Death of Salvador Allende
On September 11, 1973, Salvador Allende, President of Chile, died by suicide from gunshot wounds during a coup d'état led by General Augusto Pinochet, commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army. After decades of suspicions that Allende might have been assassinated by the Chilean Armed Forces, a Chilean court authorized the exhumation and autopsy of Allende's remains.
This article is about the controversy surrounding President Allende's death. For the coup that brought Army Commander-in-Chief Augusto Pinochet to power, see 1973 Chilean coup d'état.
Carlos Altamirano, who was close to Allende, recalls that prior to the coup, Allende would have dismissed his suggestion to seek refuge in a loyalist regiment and fight back from there.[1]
In Altamirano's words Allende also rejected the option "to do as so many dictators and presidents of Latin America, that is to grab a briefcase full of money and take a plane out the country."[1] Allende was an admirer of José Manuel Balmaceda, a Chilean president who died by suicide in face of his defeat in the Chilean Civil War of 1891. According to Altamirano, Allende was "obsessed with the attitude of Balmaceda."[1]
In an interview with David Frost in 2013, Isabel Allende said that at a family lunch nine days before his death, Salvador Allende had said that he would either stay until the end of this term of presidency or he would be taken out feet first.
Death[edit]
On September 11, 1973, just prior to the capture of Palacio de La Moneda (the presidential palace) by military units loyal to Pinochet, President Salvador Allende made his famous farewell speech to Chileans on live radio (Radio Magallanes). The president spoke of his love for Chile and of his deep faith in its future. He also stated that, as he was committed to Chile, he would not take an easy way out or be used as a propaganda tool by those he called "traitors" (accepting an offer of safe passage, like Carlos Altamirano). The radio address was made while gunfire and explosions were clearly audible in the background.[2]
Shortly afterwards, an official announcement declared that he had gone to war with an AK-47 rifle.[3] Allende's corpse was carried out of La Moneda Palace wrapped in a Bolivian poncho by soldiers and fire fighters.[4]
His body was sent to Hospital Militar arriving about 17:30. Among those present during the autopsy was one of Allende's former classmates in university.[5] The autopsy also recorded his death as a suicide.[6]
Allende's weapon had been given to him as a gift by Fidel Castro. It bore a golden plate engraved: "To my friend and comrade-in-arms, Fidel Castro."[7]