It has been 50 years since Chile's military junta came to power. On September 11, 1973, the army headed by General Augusto Pinochet launched a coup with the US' covert backing. Soldiers took over the presidential palace, ousting leftist President Salvador Allende, who committed suicide. Pinochet then stayed in power for 17 years, a period of dictatorship that saw more than 3,000 people killed or missing and around 200,000 fleeing into exile. Even today, the constitution that was tailor-made for him in 1980 is still in force, although there are lively debates about amending it. FRANCE 24’s Juliette Chaignon and Guillaume Gosalbes report.
In 1980, Pinochet had a new constitution voted in that granted him an extra term in office. But political opposition grew, with more and more nationwide protests. In 1988, the dictator lost a plebiscite on a new eight-year term. He was forced to organise elections, which he also lost, and finally relinquished power in 1990.
Eight years later, Pinochet was arrested in London on an international warrant issued by the Spanish courts. His lifetime Senate seat did not grant him the parliamentary immunity he claimed. For 503 days, he remained under house arrest in England, until the UK interior minister finally ruled that his state of health did not allow him to stand trial. He returned to Chile in March 2000 but never faced justice. He died in 2006 at the age of 91.
Many victims of the dictatorship have also not seen justice served, despite filing suits for torture. And many families of those who disappeared are still waiting to know the fate of their loved ones. For decades, searches were almost exclusively undertaken by families, and only 307 bodies have been recovered. The fate of 1,162 others remains unknown.
"Justice has taken too long," declared President Gabriel Boric when he launched the state-sponsored National Truth and Justice Search Plan on August 30. This government initiative, the first of its kind in Chile, aims to find out what happened to the victims after their arrest and disappearance.
