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
U.S. sanctions cuban president Díaz-Canel over regime crackdown on protesters
The United States announced on Friday, for the first time, sanctions against Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, citing his role in the regime’s crackdown on the Cuban people as the country marks four years since the historic anti-government protests of July 2021.
The U.S. State Department imposed visa restrictions on Díaz-Canel and other key figures in the Cuban government, including Defense Minister Álvaro López Miera and Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, according to Senator Marco Rubio, who shared the update on social media platform X.
“The United States is capable of imposing migration sanctions on revolutionary leaders and maintaining a prolonged and ruthless economic war against Cuba, but it will not break the will of our people or its leaders,” responded Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
In addition, the State Department added “Torre K”, a newly inaugurated 42-story hotel in central Havana, to its list of restricted entities in an effort to prevent U.S. dollars from funding repression by the Cuban regime.
The hotel has sparked criticism for representing a massive state investment in luxury infrastructure despite Cuba’s declining tourism sector and worsening shortages of food, medicine, water, and electricity.
“While the Cuban people suffer from shortages of food, water, medicine, and electricity, the regime squanders money,” wrote Rubio.
In another post, Rubio also accused the Cuban government of torturing dissident José Daniel Ferrer and demanded immediate proof of life.
Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), was among the 553 prisoners released in January as part of an agreement between Cuba and the Vatican, following a decision by former U.S. President Joe Biden to temporarily remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.
However, Ferrer’s conditional release was revoked in late April, prompting strong protests from Washington. The island has since been returned to the terrorism list after Republican President Donald Trump’s return to power in January.
International
Two missing after torrential rains cause flooding in Catalonia
Two people are missing in Catalonia, northeastern Spain, after torrential rains hit the region on Saturday night, causing flooding and disrupting rail traffic for several hours.
“We are working on the search for two people in Cubelles,” announced the Catalan Fire Department in a message posted on social media platform X. Cubelles is a town of about 17,000 residents located 50 kilometers from Barcelona.
Emergency crews remain active in the affected area, where the heavy rains overwhelmed local infrastructure and forced temporary closures of several transport routes.
International
Trump administration begins downsizing ‘bloated’ state department workforce
The U.S. Department of State issued layoff notices on Friday to more than 1,300 employees both domestically and abroad, marking the start of a workforce reduction aimed at trimming what officials have called a “bloated” staff. The move is part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to restructure the federal government.
According to local media reports, more than 1,100 Civil Service employees and around 250 Foreign Service officers received notifications via email. Those affected will be placed on administrative leave for periods ranging from 90 to 120 days from the date of their dismissal notice.
The job cuts are part of a plan to centralize and streamline the agency’s operations without disrupting its overall functioning. The restructuring was designed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had previously informed Congress in May of his intention to reduce the department’s workforce by 15%. The State Department currently employs about 18,000 people.
According to the top U.S. diplomat, the goal is to optimize what he described as a “bloated bureaucracy that stifles innovation and misallocates scarce resources,” as well as to eliminate remnants of “radical political ideology.”
The reorganization is expected to hit hardest in offices focused on human rights and refugee issues, which will now be handled by regional bureaus, according to The New York Times.
“We inherited a system that needed reform, and we are delivering it,” said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Thursday, adding that the Administration is committed to a foreign policy that puts U.S. interests first.
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