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
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
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