International
How did the events of the coup d’état take place in Chile?
September 11 |
On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a coup d’état against the president of Chile, Salvador Allende, which ended the Popular Unity Government and began a military dictatorship that would leave nearly 40,000 victims during 17 years.
Pinochet, who three weeks earlier had been appointed by Allende as commander in chief of the Army, interrupted Allende’s democratic government, which had been elected in 1970, and established one of the cruelest and most terrible periods in the history of the South American nation.
In the same way, the military put an end to the experience of a socialist government that had emerged through the electoral process and sought to redefine the role of the State through agrarian reform, nationalizations, expropriation of the banks and greater promotion of education.
It was Allende himself who announced the military mobilization. Informed of the Navy’s uprising, Allende arrived at 07:30 local time on September 11 at La Moneda Palace.
Hours earlier, Navy ships had entered the port of Valparaíso, some 115 kilometers west of Santiago, and its troops occupied streets and government buildings.
President Allende, in a broadcast on Radio Corporación, asked citizens to remain calm and to stay in their workplaces, while affirming that he would remain at his post.
At 08:30 hours, the Armed Forces and Carabineros, who bombed and raided the installations of the media supporting the Popular Unity, demanded Allende’s resignation.
The president, in another radio communication, told the military that he would not resign and that he would not abandon La Moneda palace. “I point out my will to resist with whatever it takes, at the cost of my life,” he asserted.
In his last message to Chileans, broadcast on Radio Magallanes, Allende -aware of the imminent aerial bombardment of the Moneda Palace- said: “I will not resign. I will pay with my life for the loyalty of the people (…) they have the strength, they can subjugate, but social processes are not stopped neither with crime nor with force. History is ours and it is made by the people”.
An aide offered him an Air Force plane to leave Chile. Allende rejected the proposal and proposed a dialogue with the commanders-in-chief under certain conditions. However, Pinochet did not accept and demanded the unconditional resignation of the president.
Prior to the bombing of La Moneda, the president demanded a truce so that 11 women, including his daughter Beatriz, who were in the Executive headquarters, could leave.
At 11:50 a.m., the Hawker Hunter planes of Group 7 of the Chilean Air Force began the bombing that lasted 15 minutes. As a consequence, the government building was partially burned.
After 1:00 p.m., Allende, carrying a rifle and wearing a helmet, ordered the surrender and departure of those who were still accompanying him.
After that – based on a 2012 judicial investigation – Allende entered the Independence Hall, where “he sat down on a sofa, placed the rifle he was carrying between his legs and resting it on his chin, he fired it, dying instantly”.
The Military Junta, headed by Pinochet, took over the Executive and Judicial powers on September 11, and ordered the recess of Congress, establishing a 17-year military dictatorship that left at least 40,000 victims, among them 3,000 murdered or disappeared.
International
Petro accuses top guerrilla leader of bribing officers to evade military strikes
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, said Saturday that the country’s most wanted guerrilla leader is bribing members of the security forces to obtain advance information and evade military operations.
According to the government, Iván Mordisco, a dissident leader of the now-defunct FARC, is currently on the run in the जंगल following an الجيش bombardment last week that killed six of his closest collaborators in the department of Vaupés.
Authorities believe the guerrilla commander had been at the site shortly before the operation. “He buys off the commanders who are supposed to capture him; that’s how he escapes the bombings, but leaves his own people to die. He is warned before every strike,” Petro wrote on social media platform X.
The six individuals killed in the strike were part of Mordisco’s security ring, according to Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Local media reported that one of those killed was a woman known as “alias Lorena,” who was allegedly Mordisco’s partner and the mother of his child.
After failed attempts to negotiate peace, Petro’s administration has shifted to a more aggressive military strategy against the guerrilla leader. In recent months, three of Mordisco’s brothers have been captured and now face charges including homicide, kidnapping, and arms trafficking.
Central America
Costa Rica urges China to halt actions against Panama-flagged vessels
The government of Costa Rica on Saturday called on China to halt retaliatory actions against vessels flying the Panamaflag, amid escalating tensions over control of two strategic ports linked to the Panama Canal.
In a statement shared on social media, Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry warned that the situation “puts global trade at risk” and expressed its “deep concern and strongest condemnation” over what it described as “arbitrary and unjustified delays and inspections in Chinese ports.”
The Costa Rican government urged “full respect for international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” while reaffirming its “unconditional support and solidarity” with Panama.
San José’s position aligns with growing international criticism from countries including Honduras, Peru, Paraguay, Israeland Ukraine.
Paraguayan authorities described the detentions as “unacceptable” and pointed to what they called “undue pressure” on the Panamanian government.
International
Mexico leads global cases of enforced disappearances, UN report finds
Mexico accounts for the highest number of urgent actions related to enforced disappearances worldwide, according to the latest report by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
The report, released by I(dh)eas, indicates that Mexico has accumulated 819 cases between 2012 and February 2026, representing 38% of the global total.
In the past five months alone, 40 new urgent requests have been recorded — more than one-third of all such actions worldwide during that period.
The report warns that this trend reflects a structural problem, as the urgent action mechanism — originally intended as an exceptional measure — has become routine in Mexico.
Although the Mexican state formally complies with response deadlines, the Committee identified significant shortcomings in the implementation of these measures. These include the lack of comprehensive search plans, delays in key investigative procedures such as video surveillance and phone data analysis, and insufficient inquiries into possible links involving state agents.
The report also highlights inadequate protection for relatives and individuals involved in search efforts, including cases of reprisals.
Among the most serious incidents documented is the disappearance of a father who had denounced alleged involvement of authorities in his son’s case in the state of Guanajuato.
The accumulation of cases could lead to the application of Article 34 of the Convention, which would allow for the launch of an international investigation into systematic enforced disappearances.
Geographically, the state of Chiapas accounts for 30% of the new urgent actions, many of them linked to collective disappearances of migrants.
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