Eduardo Galeano’s words outline what happened on September 11, 1973, one of the most deeply engraved dates in the history of Chile, and of Our America. That day, after several hours of siege and bombing of Santiago de Chile’s La Moneda Presidential Palace, Chilean President Salvador Allende died under the fire of the coup plotters.

How did Allende die? The Military Junta declared the following day, September 12, 1973, that he had taken his own life.

Like a “glorious dead figure… riddled and ripped to pieces by the machine guns of Chile’s soldiers, who had betrayed Chile once more,” wrote Pablo Neruda from his deathbed on September 14.

“Under the enemy bullets, as a soldier of the Revolution,” his widow Hortensia Bussi said four days later in Mexico.

Whether the President died at the hands of the army personnel conducting the coup led by Pinochet, or took his own life before surrendering that September 11, 1973, the bullets that killed him – wherever they came from – perpetrated one of the most despicable magnicides in Latin American history.

Allende was buried secretly; only his widow was allowed to accompany his corpse. It is said that this brave, dignified man, resisted for six hours with a rifle the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, had given him – the first gun Salvador Allende ever fired.

Forty-five years have passed since Allende’s death. That night, the coup forces delivered a brief report to General Augusto Pinochet: “Mission accomplished. Moneda taken, President dead.” The Popular Unity coalition and its President had been annihilated, marking the beginning of 17 years of military dictatorship.

As leader of the Chilean left, Salvador Allende won the presidential elections of 1970 and implemented a policy of nationalizations of the mining and industrial sectors. In the midst of an economic crisis in 1973, his support was confirmed in parliamentary elections, which led to the violent intervention of the army in the country’s political life.

During his first year in office, 47 industrial companies and more than half of the banking system were nationalized. With the agrarian reform, some 2,400,000 hectares of productive land were expropriated and became social property.

Salvador Allende was the first Marxist politician in the West to come to power through general elections in a democratic state.

“The most dramatic contradiction of his life was being at the same time the congenital foe of violence and a passionate revolutionary. He believed that he had resolved the contradiction with the hypothesis that conditions in Chile would permit a peaceful evolution toward socialism under bourgeois legality,” Gabriel García Márquez recalled in the article “Why Allende had to die.”

These were, in brief, his true crimes, those which imperialism and the most reactionary, extreme right of Chile and the region could not forgive the charismatic leader for, supported by the majority of the people.

THE MOST CONVENTIONAL OF WARS

A coup d’état, assassinations, a blow to democracy, a threat to sovereignty, a proxy government, a puppet, a suffering people… all this happened in Chile more than four decades ago. Yet today, we are faced with similar threats.

The reality is clear: progressive countries of the continent are victims of destabilizing attempts that seek to generate chaos in the streets, to the point of provoking the final blow.

Soft coups and unconventional warfare represent the Condor Plan of today in Latin America. This time, our enemies are not persecuting a Chile full of copper, but attacking consciences, wills, manipulating reality with falsehood and lies.

In the documents that govern the political life of the United States, unconventional warfare (abbreviated UW) is defined as “Activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area,” as explained by the Doctor of Legal Sciences and National Security researcher Hugo Morales Karell.

“In the last decade, UW has emerged as the most feasible means used by the United States and its allies to overthrow governments contrary to their interests,” Morales continued. There have been many variants: pretexts to generate anti-government demonstrations and popular discontent due to the economic, political, and social situation of a nation, intervention in countries’ internal affairs by third countries alleging supposed humanitarian crises or human rights violations, and the promotion of a supposed internal opposition.

There are many examples, even recognized by the United States in its doctrinal documents: Albania and Latvia (1951-1955); Tibet (1955-1970); Indonesia (1957-1958); Cuba and the Bay of Pigs invasion (April 1961); Laos (1959-1962); North Vietnam (1961-1964); Nicaragua and Honduras (1980-1988); Pakistan and Afghanistan (1980-1991), and Iraq (2002-2003). To these can be added the cases of Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, in which the objective of halting the advance of the progressive left in the region is obvious.

These are the realities of today. While there may be no gunboats, drones, bombs or militarily interventions, the attacks continue. Today, well-rehearsed manipulation of young people, making use of the benefits provided by information and communications technologies and intense media campaigns to exert political pressure results, as Professor Karell stressed, in “the most conventional of wars.”

