Weekly Debate: 9/11 – 1973 and 2001

In terms of tragedies the date September 11^th is most closely associated with the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the U.S. Nothing can erase the images in our collective conscience on that day; whether it is recalling the skyscrapers falling, seeing people jump hundreds of feet to their death, or the acrid smoke rising into the sky. As we observed one year ago, the consequences of those attacks have been far reaching and have led to major social, economic, and political changes in the U.S. as well as around the world.

Yet lost amongst the grief and commemoration of the incidents in 2001 is that on this day in 1973 Chile’s democratically elected government was toppled in a coup led by Augusto Pinochet. President Salvador Allende was one of thousands who died during the insurrection and the recently-deceased Pinochet would become Chile’s leader for sixteen years.

The effects of the coup would be felt in Chile and the Americas; for some the coup was needed and the new government signaled the start of economic growth and stability for Chile:

“Emilio Humarez, a self-proclaimed “Pinochetista”, was a member of the extreme right-wing political party, Patria y Libertad, when Allende won the election in 1970. During that time, his mother was national secretary of the Christian Democrat Party, which came to oppose Allende during his presidency.

Humarez claims that he and many others with similar political beliefs, suffered harassment and violent threats from leftist radicals during Allende's presidency.

When asked if the violence of the military coup was justified, Humarez answered, ‘Yes, I saw so clearly that we needed a change. In the years of Allende we were terrified. When Pinochet arrived we were very relieved.’”

For others like Alvaro Acevado the coup was the beginning of a dark period of repression, suffering, and injustice:

“Our neighbours and us celebrated after we knew what happened, but my grandfather was a socialist doctor, who spent all of his life working in poor rural areas. He told my mother, "There is nothing to cheer about, soon you'll regret this coup". He died from cancer a week later.

After all these years and having spent all my youth under Pinochet, I know he was right. My parent's generation was lost. No matter what their political creed was at that time, illusions, dreams and friends died in 1973. And the wounds still hurt us.”

Several questions come to mind in retrospect of the events six years ago in the U.S. and in 1973 in Chile:

• Who is most to blame for the events of those days?
• Could they have been avoided or where they inevitable?
• What lessons have we learned from those two days?
• Are coups justifiable? Was the 1973 coup right?
• Can coups be classified as “revolutions” despite their support not coming from the grassroots levels?

What do you think?

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Image (left)- BBC News (“In New York, the families of those who died after two planes ploughed into the World Trade Center paid their respects once more”)

Image (right)- La Tercera (Chilean president Michelle Bachelet lays flowers at the memorial for Salvador Allende)

Sources- BBC News, Australian Green Left, The Latin Americanist, International herald Tribune, Monsters & Critics