50 years after Pinochet coup in Chile: Clashes, arson mar march to commemorate victims
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Underneath the Atacama Mountains, this route's become something of a pilgrimage for thousands
00:05 of Chileans.
00:06 Old and new generations fill the streets of Santiago.
00:10 It's become a yearly meeting place for the families of those killed, tortured or missing
00:14 in the Pinochet years.
00:16 This time, more remarching than ever before, determined, they say, to make sure history
00:20 doesn't repeat itself.
00:21 MARIA, Chilean (through translator): This is a moment of reflection, where memory of
00:25 what happened means as much as our national flag and what it is to be Chilean.
00:30 Being here, this is the least we owe to our dead.
00:33 We are commemorating 50 years since the coup d'etat, the death of Allende and the death
00:38 of many people.
00:40 I'm aware of the pain of the people.
00:43 I'm aware that there has not been justice yet for all.
00:48 And I come here because it's important that memory persists.
00:52 The current leftist leader, Gabriel Boric, in the white shirt, became the first president
00:58 to join the march victims outside the Meneda, the presidential palace, which was set on
01:02 fire in the coup in 1973.
01:05 The downfall of Salvador Allende is a story of the world's first democratically elected
01:10 Marxist, toppled by the army of General Pinochet.
01:14 Under the dictator's regime, more than 3,000 political opponents were killed, tens of thousands
01:19 tortured, and the murals of the city tell the stories of the many still missing.
01:26 But there are those that idolize him here.
01:28 Hundreds turned up for a rival protest.
01:30 They claim Pinochet prevented communism.
01:33 Others call for the end of the current leftist government.
01:36 The bitter division still felt on the streets.
01:39 This was a scene at the end of the march, black-clothed rioters taking on the police.
01:43 The government says it was an isolated incident and that the bulk of protesters made their
01:48 point peacefully.