But we shouldn’t be in any doubt: imperialist forces will return again and again to the use of brutal force and the cruel assassination of leaders like Allende whenever it is in their interests and they are lacking the means to defeat the peoples and governments that are an “inconvenience” and attempt to challenge their hegemony.

(Granma)

March 19 saw the first day of the round of oral hearings in the case. In this context, the indigenous leader held a press conference during which he called on the Court to “solve the problems between Bolivia and Chile and around the world.”

Meanwhile, the President also indicated that certain groups will try to “belittle” Bolivia’s defense before the Court, “But we are only asking Chile to comply with its provisions.”

The oral hearings are part of a process that has been ongoing at the ICJ for almost five years, after Bolivia filed a lawsuit in 2013, demanding that Chile negotiate the country’s sovereign access to the sea.

Today, Bolivia will continue to present its case. March 21 will see a recess, before Chile presents its arguments on the 22nd and 23rd, as Prensa Latina reported.

Bolivia lost its access to the sea after the War of the Pacific (1879-1883), a conflict involving Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, which resulted in Chilean annexation of valuable disputed territory on the Pacific coast.

(Granma)

The commitment by both countries was announced as part of a summary of Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno’s visit to Chile to attend the inauguration ceremony of Chilean president-elect Sebastian Piñera, together with a delegation that included Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa and other officials.

The Foreign Relations and Human Mobility Ministry considered the talks between the two Heads of State as useful.

Espinosa emphasized that in the first conversation he described as ‘extensive and very productive’, the two leaders reviewed the bilateral agenda and they specified commitments to consolidate the links in diverse matters.

The same way, the two sides recognized there’s been progress in exchanges of positive experiences in topics such as maternal-infantile health and education, among others, and also they spoke about electrical interconnection, as well as about harmony and energy sovereignty in the region.

During the visit to Santiago de Chile Moreno held bilateral meetings with other dignitaries and foreign ministers of Latin-American and Caribbean states, aimed at strengthening integration mechanism and the nations’ commitment to them.

Among other meetings, Espinosa talked to Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

(Prensa Latina)

Speaking to Granma International, Lanfranco expressed his deep love for the country, marked by countless experiences accumulated over 50 years struggling for Latin American liberation, looking to Cuban socialism as a key example.

He explained that the solidarity efforts of Chileans were only interrupted following the coup against the constitutional government of President Salvador Allende in 1973 by a military junta led by General Augusto Pinochet. As the period of dictatorship came to an end in the 1980s, solidarity efforts resumed and have been maintained to date.

“Our main demands,” stated the Chilean activist, “are the same as those expressed by the revolutionary government in the international arena, such as demanding an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States; the return of the territory occupied in Guantánamo, where an illegal U.S prison is based; spreading the truth about Cuba; refuting misleading media campaigns; and promoting visits to the island.”

The group organizes contingents to visit the country, invited by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), and which normally travel with the South American Cuba Solidarity Brigade in January, the May Day group visiting during celebrations for International Workers’ Day, or Latin American and Caribbean delegations, among others. He noted that Chilean solidarity contingents have their own independent directorates who organize activities across the country’s 15 provinces, all tailored to the area where they are based.

Also a member of the National Ex-Political Prisoners Association’s Tatty Allende group, Lanfranco added, “This 2017 we are mobilizing to carry forward the thought of Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz. We will also be participating in a national encounter in the month of June to organize work strategies and activities.

“As such we will be thinking about how to work together to resist the imperialist policies dictated by the White House and remain alert to the evolution of Donald Trump’s government.”

As a young man Lanfranco was an active member of Chile’s Communist Youth, later joining the country’s Communist Party in the 1960s, which is why he has visited Cuba on six occasions, most recently to participate in the posthumous tribute to Fidel Castro Ruz; accompanying the caravan which transported the Comandante en Jefe’s ashes to Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba, where they were laid to rest on December 4, 2016.

“This year I want to bring a group of Chileans to enroll in a course given by the Federation of Cuban Women. Another delegation will also visit the island to participate in the May Day parade in Santiago de Cuba’s Antonio Maceo Plaza de la Revolución. These delegates will also attend the Romerías de Mayo celebrations in the city of Holguín.”

