George Washington University, 11 Sep 2013. Scholarship & press
    I think we should understand our policy-that however unpleasant they act, this government is better for us than Allende was.
  5. Report of the Chilean National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation (Rettig Report), English edition, National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation (Chile), 1991. Primary record Archived copy
    conclude that President Salvador Allende took his own life.
    Victims of human rights violations 2,115 Victims of political violence 164 TOTAL NUMBER OF VICTIMS 2,279
  6. Fighting impunity in Chile for over 50 years, Fritz Bauer Forum, 2016. Scholarship & press
    came to the conclusion in 1996 that 3,197 people were murdered
  7. Chile recognises 9,800 more victims of Pinochet’s rule, BBC News, 18 Aug 2011. Scholarship & press
    The official number of those killed or forcibly disappeared now stands at 3,065.
    The new figures bring the total of recognised victims to 40,018.
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