According to Lanfranco, Chileans will also take advantage of these exchanges to pay tribute to José Martí, Simón Bolívar, Fidel Castro, and other Latin American predecessors, which is why delegations will adopt the name of former socialist President Salvador Allende or Gladys Marín, ex-secretary-general of the Communist Party of Chile.

The activist from Latin America concluded by noting that Cuba will continue to be an example of a moral, fraternal, and solidary attitude, with an international commitment to building the type of society to which it aspires: one of greater justice for the people. “Cuba is a beacon which lights and guides all of us who are fighting for a different world.”

(Granma)

Have you participated in other non-medical related tasks?

At the beginning of the mission we were helping neighbors remove the mud from their homes, in order to give us the opportunity to provide medical consulations to these people and thus accelerate the treatment process.

We are working in the Pintores de Chile community in Copiapó. At a second stage we were setting up our field tents in the El Salado community, where we stayed for 10 days. The rest of the time we were providing medical care to the community.

How have Chilean professionals, national or international medical organizations, and graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) supported the brigade?

On April 9, we received Dr.Carmen Castillo, Chilean minister of health; and Communist Party member, Lautaro Carmona; accompanied by Cuban ambassador in Chile, Adolfo Curbelo, and other local officials. They explained the outlook of the situation in the region.

We presented a proposal to them for a community work strategy focusing on epidemiological care. Later we integrated ourselves into the locality’s health system, collaborating with personnel from the epidemiology department. We are working with colleagues affiliated with the Diego de Almagro Community Hospital.

In n addition, we have received support from ELAM graduates since the days immediately following the disaster. They are working voluntarily and making an extraordinary effort, sometimes traveling hundreds of kilometers from the south of the country and requesting vacation time from their jobs.

How has the population reacted to the Cuban doctors?

We have received expressions of gratitude and love from the population in every locality we have worked in. The people have been very hospitable and are always attentive to our needs, so as to provide us with an appropriate solution, above all, so we don’t get cold, as that is the type of weather which most affects us.

We have been working on the ground, going from house to house in every community. Our aim is to complete a detailed investigation of the main health problems affecting inhabitants. We are supported by the leaders and experts of the region, and are acquiring comprehensive information from medical files. Likewise we are formulating action plans in order to provide an adequate solution to every situation.

All aspects of the work and cooperation carried out, both in regards to the contribution of the authorities and the population, have been positive; the members of the brigade are professionals, with a great humanitarian consciousness, are motivated, disciplined and committed to the task we have undertaken, we are a large family in which we all support and cooperate with each other.

The most striking thing is seeing the number of destroyed buildings; and how people who have lost everything or almost everything, continue to work tirelessly to repair their homes or try to salvage a few personal items.

What is the situation in regards to communication with Cuban authorities and family members?

Communication with family members via email and telephone has been continual. Efforts are made to facilitate communication on special occasions, such as Mother’s Day which was celebrated recently, or a relation’s birthday.

Communication with the Cuban health authorities has been constant, every day we receive information from the central unit for medical collaboration with the personnel from the institution and the Ministry of Public Health expressing continual concern for the families of the collaborators and the health of every member of the brigade.

(Granma)

“Our lawyers were clear and strong. I am proud of our delegation for the excellent presentation and defense they did, both national and international lawyers who represented us, “Morales told reporters.

However, the president admitted that will be necessary to wait until later this year to know about the ruling of the aforementioned Court, although he reaffirmed his confidence in it and the possibility to take decisions wisely.

The leader reiterated that with the demand for access to the sea at the court of The Hague in April 2013, Bolivia seeks peaceful solutions for ‘ history, justice, right and reason’ and affirmed that the world supports the position of his country.

He further recalled that they intend to prove that the Chilean authorities offered at that time, voluntarily, a sovereign access of Bolivia to the Pacific Ocean.

Bolivia for the first time managed to make Chile report, before an International Legal Institution aimed at making his country agree to sit down to hold talks peacefully and civilized in the conflict.

Bolivia was born as a republic in 1825, bordering the Pacific Ocean, but a Chilean invasion, in February 1879, snatched 120 000 square kilometers of territory rich in minerals and 400 kilometers of coastline.

(Prensa Latina)

The head of state participated in the delivery of swords and batons to the new Generals of the Police at the National Academy, in the south of the capital, and during his speech he made reference to the Chilean position.

According to the president, questioning the power of the International Court of Justice, as Chile does, it is to ignore its powers, international law, peaceful coexistence and social justice.

Due to historical and legal reasons, the right to return to the Pacific Ocean is ours, said the president, who recalled that hopefully previous offerings by Chilean authorities can be fulfilled.

Morales also said the commission that left for The Hague to present arguments next week, comprises former presidents, ex foreign ministers and other authorities of the legislative and the executive and admitted: I wish we can all go.

Bolivia was born in 1825 as a republic bordering the Pacific Ocean, but a Chilean invasion in February 1879, snatched the whole of its coastline (400 kilometers) and 120,000 square kilometers of territory rich in minerals.

(Prensa Latina)

The repression was unleashed when youths removed the barriers placed by the authorities to prevent their passage through a part of the Alameda Avenue, which was not included in the route of the demonstration.

As reported on Twitter by the Confederation of Chile’s Students, only in Santiago about 70,000 people participated in the rally, which despite the clashes between students and police ended with speeches by student leaders and a cultural event at Blanco

Escalada Street.

With loud slogans, chants and posters, the march demanded the Government to ensure public, free and excellent education for all, and called La Moneda to prove it in the draft state budget to be presented to Parliament in the coming days.

‘We are very concerned and do not want them to take decisions behind the back of the students, at the expense of the public schools and institutions that we represent, “the President of the Coordinating Secondary

Students, Cristofer Sarabia, said at the start of the march.

Meanwhile, Pablo Toro, head of the Coordinating Assembly of Secondary Students (ACES), said that it is not enough to allocate more money because what Chilean education needs is a structural change of model.

At a press conference, representatives of the Chilean Students Confederation (CONFECH), the Coordinator of Secondary Students (CONES) and the Coordinating Assembly of Secondary Students also made a call for citizens to to join the protest.

‘If we really want to have a more just, equal educational system that really allow the social and economic progress of our country, we need to have a good budget for public education, “said Noam Titelman, director of CONFECH.

According to the official, all who feel implicated in a sweeping reform of the system should take to the streets ‘to express to our government that people are here and we will stay as long as the injustice of the system remains’.

The national march will be held a few days before the deadline for the government to present to Congress its budget for 2013, hence it is also intended to influence who will be responsible for the approval of the public financial future.

CONES

spokesman, Cristofer Sarabia said the rallies will be held from the Magallanes region in the extreme south to Arica and Parinacota in the north, and blamed politicians for the damage to education.

The remembrance activities include events at the monument to President Allende, located in front of the Palacio de La Moneda, which on September 11, 1973 was attacked by soldiers and bombed by the Air Force to overthrow the Popular Unity government.

In addition, the University of

Santiago called the university community to commemorate the events to recall the 62 dead of this high institution during the events, including the singer Victor Jara.

The main celebration was held last Sunday, in a march attended by thousands of people and ended in front of the General Cemetery, near the memorial to the disappeared and executed political prisoners.

The government of President Sebastian Pinera said official memorial activities were not considered.

According to the second report from Valech Commission, delivered in August 2011 to President Piñera, victims of the Pinochet dictatorship toll over 40,000, from them more than 3, 000 dead.

On the morning of September 11, 1973 events moved so lightning. Once Allende received the first report of the revolt of the military, he went to La Moneda, when the palace was still in Police custody.

After knowing of the first statement from the military junta, that force began to withdraw, until it left La Moneda unprotected,

only defended by the President, his personal guard, members of his administration and other executive house staff. The president arrived at around 7.30 am local time at the palace, and about 45 minutes later the armed aggression by land began.

Allende addressed the nation for the last time on Radio Magallanes at about noon, in which he expressed his determination to fight to the end in defense to constitutionality.

Soon after, Hawker Hunter aircraft of the Chilean Air Force began firing rockets at the presidential mansion, whose defenders in unequal combat, could not withstand the charge of the armed forces, under General Pinochet.

Allende was found dead inside La

Moneda, with his rifle, a gift from the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.

‘The coup against the Popular government headed by Salvador Allende was only possible through the intervention of a foreign power: the United States,” Chilean communist leader, Gladys Marin wrote shortly before her death.

It was learned years after the coup that when the National Security Advisor of U.S. President Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger knew in 1970 Allende’s victory, he said: ‘I do not understand why we need to stand and watch a country become communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people.’